audibene

What audibene does

audibene is a privately held direct-to-consumer hearing care retailer founded in 2012 in Berlin by Dr. Marco Vietor and Paul Crusius. The company sells modern, near-invisible hearing aids to individual consumers — primarily baby boomers experiencing hearing loss — through a digitally enabled, multi-step customer journey that begins with online registration for a free hearing test, continues with telephone and Zoom-based consultation by an inside sales team, and culminates in a four-week at-home trial followed by purchase. Approximately 70% of customer consultants work from home office using Salesforce CRM as the operational backbone, while the physical hearing test and fitting steps are executed by a network of independent partner audiologists (Partnerakustiker) rather than audibene-owned clinics.

The company's core technology stack is conventional rather than proprietary: Zoom for video communication, Salesforce CRM for pipeline management, and online marketing as the primary customer acquisition channel. The differentiating element of the offering is the "dual expert consultation" process — combining remote sales advisory with on-the-ground audiologist fitting — rather than any unique hardware or software IP. audibene does not manufacture hearing aids and does not disclose proprietary patents, AI models, or data flywheels in the available data.

Revenue is generated through transactional hearing aid sales, with the company serving consumers in 8 countries via 11 office locations in Berlin, Mainz, Miami, Denver, Toronto, Paris, Kuala Lumpur, Delhi, Utrecht, Bern, and Seoul. The business model is asset-light relative to traditional hearing aid chains because audibene does not operate its own clinical fitting infrastructure at scale, depending instead on partner audiologists for in-person service. The company employs approximately 1,200 people from 45 nationalities and reports several thousand new customer registrations per week, but no revenue, ARR, or unit-economics figures are disclosed in the source material, leaving financial scale to be triangulated rather than directly stated.

Name

audibene

Legal name

audibene

Website

https://karriere.audibene.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

audibene is a Berlin-based, direct-to-consumer hearing care retailer that sells modern, near-invisible hearing aids to individual consumers, primarily baby boomers, across 8 countries. It combines online customer acquisition, Zoom-based inside sales, Salesforce CRM, and a network of partner audiologists for fitting and trials.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Hearing Care Services

akta.pro primary industry

Hearing Enhancement / Assistive Listening Audio Devices (CRACANAL)

Keywords

• Hearing aid sales
• Hearing care services
• Hearing aid consultation
• Audiology retail
• Hearing loss solutions

Headquarters

HQ city

Berlin

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices11 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Hearing Aid Sales: The company generates revenue through the sale of hearing aids. Customers register online, receive consultation from sales team, take trial hearing aids for 4 weeks with ongoing support, and purchase the optimal hearing aid upon completion of the trial period.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

audibene sells modern, near-invisible hearing aids to individual consumers through a guided journey that begins with online registration, continues through telephone/video consultation by inside-sales advisors, then proceeds to in-person hearing testing and fitting by partner audiologists, and concludes with a 4-week at-home trial after which the sales consultant closes the purchase. Revenue is generated primarily through the sale of hearing aids, with several thousand new customers registering weekly through online marketing channels.

Product overview

audibene is a hearing aid retailer and acoustic consulting company operating as a direct-to-consumer model combined with a network of partner acousticians. The company functions as a platform connecting modern, active individuals with hearing problems to hearing aids through online marketing, telephone sales consultations, and partner acoustic stores. The core offering consists of hearing aids sold through a guided customer journey from initial registration to final purchase, supported by CRM-based sales teams using Zoom for video communication. The company operates across 8 countries with offices in Berlin, Mainz, Miami, Denver, Toronto, Paris, Kuala Lumpur, Delhi, Utrecht, Bern, and Seoul.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Hearing Aid Sales (Hörgeräte)

Quantifiable outcome

• Several thousand new customers register weekly through online marketing
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

Feature1 record

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Partnerakustiker (Partner Audiologists)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorNetwork of partner audiologists (Partnerakustiker) who perform precise hearing tests on audibene customers and fit appropriate hearing aid models for trial. The dual expert consultation model combines sales advisor guidance with professional audiologist fitting for faster and more efficient hearing outcomes compared to traditional audiologists. Partners are located throughout the markets audibene serves.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• hear.com: Closest direct peer: a Berlin-headquartered online hearing care platform that combines tele-consultation with a partner-audiologist network to sell hearing aids, very similar to audibene's hybrid DTC model. Operates across multiple countries and shares the same category, customer base, and go-to-market approach.

Broad incumbents

• Amplifon: Global leader in hearing care retail with thousands of physical stores across Europe, the Americas, and APAC. Overlaps directly with audibene's value chain (hearing aid distribution) and serves the same end customer, but operates predominantly through owned retail rather than digital-led acquisition.
• Miracle-Ear: Large US franchised hearing aid retailer with hundreds of physical locations. Targets the same Baby Boomer demographic and sells hearing aids through assisted consultations, but relies on a traditional storefront model rather than audibene's digital-first funnel.
• Sonova: Global hearing aid manufacturer (Phonak, Unitron) with growing owned retail (e.g., Boots Hearingcare in the UK). Comparable because it controls the upstream product and increasingly the downstream retail channel that audibene relies on.
• WS Audiology: Hearing aid manufacturer behind brands including Signia, Widex, and formerly audibene-affiliated retail platforms. Comparable as both a key supplier to audibene and a direct retail competitor in the broader hearing care value chain.
• Demant: Owner of Oticon, Bernafon, and Philips Hearing Solutions, with growing retail network. Comparable as a hearing aid supplier and increasingly as a vertically integrated retail competitor in audibene's served markets.
• GN Hearing (ReSound): Hearing aid manufacturer behind ReSound, Beltone, and Jabra Enhance, with a mix of wholesale and own-brand retail. Comparable both as a potential upstream supplier and as a retail-side competitor pursuing DTC online channels.
• Costco Hearing Aid Centers: Operates in-store hearing aid centers inside Costco warehouses, offering hearing aids at lower price points with on-site audiologists. Comparable as a high-volume, value-oriented hearing aid retail competitor in the US, where audibene is also present.

Emerging players

• Eargo: US-based DTC hearing aid company that sells own-brand, nearly invisible hearing aids online and via tele-consultation. Comparable as a digital-first hearing aid challenger, but focuses on self-fit OTC-style devices rather than audibene's audiologist-led trial model.
• Lexie Hearing: DTC online hearing aid retailer that sells subsidized Bose-powered devices directly to consumers. Comparable in digital-first customer acquisition and direct-to-consumer go-to-market, though focused on a lower price point and US market.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCgxXCeJf-rlwNQK73J2nyPw
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/audibene
• Instagraminstagram.com/weareaudibene
• Xx.com/audibene

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds4 records

Investors4 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about audibene