Center for Medical Device Innovation

What Center for Medical Device Innovation does

Center for Medical Device Innovation (CMDI), legally Center for Medical Device Innovations, Inc., is a privately held medical device innovation company founded by Adnan Shennib and headquartered in Silicon Valley, with additional offices in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam and Bali, Indonesia. The company designs and develops proprietary hearing technology and AI-powered wearables, anchored by the Lyric hearing aid — the world's smallest and only 100% invisible, continuously worn hearing device — and a portfolio of more than 100 patents in hearing and medical devices held by its founder. CMDI operates an iHear Innovations Center incubator focused on over-the-counter (OTC) and direct-to-consumer hearing solutions that combine hearing enhancement with biosensing in miniature, low-power form factors, and partners with silicon providers such as SuperMem to enable AI and edge computing in next-generation wearables.

The company's core products are the Lyric hearing aid (originally invented and developed by Shennib and the CMDI team; the LYRIC trademark is now held by Sonova) and the iHear Innovations line of OTC and DTC hearing solutions. Underlying technology includes miniaturized low-power hearing hardware, biosensing capabilities, and seamless wireless connectivity supporting Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and Auracast. CMDI explicitly targets the stigma barrier that prevents adoption of traditional hearing aids, positioning its devices as lifestyle and consumer-grade alternatives.

CMDI does not sell products directly to end users. Its go-to-market is a B2B technology licensing model in which breakthrough hearing solutions and AI-powered wearables are licensed to global brands that manufacture, market, and distribute finished products under their own or co-branded labels. Revenue streams consist of licensing royalties and partnership fees from these brand relationships. Pricing is not publicly disclosed, and partnership inquiries are directed to a single [email protected] channel. No external funding rounds, institutional investors, or M&A activity involving CMDI itself are disclosed; the company appears founder-controlled and bootstrapped.

Name

Center for Medical Device Innovation

Legal name

Center for Medical Device Innovations, Inc.

Website

https://centermdi.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Center for Medical Device Innovation (CMDI) is a privately held, founder-led R&D company that designs and licenses proprietary hearing technology and AI-powered wearables to global consumer brands, with flagship heritage in the Lyric hearing aid and active OTC/DTC initiatives through its iHear Innovations incubator.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Hearing Aid Devices

NAICS

Navigational, Measuring, Electromedical, and Control Instruments Manufacturing (33451)

SIC

Electromedical & Electrotherapeutic Apparatus (3845)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYCRACANAL

Hearing Enhancement / Assistive Listening Audio Devices

Consumer Products & Retail/Consumer Electronics & Appliances Retail/Audio & Headphones (Speakers, Earbuds, Home Audio)

Keywords

• Hearing aid devices
• Medical device innovation
• AI-powered wearables
• Hearing health technology
• Medical device licensing

Headquarters

HQ city

Silicon Valley

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Technology Licensing: Designs and licenses breakthrough hearing solutions and AI-powered wearables to global brands, enabling them to build innovative products
2. Partnership and Licensing Opportunities: Offers partnership and licensing opportunities for companies seeking to build relevant brands in hearing health market

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Core offering

CMDI designs, develops, and licenses breakthrough hearing-aid solutions and AI-powered wearable medical devices. Its flagship offerings include the Lyric® Hearing Aid and the iHear Innovations line, with technology protected by a portfolio of more than 100 patents. The company monetizes these innovations primarily through licensing royalties paid by manufacturing and distribution partners rather than through direct retail sales.

Product overview

Center for Medical Device Innovations (CMDI) offers a portfolio of hearing technologies centered on two core products: the Lyric® Hearing Aid (the world's smallest and only 100% invisible, continuously worn device) and iHear Innovations (OTC and Direct-to-Consumer hearing solutions focusing on wearables with biosensing capabilities). The company designs and licenses breakthrough hearing solutions and AI-powered wearables that transform how people connect, communicate, and experience life. CMDI's innovations span from prescription devices like Lyric to novel over-the-counter hearing solutions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Lyric Hearing Aid A proprietary, miniaturized, always-on in-ear hearing-aid device developed and licensed by CMDI to manufacturing and distribution partners for sale to hearing-impaired end users.
• iHear Innovations AI-powered wearable medical-device product line developed by CMDI, combining hearing-health and wearable-AI capabilities and offered to manufacturing and distribution partners via technology licensing.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• iHear Innovations CentercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSilicon Valley incubator operated by CMDI for creating advanced hearing solutions for OTC and Direct-to-Consumer markets. Focuses on wearables combining superior hearing enhancement with biosensing. This is CMDI's own incubator entity.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Starkey Hearing Technologies: Starkey is a leading US-based hearing aid manufacturer known for custom-fit and AI-enabled hearing devices (Evolv AI), directly comparable to CMDI's miniature, AI-powered, and biosensing hearing technology platform.
• Sonova Holding AG: Sonova owns the Phonak and Lyric brands and acquired InSound Medical (CMDI founder's prior company) in 2010. It is the largest direct competitor in the premium and invisible hearing aid category and controls the Lyric trademark licensed from CMDI.
• Lexie Hearing: Lexie Hearing sells affordable OTC hearing aids directly to consumers via an online subscription model, directly competing with CMDI's iHear OTC platform in the same FDA OTC regulatory category.
• WS Audiology (Widex/Sivantos): WS Audiology, formed by the merger of Widex and Sivantos (Signia), is one of the world's largest hearing aid manufacturers with a broad product portfolio spanning prescription and OTC channels, directly competing with CMDI's licensed platform.
• Demant (Oticon): Demant owns Oticon and other hearing healthcare brands and is a global top-tier hearing aid manufacturer, directly competing with CMDI's licensed hearing solutions across prescription and OTC channels.
• Eargo: Eargo is a DTC hearing aid company focused on virtually invisible, rechargeable hearing devices sold directly to consumers—an OTC competitor targeting the same stigma-driven consumer segment CMDI addresses through licensing.
• GN Hearing (ReSound): GN Hearing's ReSound is a global hearing aid manufacturer and was the site of CMDI founder Adnan Shennib's earlier med-tech contributions culminating in the 1992 ReSound IPO. It is a direct competitor in hearing instruments and smart hearing aids.

Broad incumbents

• Sony (OTC hearing aids): Sony has entered the OTC hearing aid market leveraging its consumer electronics scale and brand. As a global consumer-electronics incumbent entering OTC, Sony represents the type of potential licensee—and competitor—that CMDI's platform targets.
• Bose Hearing Aids: Bose entered the hearing aid market with FDA-cleared self-fitting OTC hearing aids leveraging its audio heritage. It is a direct competitor in the OTC consumer-hearing category and a likely candidate to either partner with or compete against CMDI.

Emerging players

• Soundwave Hearing: Soundwave Hearing is an early-stage DTC hearing aid startup offering affordable OTC devices via telehealth, comparable to CMDI's iHear OTC value proposition as an emerging direct-to-consumer player.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 Center for Medical Device Innovation