Earkart’s Meteoric Rising Journey

Once upon a time there was a young man madly in love with a dream. A dream to have a story that every household at every corner of the world would hear. But there was this one major antagonist in the story, how could you hear if you cannot ‘hear’? The protagonist of this story had a laugh and decided to befriend the antagonist and thus began Mr. Rohit Misra’s journey to ensure that everyone “heard” his story.

This story is of Mr. Rohit Misra, a celebrated personality in the hearing aid industry with close to three golden decades in the healthcare sector. His stint in the hearing aid industry started as the Managing Director of “Starkey”, a world-renowned hearing aid company. It was there that he looked at the hearing aid ecosystem from a birds-eye perspective and unearthed all the lacunas. Once the realization dawned, our protagonist could not stand still, not anymore. Thus, with a leap of faith Mr. Misra kickstarted “earKART” at the age of 49.

The genesis of earKART was pursuant to a dream and inherent hope of an “eternal brand,” one that would reinvent the meaning of serving customers with hearing disability by unlocking the power of the internet. There was a lot of noise in this industry and earKART strives to solve that with 3 simple A’s- Affordable, Accessible and Amiable, hearing aids- the best of its kind. Mr. Misra mused, that in a country where upwards of 8 Crores people need hearing aids, only 7 Lacs people buy it, making the adoption rate of only around 0.5%. There are multiple reasons for this: firstly, there are just about 4500 practicing audiologists in India, with most of them clustered in metros and Tier 1 cities. As a result, a large percentage of people who live outside big cities do not have access to qualified healthcare. Secondly, decent quality hearing aids with Bluetooth connectivity and rechargeable features, cost upwards of Rs 40,000 each. And most people need two aids- one for each ear. This is beyond the reach of the common person. Lastly, there is still huge stigma related to hearing aids, and many people, even those who can afford aids avoid them for fear of standing out. Recent medical studies have shown that untreated hearing loss not only causes social isolation and loss of productivity, but can also be linked to higher risk of depression, dementia, accidents as well as other health issues. In their goal to increase the adoption rate of hearing aids by atleast 1% over the next 3 years, EarKart has come up with a one-stop digital solution for all hearing health issues, providing a common service platform to the customers and clinics. earKART is the bridge that connects all synergies together, from dealers/ clinics and customers across India, and soon around the world, on a single platform to drive a massive growth story this industry deserves. – ACCESIBILE

 In a world where our customers and investors extend across the globe, we capture their attention and quickly develop emotional investment with our service and compassion. Since its inception earKART has been the source of distribution of top hearing aid brands, ranging from affordable to luxury, world class hearing aids. In just one year since its inception it stands at 100 Crore valuation and has been able to double its turnover. Then one fine day over his morning cup of ‘chai’, Mr. Misra had this premonition, or “Eureka” moment as he likes to describe it. “Why not make our own products?”, thus upholding the sanctity of “Make in India”, an initiative started by the PM of India, and storming with a speed of light towards the achievement of the aforesaid three A’s. A machine for every Indian who has a story to hear and tell, through a device which has been made in India and someday will be worn by patient around the globe. – AFFORDABLE

To bring further comfort to the patients, earKART realized that a patient must have an easy and their altogether experience of purchasing and wearing a hearing aid must be amiable. Hence, earKART introduced unique benefits which would include providing de-humidifier, batteries, hearing aid insurance and buy-back options to the patients. At earKART we don’t just sell products/ service, we believe in selling an experience, which has only been made possible by the 1200+ clinics enrolled with us at the moment.

With this vision earKART has a never- ending future and is only ever expanding. Few months down the line people will be introduced to never-seen-before technology which can be accessed by anyone with a smartphone just with a tap of their finger. And all we can say is… STAY TUNED