Envoy Medical Corp. begins raising $6.5M

Envoy Medical Corp. is raising $6.5 million in equity, according to documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Envoy is the maker of Esteem, an implantable hearing device. Esteem was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in March 2010. The device, which is implanted behind the ear, requires invasive surgery and costs $30,000. Instead of amplifying sounds with microphones, like traditional hearing aids, the device converts vibrations picked up by the eardrum into electronic signals, cleans them up with a sound processor and then converts them back into mechanical sounds.

Envoy has had many big-name investors, including Minnesota Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor and former Medtronic Inc. vice chairman Greg Nelson. A previous round of fundraising in October raised $16.4 million for the device, which included $10 million from Starkey Laboratories, after a plug from conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh.

Envoy CEO Patrick Spearman did not immediately return a phone call.