Niki McKenzie, centre, with co-founders Colin Horne and Claudia Freigang

Hearing Diagnostics, which has developed testing technology that can be used outwith a clinical environment, has raised £1.1 million to expand into overseas markets.

The Edinburgh-based company said the investment round, led by Archangels with support from Scottish Enterprise, will also see it expand its five-strong team.

The company is targeting expansion into the UK domestic market through audiology retailers as well as high street optical chains which are increasingly building audiology capabilities.

Regulatory changes in the US have seen the over-the-counter hearing aid market open up, creating significant commercial opportunities for early movers to capitalise.

Hearing Diagnostics was established by Dr Claudia Freigang (CEO) and Dr Colin Horne (CTO), both from a background in hearing research.

Dr Freigang said: “Our mission is to make reliable hearing testing accessible outside of specialist clinics to drive the early diagnosis of hearing loss and to ensure positive patient outcomes.

“There is a global market potential for our accurate Audimetroid hearing screening technology, and with the latest investment round led by Archangels, we can start unlocking that potential.”

To date, Archangels has invested £1.8m in the company’s technology. Niki McKenzie, joint managing director at Archangels, said: “Claudia and Colin have built a truly ground-breaking and disruptive technological platform to tackle a global health issue.

“This is technology is based on deep scientific research, early feedback from the market has been very positive and we are excited to see how the wider market as commercialisation builds.”