Envoy Medical raises nearly $7 million

ST. PAUL, Minnesota — Envoy Medical Corp. has raised $6.9 million from selling equity and debt, according to documents recently filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Founded in 1996, the company, formerly known as St. Croix Medical Inc., is developing an implantable hearing device that it claims is superior to conventional microphone-based hearing aids.

Dubbed the Esteem-Hearing Implant, the device senses movements along the ear drum and sends a calibrated dose of energy to the cochlea, a hollow, conical chamber of bone in the inner ear that transmits electric signals to the brain.

Envoy Medical’s overall fund-raising goal is $12 million, according to the SEC filing.

The company employs 30 people and generated annual sales of $1.7 million, according to Dunn and Bradstreet.

The voice mail for founder and director Michael Spearman said it could no longer receive messages. Envoy General Counsel Brent Lucas referred questions to president Shelly Amann, who was not available to comment.