Sound Scouts to showcase innovative hearing test in the Health and Wearables Technologies category

Sydney, NSW — 1st March 2017 — Australian Health tech company Sound Scouts was selected as a finalist in the Health and Wearables Technologies category for the ninth annual SXSW Accelerator competition. The accelerator is the marquee event of South by Southwest® (SXSW®) Conference and Festivals (March 10-19, 2017) Startup Village®, where leading startups from around the world showcase some of the most impressive new tech innovations to a panel of hand-picked judges and a live audience. Out of the more than 500 companies who applied to present at SXSW Accelerator, Sound Scouts was selected as one of 50 finalists across ten different categories.

The two-day event will be held the first weekend of SXSW Conference and Festivals, Saturday, March 11 through Sunday, March 12, on the third floor of the Downtown Austin Hilton. The pitch competition will then culminate with the SXSW Accelerator Awards Ceremony on Sunday evening, March 12, where winning startups from each category will be announced and honored. The Accelerator competition will feature finalists across the following ten categories: Augmented and Virtual Reality, Enterprise and Smart Data, Entertainment and Content, Health and Wearables, Innovative World, Payment and FinTech, Security and Privacy, Social and Culture, Sports, and Transportation.

Sound Scouts, an App created to check children’s hearing, will present alongside four other companies, from around the world, in the Health and Wearable Technologies category on Saturday March 11.

“We’re very proud to be introducing Sound Scouts to the world and to be representing Australia at the SXSW Accelerator competition.” “Sound Scouts represents years of research and development, so it’s fantastic to have our efforts acknowledged with selection in the Finals of the Accelerator competition. The competition is world class and we’re proud to be included.” “SXSW Accelerator has hosted some of the most innovative startups over the eight years we’ve held our competition. These companies have gone on to capture the attention of investors and leading technology companies worldwide. 71 percent have received funding in excess of $3.1 billion, while 14 percent were acquired,” said SXSW Accelerator Event Producer Chris Valentine. “Out of the hundreds of applicants, we have identified 50 finalists to present. Everyone with SXSW Accelerator is proud to support startups that are on the forefront of solving some of today’s biggest challenges through technology.”

For more information about SXSW Accelerator and to view the complete list of finalists, visit the following site: http://www.sxsw.com/interactive/awards/accelerator.

About

Sound Scouts is a revolutionary, clinically validated App created to detect hearing loss in children. Developed in collaboration with the National Acoustic Laboratories, Sound Scouts makes hearing testing fun and accessible to all children, ensuring they are ready and able, to play and learn.

IN 2015 Sound Scouts was awarded a Medical Devices Fund Grant from NSW Health. The grant will facilitate the ongoing development and commercialisation of Sound Scouts with a view to create a hearing screening solution that will ensure all children, both in Australia and globally, can have their hearing checked at any time during their school years.

Chief Scientist Dr Harvey Dillon states “What has been missing in the hearing health-care system is a low-cost, easily administered, reliable test of hearing that can be widely applied to children around school entry so that no child has to go through years of school at a disadvantage to others because of unmanaged hearing loss.”

Dr Dillon explains “Sound Scouts incorporates several advanced scientific principles that enable it to detect a range of hearing problems.”

Founder Carolyn Mee states “Sound Scouts is already impacting the lives of many children whose hearing loss would have previously gone unnoticed and untreated. This is technology that is making a difference.”

About SXSW

SXSW dedicates itself to helping creative people achieve their goals. Founded in 1987 in Austin, Texas, SXSW is best known for its conference and festivals that celebrate the convergence of the interactive, film, and music industries. The event, an essential destination for global professionals, features sessions, showcases, screenings, exhibitions, and a variety of networking opportunities. SXSW proves that the most unexpected discoveries happen when diverse topics and people come together. SXSW 2017 will take place March 10-19, 2017.