Cranbury, NJ (July 15, 2021) - Songbird Hearing, Inc. announced today the appointment of Thomas E. Gardner to the positions of Chairman, President and CEO. Tom succeeds Fred Fritz who will continue as Vice Chairman during the transition period.
"Fred made significant contributions in taking the Company from a raw start-up, hiring an experienced management team and helping Songbird to become the leader in high quality digital disposable hearing aids." said Duane Mason, a founding General Partner of Prism Venture Partners who established the company in 1997. "We and all of the current investor's remain very enthusiastic about the potential of Songbird and believe that Tom is the best person to take the company through the next stages of commercialization."
Mason continued,"The addition of Tom Gardner strengthens the company's experience in brand management and marketing. We welcome our newest team member and look forward to his insight and guidance as we continue to build the company."
Tom Gardner joins Songbird Hearing with extensive experience in developing and managing both public and private companies. Most recently Tom was CEO and a Director of Datamonitor, PLC, a company that he successfully took public on the London Stock Exchange. His prior experience includes Base Ten Systems, where he served as CEO and Chairman; Access Health, where he was CEO and President; The Dun & Bradstreet Corporation, where he was President and CEO of D&B; Health Care Information; Simon & Schuster, where he was a Group President; and Johnson & Johnson, where he held positions of increasing responsibility in marketing and general management with McNeil Consumer Health, J&J; Brazil and J&J; Baby Products. Tom began his career in brand management with The Procter & Gamble Company.
Songbird Hearing is a privately held company based in Cranbury, NJ. The company was founded in 1997 to develop a line of high quality disposable hearing aids based on unique proprietary technologies exclusively licensed from Sarnoff Corporation (Formerly RCA Labs). Songbird launched the worlds first digital disposable hearing aid in the fall of 2001 marking another milestone in helping to bring better hearing to the over 20 million hearing impaired. With impressive technical resources, experienced senior management and a current investor base which includes BankAmerica Ventures, Oak Investment Partners, Prism Venture Partners, Tredegar Investments, University of Texas Investment Management Company, Investor AB, Texas Instruments, and Sarnoff Corporation, Songbird is poised to revolutionize the hearing market.