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Earflo Secures Investment from the Richard King Mellon Foundation to Transform Pediatric Ear Care

via Business Wire

A new $415,000 investment and three prestigious award recognitions from TIME, CES, and The Anthem Awards highlight Earflo’s mission to advance at-home ear care for young children

Earflo, a medical technology company developing a non-invasive, at-home treatment for negative middle ear pressure in children as young as two, today announced a $415,000 social-mission investment from the Richard King Mellon Foundation. The funds will support FDA clearance, manufacturing, and launch preparation efforts to bring Earflo’s at-home solution to families.

The funding follows three major honors — TIME’s Best Inventions of 2025, a CES Innovation Awards® Best of Innovation in Digital Health, and a Gold Anthem Award in Health: Innovation — underscoring growing recognition of Earflo’s mission to make pediatric ear care simpler and more accessible.

Earflo is a 510(k)-pending device designed to relieve negative middle ear pressure, which can lead to fluid accumulation (otitis media with effusion or OME) and create an environment prone to chronic ear infections. Current treatment typically involves a three-month observation period that often disrupts learning and family life, followed by surgery if the condition persists. Ear tube surgery is the most common pediatric surgery, with the majority performed on children under five who face the greatest risk of lasting developmental delays due to hearing impairment. While non-invasive products have shown effectiveness in older children, they are often too complex for those under five, leaving a critical gap in care.

Earflo is revolutionizing pediatric ear care by enabling families to treat negative middle ear pressure at home, offering a non-surgical alternative. Though it resembles a child’s sippy cup, Earflo’s complex mechanics deliver a gentle, precision-controlled puff of air through the nose and into the eustachian tube synchronized to swallowing. A smart companion app guides parents, tracks progress, and keeps children engaged through positive reinforcement. Developed by experts from Stanford Biodesign and the University of Pittsburgh, Earflo combines medical, engineering, and research excellence to deliver a science-backed solution.

“Our mission is to empower parents with innovative, child-friendly solutions to treat negative middle ear pressure at home,” said Dr. Intan Oldakowska, Co-Founder and CEO of Earflo. “With this new investment from the Richard King Mellon Foundation, we aim to improve children’s health by providing a science-backed product that has the potential to deliver both immediate relief and long-term benefits.”

Peer-reviewed clinical studies found that most young children using Earflo showed meaningful improvements in hearing within four weeks, and many did not proceed to surgery during the study period. By enabling early intervention, Earflo offers families a promising new alternative during the critical watchful waiting period.

Earflo’s impact has been further validated by major honors from TIME Magazine, CES, and The Anthem Awards. In October, the company was named one of TIME’s Best Inventions of 2025 in the Medical & Healthcare category for life-changing innovation in treatment and patient care. Earlier this month, Earflo also received the CES Innovation Award® for “Best of Innovation” in Digital Health, recognizing its exceptional design and engineering excellence. And on November 18th, Earflo won a Gold Anthem Award for its mission-driven work to change the paradigm of care for pediatric ear disease.

“What started as a simple idea has grown into something truly meaningful,” said Dr. Oldakowska. “These recognitions from TIME, CES, and the Anthem Awards reflect the passion, creativity, and care our team has poured into every step of this journey.”

The Richard King Mellon Foundation’s investment in Earflo is made through its Social-Impact Investment Program, through which the Foundation invests in for-profit startups with a social mission that aligns with the Foundation’s philanthropic strategy.

To learn more about Earflo, visit earflocare.com.

About Earflo

Earflo is pioneering a non-invasive, at-home treatment for negative middle ear pressure in children as young as two­—a condition that can lead to fluid buildup (otitis media with effusion) and chronic ear infections. Created by biomedical engineers and ear, nose, and throat (ENT) surgeons, the Earflo device is developed as a sophisticated medical device designed to look like a child’s sippy cup, featuring a gamified companion app to motivate children through positive reinforcement. Earflo is on a mission to improve children’s health with science-backed solutions to common ear health issues.

The Earflo device is FDA 510(k) pending and currently not for sale.

About Richard King Mellon Foundation

Founded in 1947, the Richard King Mellon Foundation is the largest foundation in Southwestern Pennsylvania, and one of the 50 largest in the world. The Foundation’s 2024 year-end net assets were $3.1 billion, and its Trustees in 2024 disbursed more than $155 million in grants and program-related investments. The Foundation focuses its funding on six primary program areas, delineated in its 2021 – 2030 Strategic Plan.

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