By Jeremy Koff, senior consulting editor
August 18, 2026 | The Orion visual neuroprosthetic system originally developed by Second Sight Medical Products, which has been passed around among corporate entities more than most any other product we have covered in this publication, now seems headed to another parent firm.
After an aborted merger with French firm Pixium Vision (now part of Science Corp.) in 2021, Second Sight announced a reverse merger with a privately held firm called Nano Precision Medical to form Vivani Medical in 2022. In 2025, Vivani announced that it would spin-off its neuroprosthetics unit as a public company called Cortigent, which had been operating as a subsidiary of Vivani. Earlier this month, Vivani announced that it had entered into another reverse merger, this time with a Nasdaq-listed company ClearOne, in which Cortigent will become a wholly owned subsidiary. In connection with the transaction, ClearOne has agreed to file a registration statement on Form S-1 to raise a minimum of $10 million and a maximum of $15 million.
The proposed merger brings together two companies with complementary needs. ClearOne retains its Nasdaq listing but has sold substantially all of its conferencing and collaboration business. Cortigent owns potentially valuable neurostimulation technology inherited from Second Sight Medical Products but has been unable to complete either a standalone public offering or a successful spin-off from parent company Vivani Medical.
The transaction gives ClearOne a new operating purpose and provides Cortigent with another route to becoming a separately financed public company. It also allows Vivani to concentrate on its NanoPortal drug-implant platform while retaining a majority interest in Cortigent.
That makes the transaction logical for all parties. However, it’s unclear whether the $10 million to $15 million financing will be sufficient to achieve the value-creating milestones needed to attract the substantially greater capital—potentially 10 times as much—required to reach first commercial sale.
Financing Challenges
ClearOne’s current position contrasts sharply with its August 2023 investor presentation. At the time, the company highlighted more than 80 patents, a global distribution network and annual revenue goals of $40 million, $60 million, and ultimately $100 million.
Those targets were not achieved.
ClearOne’s apparent financial strength also reflected a one-time event. The company received $55 million in January 2023 from a settlement of its patent litigation with Shure and paid shareholders a $29 million special dividend that May. Its investor presentation reported a trailing non-GAAP net loss of $5.7 million and adjusted EBITDA loss of $4.8 million.
Revenue subsequently declined to $11.4 million in 2024 and approximately $6 million in 2025. In October 2025, ClearOne sold intellectual property, inventory, and certain customer-related assets to Biamp Systems for $3 million. ClearOne said the transaction was part of a previously announced process involving the eventual sale of all or substantially all its operating assets.
Following the sale, ClearOne stopped manufacturing and selling products. Its remaining activities consisted primarily of legacy warranty support, asset liquidation, public-company compliance, and the evaluation of strategic transactions. At year-end 2025, ClearOne reported $220,000 in cash and cash equivalents and $519,000 in restricted cash. Its annual report identified substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern. Management said that without financing or a strategic transaction, ClearOne might have to curtail operations or pursue an orderly wind-down.
ClearOne is therefore not diversifying a functioning audiovisual company into neurotechnology. Its operating business had already been sold, leaving its Nasdaq listing and public-company infrastructure among its most relevant remaining assets.
Cortigent filed for an IPO in 2023, but the offering was not completed. Vivani later pursued a Form 10 spin-off, established then withdrew a 2025 distribution record date, and returned to the S-1 process before agreeing to the ClearOne transaction. Cortigent generated no operating revenue and reported net losses of $5.5 million in 2023 and $2.2 million in 2024. The reduction primarily reflected lower personnel, patent, and outside-service spending rather than commercialization progress. Its auditors also identified substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern.
Vivani will receive 12.5 million ClearOne shares and is expected to own approximately 59.4% to 67.5% of the combined company. Existing ClearOne shareholders are expected to own approximately 12.7% to 14.4%. ClearOne will be renamed Cortigent Holdings Inc. and is expected to trade as CRGT. The transaction is rational: ClearOne gains a business, Cortigent gains a Nasdaq platform, and Vivani achieves separation while retaining majority ownership.
The remaining concern is capital. Cortigent has described a proposed Orion pivotal trial involving approximately 60 patients at roughly 10 U.S. sites. The company must first manufacture and validate new systems and reach agreement with the FDA on the necessary clinical program.
No complete trial budget has been publicly disclosed. Therefore, the ultimate capital requirement cannot be stated definitively. Nevertheless, a $15 million gross financing—before transaction and public-company expenses—will more likely fund initial development and trial preparation than completion of a multicenter pivotal study and FDA review.
The merger may solve Cortigent’s corporate-structure problem. It does not yet solve its longer-term financing problem.
