Passionate to help his hearing-impaired wife, Hans Demant buys a hearing instrument for her after learning that Queen Alexandra of England, who was Danish by birth, was wearing one at her 1902 coronation. He wins a contract with the American manufacturer General Acoustic Company and sells his first hearing aid in Odense, Denmark.

Hans Demant and his family move to Copenhagen where he sells the first Acousticon church hearing aid system, featuring a double microphone and four earpieces.

Hans Demant becomes the sole distributor of Acousticon hearing aids for Scandinavia with an order book building up.

Hans Demant's son, William Demant, takes over the company after his father's death and builds it up along with his mother Camilla. 

Recognising a business opportunity, William Demant starts visiting churches in Denmark and gets Acousticon church hearing aid systems installed in several churches around the country.

William moves the company to the centre of Copenhagen and starts a licence production of hearing aids. The new hearing aid name Acousticus becomes a registered trademark.

William begins to import unassembled hearing aids without wires or batteries. He sets up a production line on Danish soil to assemble the devices.

Equipped with William Demant's Acousticon Seatphone, Denmark's most modern cinema, Palladium, is inaugurated, allowing hearing-impaired moviegoers to follow the soundtrack from specially modified seats.

The company now has 15 employees. Loudspeaker systems are installed in Kastrup airport.

During World War II (1939-1945), William Demant is unable to import goods from the USA, England and France. He decides to produce components for the latest Acousticon devices in Denmark. He then manufactures the first Danish-made licenced hearing device – the Acousticus – a copy of the original Acousticon model.

William Demant enters into a partnership with American hearing aid producer, Charles Lehman. Together, they establish the American-Danish Oticon Corporation, headquartered in Copenhagen.

William and his wife Ida Emilie donate the family's shares in the company to William Demant's and wife Ida Emilie's (Milla's) Foundation - called Oticon Foundation. The Foundation's general purpose is charity with particular emphasis on helping people with a hearing impairment. Today, the Oticon Foundation has changed its name to William Demant Foundation, and the Foundation is the main shareholder in Demant A/S holding approx. 55-60% of the shares through the investment company William Demant Invest A/S.

Bent Simonsen, Henning Mønsted, Torben Nielsen and Bengt Danielsen take over the management of Oticon, with Bent Simonsen as General Manager. Opening of subsidiaries in Norway and Switzerland.

The production facilities are expanded by a factory in Denmark and a factory in Scotland.

Eriksholm Research Centre is inaugurated.

The world's first hearing aid offering the possibility to switch between omni and directional microphones, the Oticon E24V, is launched.

Oticon Holding is established.

Lars Kolind is appointed CEO of Oticon.

Headquarters move to a new location at Strandvejen. Under the motto "Time to think the unthinkable", new and revolutionary ways of working are introduced across the whole company. With Lars Kolind and, from January 1992, Niels Jacobsen leading the way, Oticon enters a new phase of transformation.

1995 becomes a year of major changes: In January, the Group acquires Bernafon – a hearing aid manufacturer based in Switzerland, which is today still a company in the Demant Group. The acquisition also includes the manufacturer of diagnostic equipment Maico, thus laying the foundation for the Group’s diagnostics division. In May, Oticon Holding is listed on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange.

Oticon launches the first fully digital hearing device, DigiFocus. Users can now enjoy fully automatic volume control and immaculate sound quality. 

In May, parent company Oticon Holding A/S changes name to William Demant Holding. Also, Phonic Ear is acquired this year. In December, Lars Kolind resigns, Niels Jacobsen is appointed CEO and, from April 1998, takes over and continues driving the company forward to international success.

Interacoustics is acquired. Interacoustics manufactures audiometers and is today an important part of Demant’s Diagnostics business area.

German company Sennheiser electronic and William Demant Holding A/S establish a joint venture to produce and sell headsets for office and gaming, which will later be operated by Demant alone under the brand name EPOS.

Oticon launches Epoq, a unique product with wireless binaural capability, revealing more about the nature and origin of sounds than any other solution available.

With the acquisition of Amplivox in 2008 and Grason-Stadler in 2009, Demant's Diagnostics business area solidifies its position as the world's largest supplier of diagnostic equipment.

The newly established Hearing Implants business, Oticon Medical enters the market for bone anchored hearing systems and releases its first products for sale.

Otix Global is acquired, adding a third hearing aid brand, Sonic, to the Group's portfolio.

French company Neurelec is acquired - adding Cochlear Implants to the Hearing Implants business area.

A majority stake in the French retailer, Audika, is acquired.

Oticon launches Opn™ – a paradigm shift in hearing aid technology. Opn introduces the OpenSound Experience, the world’s first hearing aid with a dual communication system (TwinLink™) and connection to the internet.

Søren Nielsen is appointed new CEO of William Demant Holding. Niels Jacobsen, who has steered the company for 25 years steps down and becomes CEO of William Demant Invest A/S.

Demant and Philips announce that they have established a partnership where Demant will bring Philips-branded hearing solutions to market, thus adding a fourth hearing aid brand to the Demant Group. 

William Demant Holding A/S changes name to Demant A/S and launches a new brand strategy to support collaboration across the Group and increase the sense of belonging to a global parent company with a long history and foundation ownership. At the same time, the Oticon Foundation is renamed William Demant Foundation.

Demant launches EPOS: a high-end audio solutions company for enterprises and gamers. 

Oticon launches Oticon More™, the first-ever hearing aid built with an on-board deep neural network (DNN), to give people with mild-to-severe hearing loss a fuller, more balanced and more effortless hearing experience.

Demant acquires Chinese retail chain, ShengWang. ShengWang adds around 500 hearing aid clinics and more than 1,300 employees to the Demant Group. Demant announces its intention to discontinue its efforts in Hearing Implants and divest Oticon Medical.

Oticon announces Oticon Intent™, the world’s first hearing aid with user-intent sensors to understand each user’s listening intentions and seamlessly support individual listening needs, while giving access to the full sound environment.

Demant announces its intention to find a more suitable owner for its Communications business area, EPOS.

Oticon launches Oticon Zeal™, the world’s most discreet, complete in the ear hearing aid, combining same day fitting, next generation AI powered sound processing and seamless connectivity. Demant completes the acquisition of KIND Group, adding around 650 clinics and 3,000 new colleagues, marking the largest acquisition in our history and strengthening Demant’s hearing care footprint in Germany.