The founder of Phoenix-based Paxauris takes the Fluid™ Earplug to market
By Brian Powell
Flinn Foundation
Tony Dietz has spent a lot of time in places that are not healthy for your ears: swimming in the ocean off the coast of Australia, diving into pools below military jets, and performing research on a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier.
His work on a ship off the coast of Virginia, coupled with his childhood experiences and risk-taking Australian mindset, led him to become an entrepreneur for the first time.
“I was working on a project funded the U.S. Navy to develop a new helmet to protect from noise, and in the process of designing the helmet I realized we need better earplugs. If the earplugs are not working the helmet is not going to work.
“This made me want to find a solution which led me to invent a new fluid inflatable earplug that is easier to use and much more comfortable,” Dietz said.
He worked as a flight test engineer in the Royal Australian Air Force and an engineer for New Hampshire-based Creare before moving to Arizona in 2015 and founding his company, Paxauris.
When he set out to create his earplug prototype, Dietz used memories of the striking silence reached just below a pool surface as inspiration for the Fluid™ Earplug inflatable design. The Paxauris earplug conforms to all ear canal shapes and provides an alternative to the traditional off-the-shelf foam earplug, Dietz said. They are reusable for up to 400 cycles.
The company is targeting surfers, who often struggle with a condition impacting their ear canal that impacts Dietz himself from his time swimming in the ocean. Other potential beneficiaries include industrial workers, the military and first responders, hunters, swimmers, and people who use earplugs at concerts, when traveling, working, or sleeping.
The pre-launch of the company’s Kickstarter campaign is underway with the full campaign scheduled to begin later this summer.
Paxauris was one of six participants in the 2021 Flinn Foundation Bioscience Entrepreneurship Program, which at the time provided $30,000 in funding through a nonprofit partner, mentorship, and connections.
Dietz said being selected for the program had a major impact and being assigned a mentor was very helpful. “I was a new founder with a new startup, and I knew the technology, but not about bringing it to market.”
A year later, Paxauris was selected as an awardee for the 2022 Arizona Innovation Challenge and participated in the Arizona Commerce Authority’s Venture Ready Accelerator.
“Flinn gave us validity as we were working to get SBIR grants at the time. The (federal program) gives a lot of weight to external validation, and it gives reviewers the confidence they are not making a mistake,” he said.
The company went on to receive $5 million in funding from federal grants, helping to bring the prototype to the product launch.
In early 2025, Paxauris was selected as a finalist for the Flinn Foundation Bioscience Entrepreneurship Program, which starting this year allowed previous participants to re-apply and awarded $100,000 to two participants and selected eight finalists.
Dietz said being a two-time participant helps through networking opportunities, such as an invitation to appear on a Venture Café Phoenix fundraising insights panel in April. During the Flinn Foundation’s inaugural BioStorytellers event in December, he shared how growing up in Australia shaped his attitude toward risk and gave him the inspiration for his earplug design.
Decades later, Dietz believes he has created a comfortable earplug that can benefit himself and others, including today’s surfers in Australia swimming in the same waters he once did.
About the Flinn Foundation
The Flinn Foundation is a Phoenix-based privately endowed, philanthropic grantmaking organization established in 1965 by Dr. Robert S. and Irene P. Flinn that awards grants and operates programs in four areas: the biosciences, the Flinn Scholars, arts and culture, and the Arizona Center for Civic Leadership. The foundation’s mission is to improve the quality of life in Arizona to benefit future generations.