Neurotech Notables #29: April 1-15

April showers, Animal models, Job board, & Easter eggs

🐰Hello, Neurotech Readers!

Amidst a deluge of headlines neurotech hops forward, bright eyed & bushy-tailed. You’ll find a jam-packed basket of commercial news and developments in this edition, along with new opportunities, events, and some updates.

• 2 weeks, $200m+: Diverse and high-profile new funding across BCI, prosthetics, AR, ultrasound, magnetics, mapping tools, and more. Meanwhile, Big Capital keeps flowing to AI, Deeptech, Neurotech VC.

• Industry Buzz: New companies merge and emerge + clinical data bloom, with positive phase 2 and phase 3 readouts among other studies + fresh regulatory designations + product launches spanning clinical software to consumer hardware + leadership appointments + fresh market research

• Cognitive Health: Can relentless advances in biomarkers, diagnostic tech, consumer tests help us with brain rot, innumeracy, ADHD, and more?

• Pre-Cambrian, Pre-Clinical: With some animal models on the outs at the FDA, commercial implications for CNS trials emerge + ongoing acceleration of cognitive biomarkers + xenotransplanting human neurons into rat brains + DAO-funded mice brain augmentation + human neuron assembloids in a (spicy) dish.

• Public Cheese: We’ve entered a season to reimagine the economics of taxpayer funded innovation in brain health. New models for public funding vehicles emerge in theory and practice: From theoretical accelerator models, to case studies of the past decade’s investments in connectome moonshots and pre-commercial data hubs, to a new STEM R&D center.

Additional Updates from Me

• I profiled Inner Cosmos and the psychiatric BCI market last week in Forbes. What’s next? I’d love your input on upcoming projects:

  • Future of Deep Brain Stimulation - I’m exploring evolution of electrodes, software, workflow, markets, user experience, more.

  • Cost Estimates for New BCI Development - I am crowdsourcing stats, numbers, data, anecdotes, other input. Please weigh in!

  • Neural Data for Foundation Models - What are emerging commercial licensing models, value propositions, and opportunity frameworks?

  • Founder & Investor Poll: Josep B. and I just co-launched a survey to gauge impact of US federal changes on neurotech startups’ EU strategy. Have thoughts? Participate and share with your network.

• 💼 Register Interest: Neurotech Job Board! I’m excited to invite all interested startups and investors to register interest and input to support the creation of a Job Board. Let’s build the future together!

Besides that, stay tuned for a fresh Insider post next week + forthcoming updates on travel plans + in-person gatherings + additional articles.

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👋🏽 Hi, I’m Naveen. I believe brain health is human health. You are one ofthe 2,280 readers of my biweekly reports on emerging neurotech markets.

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Interested in Becoming an Ecosystem Partner? Inquire today.

NANS

• Join me in DC this June at Neural Interfaces 2025 to gather insights about the future of BCI and beyond. More than a dozen expert discussions spanning research, clinical, and industry. Stay tuned for more soon!

TTP

• How can we innovate medical device development to go beyond safety and efficacy, and design for active user engagement? - Read more

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Funding

• Neuralink competitor Science Corp. raises $104 million in convertible notes from Khosla, Elad Gil, Samaipata, and Valor Equity Partners (Axios)

• Kandu Health and Neurolutions Merge with new $30M financing to Expand Neurorehabilitation Solutions (Neurolutions)

• Phantom Neuro grabs $19M to help amputees put their phantom limbs to use (TechCrunch)

  • Ottobock also invested in two advanced prosthetics startups out of MIT, MuscleMetrix and BionicSkins (as well as ONWARD last fall) (Imeacorp)

• Strolll secures £10.35 million Series A Investment led by IW Capital (UK Tech News)

• Neuranics Raises $8M to Revolutionise Magnetic Sensing for the Future of Human-Machine Interaction (Business Wire)

• Envoy Medical Secures $10M to Advance Fully Implanted Cochlear Implant (HIT Consultant)

• SecondWave Systems raises $7M Series A to Accelerate Clinical Development of a Novel Ultrasound-Based Anti-Inflammatory Therapy (PR Newswire)

• NeuroOne prices $8M common stock offering for nerve ablation tech (GS Medtech News)

• Myndspan Secures Strategic Investment from Emotiv to Advance Consumer Brain Health Technology (PR Newswire)

• MYndspan Launches Crowdfunding Campaign to Expand Access to Preventive Brain Health Technology (PR Newswire)

• Tengable Achieves Milestone in Neuroprosthetic Development with $750k grant (LinkedIn)

• Enabling stroke victims to ‘speak’: $19M toward brain implants to be built at U-M (UMich)

• UT Professor Awarded NIH Center Grant for Big-Data Technology to Map the Brain (UT Austin)

• DAO Hydra Proposal: Advancing Neurotech Research (Snapshot)

  • a crowdsourced pre-clinical brain replacement research DAO? sure.

• Catalan Government Officially Approves InnoFAB, €400M semiconductor R&D center (ICN2)

  • This is led by INBRAIN’s CSO Jose Antonio Garrido.

• Sprig Equity Closes Inaugural Fund with $50m in AUM (PR Newswire)

• Andreessen Horowitz Seeks to Raise $20 Billion Megafund Amid Global Interest in U.S. AI (Reuters)

• Nexus Neurotech raises $126m fund II (SEC)

• Creating a US Innovation Accelerator Modeled On In-Q-Tel (Federation of American Scientists)

  • One of the coauthors is Phantom Neuro’s advisor Geoffery Ling. With no listed funding range or accountability metrics this proposal needs more public input, but it’s a bold vision. Right direction, right time.

Commercial

• Nudge emerges from Stealth (Nudge)

  • Lot of excitement around this. Curious for your biggest questions.

• Cambridge Cognition selected for two Phase 3 trials combining digital cognitive and voice solutions (Cambridge Cognition)

  • “…selected by a major pharmaceutical company to provide digital cognitive and voice assessments for two Phase 3 clinical trials in adolescents with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). Both contracts are set to commence this year, with the first running until 2027 and the second through to 2029. The total value of the combined contracts is estimated at approximately £1.2 million.”

• Globus Medical completes acquisition of Nevro Corp. (Globe Newswire)

• Zeto Unveils NeuroPulse, the First AI-Powered Status Epilepticus Software Using Full 10-20 EEG in Collaboration with encevis (PR Newswire)

• Samsung Announces Collaboration with Stanford Medicine to Advance Sleep Apnea Detection and Beyond (Samsung Newsroom)

• KRTL Holding Announces Acquisition of Neurogen Brain Balancing, LLC – A Strategic Merger Accelerating Global Neurotech and Mental Wellness Expansion (Globe Newswire)

• Introducing Muse S Athena: The Next Evolution in Cognitive Fitness (Business Wire)

• New product (?) Brainband by Lionheart Health (LinkedIn)

• Nalu Medical names former Axonics CEO Raymond Cohen as its new board chair (MassDevice)

• Resonant Link Medical Hires CEO Omari Bouknight (Medical Design & Outsourcing)

• Roni Diaz joins Salvia Bioelectronics as Vice President of Clinical & Regulatory Affairs (LinkedIn)

• Nia announces Michael Kahana as full-time CEO (LinkedIn)

• Steve Paul joins Neuspera Medical Inc. as Chief Commercial Officer (LinkedIn)

• Sinaptica: 12-month Phase 2 Study in Alzheimer’s Using Personalized Neuromodulation Therapy Met All Primary and Key Secondary Endpoints (BusinessWire)

• Fasikl Announces Breakthrough Pivotal Data Demonstrating Superiority of Felix NeuroAI Wristband over Sham Device for Essential Tremor (BusinessWire)

• American College of Radiology (ACR) and icometrix collaborate to improve the quality of care for people with Alzheimer’s disease (icometrix)

• Fosun Pharma Announces 2024 Annual Results, including Joint-Venture with Insightec for FUS in China (PR Newswire)

• Velentium Announces Name Change to Velentium Medical, Reflecting Deepened Focus on MedTech Innovation (PR Newswire)

• Bills to Push Private Insurers to Cover Alzheimer’s Drugs (Being Patient)

• Cigna Unveils National Coverage Policy for Adolescent Depression Including TMS! (Frontier Psychiatrists)

• Neuralink Patient Registry is now open globally (Neuralink)

• Brain-Computer Interface: Who’s Leading, What They Own, and How IP Will Decide the Future (PatentVest Pulse)

Source: PatentVest

• Additional thoughts and analysis on the PatentVest BCI report from Ceregate, ONWARD, Kernel. What do you think about this report? What IP strategy questions do you have for the team at PatentVest? Hit reply.

Regulatory

• CeriBell earns FDA nod for pediatric seizure detection software (Mass Device)

• Brainomix earns new FDA nod for stroke imaging tech (Mass Device)

• ANEUVO’s ExaStim® Earns CE Mark Certification (Globe Newswire)

• STIMIT Activator 1 is the First Commercial Stage Product in North America for Non-Invasive Diaphragm Stimulation (BusinessWire)

• IMGT Granted U.S. FDA Breakthrough Device Designation for Drug Delivery Platform (Focused Ultrasound Foundation)

• Innoblative Receives U.S. IDE Approval for its Novel Electrosurgical Device for Breast Cancer Treatment (PR Newswire)

• SPARC-Funded Fecobionics Device Receives FDA 510(k) Clearance (SPARC)

  • Dr. Gregersen will discuss his team's experience in bringing the device from design to clearance On the winding road of commercialization of a SPARC supported device, on May 14th. Register here.

• Sparc Publishes Annual Report (SPARC)

• NINDS 75th Anniversary Congressional Briefing & Reception on June 24 from 3:30-5pm on Capitol Hill (American Brain Coalition | Jen French)

• iBCI-CC publishes annual report and announces upcoming community forums (LinkedIn)

  • The iBCI-CC is excited to partner with the ASNRehab 2025 to host a Pre-Conference Dinner Workshop on Tuesday April 22, 2025 in Atlanta, GA, directly ahead of the 2025 ASNR Annual Meeting

  • 2nd iBCI-CC Annual Meeting: Friday, September 12th, 2025, in Baltimore, MD, in collaboration with the 150th American Neurological Association Annual Meeting, Sept 13-16, 2025

• Newly awarded NIH grants for neuroscience lag 77% behind previous nine-year average (The Transmitter)

• Federal Funding Cuts Could Destroy Lab-Grown Startups (PitchBook)

• Following layoffs, the future of FDA’s user fee programs is in 'extreme jeopardy' (AgencyIQ)

• America's med tech pipeline is fueled by federal support: NIH Funding for Neurotech Research at Johns Hopkins Harbor Innovation Center (Johns Hopkins University Hub)

• FDA Announces Plan to Phase Out Animal Testing Requirement for Monoclonal Antibodies and Other Drugs (FDA)

  • Charles River shares fall 25% on news of FDA shifting away from animal testing for mAbs (Investing.com | Commentary)

  • What other impacts could reduced animal testing at the FDA have on neurotech-enabled drug development, other market opportunities for neuroimaging companies, biohybrid

Industry

• Convergence Research publishes the Gap Map, “to explore the landscape of R&D gaps holding back science and the bridge-scale fundamental development efforts that might allow humanity to solve them” (gap-map)

• Recap: Inside the Neuro Tech Forum: What the Future of Neuro Innovation Looks Like (Octane OC)

  • Thanks to all who attended and supported this inaugural event, and congrats to Sinaptica. Big kudos to the Octane Team.

• Recap of 3rd annual a2 collective companies demos in agetech & cognitive health (LinkedIn)

  • a2 network is a great source of emerging startups in cognitive health…

• Recap: 11th Annual LDV Vision Summit (LDV Capital)

• University of Arizona Study Finds Openwater’s Open LIFU 2.0 Device Achieves Significant Depression Symptom Reduction After Less Than Two Hours Total Treatment Time (Business Wire)

• Cognito Therapeutics Announces Spectris™ Data Demonstrating Brain Structural Maintenance and Mechanism of Action in Alzheimer’s Disease at AD/PD™ 2025 (BusinessWire)

• Cala Presents Multiple Clinical Studies Demonstrating Impact of Transcutaneous Afferent Patterned Stimulation (TAPS) Therapy in Essential Tremor (ET) Patients at the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) (PR Newswire)

• Cumulus Neuro Announces Breakthrough in Real-Time Neural Data Processing (Cumulus Neuro)

• Rune Labs makes Fast Company’s 10 Most Innovative Data Science Companies of 2025 (Fast Company)

• Cognitive changes and predictors of treatment outcome following accelerated rTMS treatment for depression (Brain Stimulation)

  • “Who knows about Creyos? “Cognitive scores were collected before and after treatment using Creyos (creyos.com, Toronto, Canada), to assess episodic memory (Paired Associates), visuospatial processing (Polygons), verbal short-term memory (Digit Span), attention (Feature Match), and response inhibition (Double Trouble)”

• Results of the Command Trial: An Early Feasibility Study of the Synchron Endovascular Brain-Computer Interface (ResearchGate)

• Brain-computer interfaces face a critical test (MIT Technology Review)

• Brain implant translates thoughts to speech in an instant (Nature)

• One million patients worldwide treated with focused ultrasound (FUS Foundation)

• To Make a Meaningful Contribution to Neuroscience, fMRI Must Break Out of Its Silo (The Transmitter)

• Incubators & Accelerators Help Early-Stage Medical Device Companies (Focused Ultrasound Foundation)

• Safe, Cheap and Non-Invasive: Ultrasound Could Treat Cancer and Psychiatric Disorders (Scientific American)

  • Nudge joins Openwater, Sanmai,

• China's Focus on Neurotechnology Development Amid Global Advances (Global Times)

• Chinese brain chip project speeds up human trials after first success (Reuters)

• One step further towards inclusion with neurotechnology and AI (Allianz)

• D44 Capital April Neuroscience Newsletter (Dragonfly Capital)

• AI and VR Neurotech Solutions for Autism: A Step Forward (Neuroscience News)

• AI, Neuromod & Thrombectomy Drive $7.6B Growth in U.S. Neurological Devices Market, Report Forecasts $10B by 2030 (PR Newswire)

• AI, Neuromodulation & Thrombectomy Drive $7.6B Growth in U.S. Neurological Devices Market - New iData Research Report Forecasts $10B by 2030

• A Second Wave of Autism Services Investing (BNCO)

• Achieving epilepsy care for all: Ecosystem-based transformation (PubMed)

• Sleep Apnea Devices Market Forecast Report and Company Analysis 2025-2033 (BusinessWire)

• Unpacking the Sexual Wellness Opportunity: A nuanced look at an emerging sector. (Fitt Insider)

  • Excellent report from Fitt, whose highly recommended newsletter regularly covers brain health and other wellness markets.

• Women's Health Report (SVB)

  • What are the top neurotech companies focused on Women’s health?

  

  women’s brain health tech is a convergence of two growing market areas. SVB hasn’t made this image available in high-res, so here’s a low-res screenshot from their report page.

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📺Neurotech.TV

• Transforming Mental Health with Affordable TMS Technology (BrainMind)

• Radio Waves, Real Results: Inside NeuroEM’s Alzheimer’s Moonshot (Startup Health)

• Vagus Nerve & Healing / Near-Death Experiences with Dr. Kevin Tracey (Coast to Coast)

Society

Source: Financial Times analysis, via Jonathan Haidt

• Cognitive Challenges on the Rise (Financial Times)

  • “Particularly striking however is that we see this alongside decreasing performance in the application of numeracy and other forms of problem-solving in most countries.

  • In one particularly eye-opening statistic, the share of adults who are unable to “use mathematical reasoning when reviewing and evaluating the validity of statements” has climbed to 25 per cent on average in high-income countries, and 35 per cent in the US.

  • So we appear to be looking less at the decline of reading per se, and more at a broader erosion in human capacity for mental focus and application.”

• Age and cognitive skills: Use it or lose it (Science Advances)

• Human Rights Concerns in Neurotechnology Examined in New Research Brief (Geneva Academy)

• An Advance in Brain Research That Was Once Considered Impossible (NY Times) -

  • “In 2016, the American government began a $100 million effort to scan a cubic millimeter of a mouse brain. The project — called Machine Intelligence from Cortical Networks, or MICrONS — was led by scientists at the Allen Institute for Brain Science, Princeton University and Baylor College of Medicine….

    • Many of the MICrONS researchers are now pitching in on a bigger project: mapping an entire mouse’s brain. With a volume of 500 cubic millimeters, a full brain would take decades or centuries to chart with current methods. The scientists will have to find additional tricks in order to finish the project in a decade.”

    • Dr. Bock noted that brain-mapping efforts like MICrONS take years, partly because they require the invention of new technologies and software along the way. “We need consistency and predictability of science funding to realize these long-term goals,” Dr. Bock said.

• Human Factors in Neurotechnology Development: A Review (JMIR Human Factors)

• Being Human in 2035: The Future of Digital Life (Imagining the Digital Future)

• Ideology and Neuroscience: Exploring Political Beliefs Through Brain Research (The New York Times)

• Brain Health Begins in the Community (Next Avenue)

• Yes, He Let Elon Musk Put a Chip in His Brain (Men’s Health)

• The Next Big Thing in Wellness Tourism? Your Brain (Vogue)

• Careers in Science Communication & Science Writing (Dana Foundation)

Research

• Human assembloid model of the ascending neural sensory pathway (Nature | NPR)

• In vivo veritas: Xenotransplantation can help us study the development and function of human neurons in a living brain (The Transmitter)

• ADHD Medication: New Research Challenges Old Assumptions (The New York Times)

• Transcranial direct current stimulation enhances exposure–response prevention for contamination-related OCD: a randomized clinical trial (Nature Mental Health)

• Simultaneous EEG and fNIRS recordings for semantic decoding of imagined animals and tools (Scientific Data)

• A comparative study to assess synchronisation methods for combined simultaneous EEG and TMS acquisition (Scientific Reports)

• EEG Dynamical Features during Variable-Intensity Cycling Exercise in Parkinson's Disease (Frontiers)

• New Study in Brain Communications Finds Personalized Deep Brain Stimulation Shows Promise for Drug-Resistant Epilepsy (Mayo Clinic News Network)

• Brain connectivity changes in response to cortical electrical stimulation in blind neuroprosthesis users (Oxford Academic)

• Advances in Neurostimulation for Stroke Recovery (Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry)

• Brain connectivity changes in response to cortical electrical stimulation in blind neuroprosthesis users (Oxford Academic)

• Stimulation mapping and whole-brain modeling reveal gradients of excitability and recurrence in cortical networks (Nature Communications)

• Releasing the Hydra: Q&A with Rafael Yuste on Neural Network Research (The Transmitter)

• Transcutaneous Spinal Stimulation and Short-burst Interval Treadmill Training in Children with Cerebral Palsy: A Pilot Study (IEEE Xplore)

• Evaluating Electrode Position in Sacral Neuromodulation Through Threshold Measurement (Physician’s Weekly)

• Clinical Applications of Artificial Intelligence in Neurology Practice (Neuro-Opthamology)

• Randomized Trial of a Generative AI Chatbot for Mental Health Treatment (NEJM)

• Biomarker-guided decision making in clinical drug development for neurodegenerative disorders (Nature Reviews Drug Discovery)

• Neuroimaging Biomarkers of Neuroprotection: Impact of Voluntary versus Enforced Exercise in Alzheimer’s Disease Models (BioRxiv)

• Invigorating discovery and clinical translation of aging biomarkers (Nature Aging)

  • This, a recap of the 2024 Biomarkers of Aging meeting at Harvard Med School, is an example of an article that should be freely available.

• Harnessing artificial intelligence to transform Alzheimer’s disease research (Nature Medicine)

• Quantitative PET imaging and modeling of molecular blood-brain barrier permeability (Nature)

• A bright future for self-sustainable bioelectronics (Nature Reviews EE)

• Evolution of Biomarkers in US Healthcare (Where Theory Meets Practice)

  

  Another great article from Brooks.

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