Neurotech Notables #39: Sept 1-15, 2025

🌐Ecosystem Edition: Jobs, Events, Sponsorships (& Notables!)

Happy Monday, Readers☕

Get out your reading glasses or jack in your brain link, because this edition’s jam-packed with goodies.

First, the notable neurotech news, views, and clues from the last 2 weeks:

• $150M+ in new private funding, $10m+ in exciting grant projects, plus a handful of newly seeded startups.

• Commercial News: FDA clearances and data, new submissions, plus fresh market moves, an acquisition by GE, an exciting partnership from INBRAIN, high profile hires and departures, and product announcements.

• Eye Know! Vision Neurotech is all over the map, from Science’s new patient registry for Vision BCI, to multiple retinal imaging funding deals, to a UK grant for smart glasses, to a visual cortex stimulation study.

• Endovascular Explorations: Two new papers, one from the Synchron braintrust, and another from Japan’s neurotech DARPA, each offer a glimpse of future progress in this vein of BCI.

• Longevity’s Early Death: Some good analysis of this bustling but dysfunctional field, which may or may not be a good market for neurotechnology tools.

• And More: Your chance to guide the World Economic Forum. Solid reports, innovator profiles, & deep analysis. New events, a lived experience consultancy, commercial blood-grown neuronal-SSRI-testing, social commentary galore. And yes, some stuff about Neuralink.

💼 Introducing Our Job Board! (beta)

• Our Job Board is live! Thanks to the tireless efforts of Noam Nitzan and Jiyun Shin, this is now up and running in beta form. Good luck to all!

• Pardon our dust as we continually add new roles, make improvements, and seek opportunities to catalyze growth across the global ecosystem.

• Stay tuned for a full launch and dedicated website later this fall! In the meantime, send me all feedback, postings, collaboration ideas via email.

📅 Event Season is Off to the Races!

A quick aside: It’s consternating to me that premier neurotech gatherings at OneMind, iBCI-CC, Cleveland Neurodesign were all scheduled on the same days in different places. Should critical neurotech discussions about mental health innovation, biodesign for next-gen tech, and federal public-private leaders continue to be siloed from each other? Can we do better next year?

🍸Oct 2nd: NeuroNYC X Neurotech Futures X NYBCI Happy Hour (Free Registration)

• Join us for drinks the night before the NYC BCI Symposium! Open to all, but limited space available. Sponsorship still open if you act fast!

🤓Oct 3-4: 2025 New York BCI Symposium, by Mount Sinai BioDesign (Registration Required - Discount Available!)

• I’m leading a panel on Friday with Peter Zhegin of e184, Adam Caplan of Jumpspace VC, and Konstantinos Alataris of Precision Neuroscience.

• Mount Sinai Biodesign is offering a discount for Neurotech Futures readers! Register with code: NTFuturesNYBCI25 - See you in NY!

⭕Oct 10th: Neurotech Glow Walk at SF’s Ferry Building

• Friend and contributor Sharena Rice wants to give neurotech networking a glow up. If you’re in town for Foresight Institute’s Neurotech workshop, swing by to rave (or rant) to other kindred spirits who are in the loop.

Keep your eyes peeled for original content and resources, and reach out about collaboration opportunities - 2026 planning is officially underway!

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👋🏽 Hi, I’m Naveen. I believe brain health is human health. You are one of the 2,928 readers of my biweekly reports on emerging neurotech markets.

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Interested in Becoming an Ecosystem Partner? Inquire today.

NANS

• Join is in Vegas: Registration now open for NANS 2026. Early careerists - Apply for NANS RFS Mentorship program by September 26

• NANS Voices Concerns on 2026 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule - Read More

TTP

• Implant to smartphone connectivity: how do we engineer reliable BLE communications inside the body? Read more

Datwyler

• SoftPulse® Flex: How Datwyler Shapes the Future of Wearables through Solution Design - Read More

• Attending Sensor China 2025? Reach out to schedule time with Datwyler’s the team.

Card79

• Prophetic AI’s “Halo,” designed in collaboration with Card79, turns lucid dreaming into conscious control. - Read More

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Funding

• Galvanize Therapeutics raises $100 million in Oversubscribed Series C Financing to Transform the Treatment of Cancer and Chronic Lung Disease with Pulsed Electric Field therapy (PR Newswire)

• Noctrix Health Raises $33.5m and Expands Leadership Team to Accelerate (Access Newswire)

• Optain Health Closes $26 Million Series A (CityBiz)

• Topcon Healthcare Inc. Makes Strategic Investment in Senseye Inc. to Advance Mental Health Diagnostics Through Ocular Biomarkers (Topcon Healthcare)

• Boomerang Medical raises $20 million in Series B financing, co-led by Arboretum Ventures and Hatteras Venture Partners for neuromodulation in ulcerative colitis (LinkedIn | Morningstar)

• MadSci Announces $10 Million Oversubscribed Seed Financing to Advance Smart Technology for Neurologic Conditions (PR Newswire)

• Former Amazon, Google X execs launch NewDays, an AI-powered treatment program for cognitive impairment, with oversubscribed $7 million seed round backed by General Catalyst and Madrona (Fierce)

• Arena Therapeutics, Inc. announces $2.0 million in seed funding (LinkedIn)

• Seed Announcement (Sophont Med)

• Vibrant Awarded Grant to Tackle Anxiety (Wyss Center)

• DoD awards $9.9m for New Clinical Trial to Test Sensory Prostheses (The Engineer)

• The DoD’s Phantom Neuro AI Prosthetics With Muscle Memory (Business Insider | LinkedIn)

  • Insightful look into Phantom’s vision & DARPA contracting: “DARPA invested roughly $300,000 through its Commercial Strategy Office…To clinch the DARPA partnership, Phantom Neuro's technology was "validated" by a DARPA program manager"…DARPA also helps startups like Phantom Neuro choose the right investors — ones without ties to what DARPA deems "adversarial capital," or money from foreign adversaries like China.”…Glass sees Phantom Neuro's approach as more viable for widespread adoption: "I don't necessarily believe that everyone can line up to get a brain implant," he said. "Sensors that get placed under the skin in your limbs can give you some radically new capabilities as a human. For the right price point and with the right safety profile, I believe that is something that people will elect to get."

• Smart Glasses and AI Filter Apps Among New Tech to Transform the Mental Health of Millions (Gov.uk)

  • 17 projects supported by share of £3.6 million via “Smart glasses which help people struggling with severe depression to complete everyday tasks and AI filter apps making therapy for debilitating anxiety less daunting are among the cutting-edge tech projects being backed to deliver real-time mental health support across the UK.”

• Science Philanthropy Indicators Report 2025: Key Findings (Indicators by SciPhil)

Commercial

• GE Healthcare Announces Intent to Acquire icometrix to Strengthen Neurology Portfolio With Brain MRI Assessment Solutions (GE Healthcare)

• INBRAIN Neuroelectronics Announces Collaboration to Advance Graphene-Based Brain-Computer Interfaces (PR Newswire)

• Science Corporation Opens Patient Registry for Vision BCI to treat Retinal Diseases (Science.xyz)

• ONWARD Medical Demonstrates Commercial Traction and Advances Pipeline in the First Half of 2025 (ONWARD)

  • Onward Medical: High-Growth Neurotechnology Play, Spinal Cord Injury Innovation (ainvest.com)

  • Erika Ross Ellison announces departure from ONWARD (LinkedIn)

• Brain+ publishes H1 Report detailing progress of commercializing Cognitive Stimulation Therapy (LinkedIn)

• Gamma Wave Technologies Ltd. announces upcoming launch of C-Rebro™ Alpha (LinkedIn)

• NeuroKaire Launches First-of-Its-Kind Clinical Test in the US Expected to Dramatically Reduce the Trial-and-Error Approach to Finding the Right Antidepressant (NeuroKaire)

  • After receiving a patient's blood sample, NeuroKaire's team creates neurons from each patient, and exposes them to various antidepressants. Using its proprietary AI platform to analyze personalized patient data — including genetic background, and microscopic features of patient-derived neurons — BrightKaire provides a detailed report demonstrating how well a patient will respond to different antidepressants. Results include an individual's likelihood for adverse events. That information is shared with the patient's clinical team, resulting in more accurate, faster, and effective medication, reduced side effects, and lower healthcare costs.

• Newronika Appoints Keith Carlton as Executive Chairman to Reinforce Strategic Leadership (PR Newswire)

Regulatory

• FDA Clears Disposable Version of EEG-Based Home Sleep Test, SomfitD (Sleep Review Magazine)

• Rune Labs Secures FDA Clearance for Parkinson's Disease Monitoring through StrivePD Ecosystem on Apple Watch (PR Newswire)

• ClearPoint Neuro Announces FDA Clearance Expanding Compatibility of the ClearPoint Prism Neuro Laser Therapy System with 1.5T MRI Scanners (ClearPoint Neuro)

• Lifeward Achieves CE Mark Approval for the ReWalk 7 Personal Exoskeleton (Lifeward)

• Sense Neuro Diagnostics Submits FDA Application for NeuroHawk, a Breakthrough in Rapid Stroke and TBI Detection (Sense Neuro)

• Early Recalls and Clinical Validation Gaps in Artificial Intelligence–Enabled Medical Devices (Jama Health Forum | Commentary)

• NTAP Rising: A Surge in Medicare Bonus Payments for New Devices (Market Pathways)

  

  Source: Market Pathways

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📢Calling All Neurotech Experts!

Announcing the NeuroTrust Index: The World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Neurotechnology, in collaboration with the Cognitive Futures Lab at Duke University, are developing the NeuroTrust Index - a transparent framework to measure and promote responsible innovation in our field. Take this 15 minute survey by September 29 to help drive global progress in neurotech.

The goals of this initiative are to promote transparency, drive accountability, and empower all decision makers, from patients to policymakers.

Your responses will remain confidential. Please share this call for feedback with your professional network to broaden perspectives and gather input.

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Industry

• Rachel Wurzman and Jon Nelson launch Neurolivd, a lived experience innovation consultancy (LinkedIn)

  • Now that’s the ticket! Along with embedded ethicists and patient advisory boards, more human focus to balance out and translate the field’s technical innovation, this is the path to neurotech futures.

• Tech Founders Must Prioritize the Problem Before Their Solution (IEEE Spectrum)

• Cumulus Neuro Announces Breakthroughs in Neural Biomarker Research (Cumulus Neuro)

• Brainomix Stroke AI Software Hailed as Revolutionary, Helping More Patients Fully Recover (PR Newswire)

• Spark Biomedical and Velentium Medical Strengthen Partnership Through Launch of New Femtech Wellness Product (Business Wire)

• Austin startup Paradromics prepares for clinical trial after first human BCI test (Spectrum Local News)

• IDUN In-Ear EEG: An Advanced Smart Watch for the Brain (Analog Devices)

• Introducing Alterego, the first near-telepathic non-invasive interface, designed to make technology as intuitive as using your inner voice. (Alterego | Press Release)

  • I’m intrigued at the beta’s Bane Mask form factor but I’m really skeptical there’s a market for this sort of device. What do you think?

• Spark Biomedical: Transcutaneous Auricular Neurostimulation to Reduce Heavy Menstrual Bleeding in Women with and without von Willebrand Disease (Frontiers in Medicine)

• Neuralink, Elon Musk, and the Race to Put Chips Into Our Brains (Rolling Stone)

  • Solid profile on Neuralink, with interesting frame on the research vs commercial BCI question, ownership of brain data, and outsider-insider scrutiny of corporate culture under Elon’s thumb.

• Subsense is developing inhalable BCI nanoparticles for brain signal sensing and neurostimulation (Medical Design & Outsourcing)

  • Take a deep breath: “Subsense is developing nanoparticles that would be inhaled via the nasal cavity and delivered to the brain’s olfactory bulb, then steered magnetically to their specific targets within the brain, depending on the application.”

• Health Transformer Spotlight: Meet the Serial Entrepreneur Behind Owl Therapeutics, Helping the Brain Repair Itself (Startup Health)

• Neurolief Announces Publication of Groundbreaking Mood Study Demonstrating Efficacy of Home or Clinic-Based Neuromodulation Therapy for Major Depressive Disorder (PR Newswire)

• BCIs in 2025: Trials, Progress, and Challenges (Andersen Lab)

  • Nice report here: “While many non-medical BCI concepts remain speculative or face ethical issues, the buzz around potential mass-market BCIs has drawn more capital and talent into the field, further accelerating progress. The coming two or three years will be pivotal: early trial results will either validate the hopes or temper the hype. If one company achieves FDA approval, it could open the floodgates for investment and broader adoption – much as the first gene therapy approval did for biotech.”

• Clee Medical: AI and imaging at the service of a new era in brain surgery (Campus Biotech)

• Oto: Decentralised trials for hearing and tinnitus therapies: Lessons from the Digital thErapy For Improved tiNnitus carE (DEFINE) randomised controlled trial (PLOS One)

  • 🤦Somebody please DEFINE what an acronym is for these folks

• The Neuromodulation Moment (Luminary Labs)

  • Womp. A jumbled, inch-thin writeup from the normally sharp Luminary Labs team is an onramp to nowhere. LL runs programming for the Neuromod Prize (which will announce winners at HLTH2025 next month.) Is this “prize challenge” funding model good for the field? I’ve heard some pointed takes. Penny for your thoughts.

• China Is Getting Serious About Brain-Computer Interfaces (Wired)

• Why VC-Backed Longevity Startups Are Dying In A $5 Trillion Wellness Market (Forbes)

  • Great piece on the Longevity graveyard: “This isn’t a one-off correction—it’s a systemic failure of how capital, consumer behavior, and clinical credibility intersect in the wellness economy. Despite the cultural moment, the longevity market remains fragmented and early-stage—a point echoed by researchers at Stanford’s Center on Longevity. The sector lacks clear regulatory frameworks, standardized outcomes, and unified clinical guidelines. Still, it’s growing fast. The longevity economy, a distinct but overlapping segment focused on aging, prevention, and healthspan extension, was valued at $806 billion in 2024 and is projected to grow to $1.4 trillion by 2029.”

• The Longevity Clinic Dilemma: Beautiful Spaces, Broken Business Models (In Search Of)

Source: Julia Klim

• for more longevity x neurotech see the Vanity Fair piece in “Society.”

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📺Neurotech.TV

• Ryoto Kanai: Meet the Neuroscientist Building the Internet of Brains! (Giant’s Shoulder)

  • I had the good fortune to meet Ryota last month. A gentleman and a scholar. He helms Araya, which runs Japan’s Brain health Moonshot program. I’ve previously covered their excellent social impact work. If you’re a qualified US entity interested in commercial collaboration, let me know. His team’s latest: Microendovascular Neural Recording from Cortical and Deep Vessels with High Precision and Minimal Invasiveness (Paper | Video…look, no IPG!)

• Precision Neuroscience: BCI Frontier: Depression, Coma, AI Merge (Big Technology Podcast)

• Inner Cosmos: Brain Computer Interfaces: Signals, Applications, and the Road Ahead (State of MedTech)

Society

• Ian Burkhart Innovator Profile (MIT Technology Review)

• Relational Personhood: The missing link for evaluating the clinical impact of Brain-Computer Interfaces (PsyArXiv)

• A Pill to Heal the Brain Could Revolutionize Neuroscience (NYTimes)

• 3 Psychiatric Tools That Could Boost the Brain’s Natural Healing (NYTimes)

• Inside Elite Athletes’ Recovery Tricks (Vanity Fair)

  Executive Dysfunction and How to Overcome It (The Guardian)

• The Brain Tech Revolution Won’t Look Like You Expect (Nita Farahany)

• Sweeteners Can Harm Cognitive Health Equivalent to 16 Years of Ageing, Study Finds (The Guardian)

• Before You Try a Career Move, Make an Experiment First (LinkedIn)

• Learning, Laughing, and Living with Multiple Sclerosis (Practical Neurology)

• It looks like a salon hairdryer, but TMS sends magnetic pulses to stimulate emotions in the brain (GPB)

• A Message From Your Doctor About the Prior Authorization Process (NYTimes)

  • ““It is entitled and quite frankly obnoxious to think that is our job to be expected to explain why an infringement on our medical decision-making has occurred,” said a neurosurgeon.”

  • ICYMI: My recent primer on the new WISeR program👇

None The WISeR: New Medicare AI Leaves Neurotech In Denial

Research

• Characterizing superficial cerebral cortical venous anatomy for endovascular device implantation: a cross-sectional imaging study (BMJ Neurointerventional Surgery)

  • Interesting paper for endovascular BCI geeks: “This exploratory study aimed to characterize cortical venous anatomy to inform device design and procedural planning.” - pair this one with Araya’s endovasc BCI work (see in Neurotech.TV, above)

    

    Source. Image shared courtesy of Jamie Brannigan

• Device Shows Promise for Treating Low Back Pain and Reducing Opioid Use Disorder (NIH)

• Bespoke Brain Implant Gives Long-Term Relief from Chronic Pain (New Scientist)

  • Fascinating multi-stage, multi arm trial of DBS for 6 people with intractable chronic pain, with positive outcomes in pain, mental health, physical activity at 3.5 years out.

• The Futuristic New Tech That Could Bridge Broken Nerves and Mend Minds (New Scientist)

• High-power transient 12-30 Hz beta event features in motor cortical and subthalamic signals during movement initiation in Parkinson's disease (MIT Direct)

• Moving beyond the motor cortex: A brain-wide evaluation of target locations for intracranial speech neuroprostheses (Cell Reports)

• Spacetop: A multimodal fMRI dataset unifying naturalistic processes with a rich array of experimental tasks (Nature)

• Low-intensity focused ultrasound targeting the nucleus accumbens as a potential treatment for substance use disorder: safety and feasibility clinical trial (Frontiers in Psychiatry)

• Ultrasound system for precise neuromodulation of human deep brain circuits (Nature)

• Real-World Effectiveness of a Novel AI-Software Dependent Neuromodulation (ASDN) with Remote Monitoring Capability Field Stimulation Device for Chronic Pain: A 24-Month Analysis of Over 2000 Patients (Journal of Pain Research)

• From adaptive deep brain stimulation to adaptive circuit targeting (Nature Reviews Neurology)

Photo from Andreas Horn via X

• Exploring Cortical Connectivity of Visual Prosthesis Users: Resting-State Study (MDPI)

  • Over six months, the subjects underwent cortical electrical stimulation to evoke phosphenes, used as a source of visual sensory information about the environment

• Auricular Ultrasonic Vagus Nerve Stimulation: Effectiveness of Blinding and Occurrence of Adverse Effects in Healthy Volunteers (Brain Sciences)

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That’s a Wrap! Click “❤️” to amplify brain health innovation across the web.
📲 connect and collaborate here: email | LinkedIn | X | bluesky

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