Neurotech Notables #43: November 1-15, 2025
A BCI Billion! Collaboratories and Partnerships
Happy Friday Readers ☀️
Another busy stretch!
Look & Listen: A Future Beyond Alzheimer’s - For an exclusive in Forbes I caught up with Cognito’s CEO Christian Howell and WVU’s Dr. Ali Rezai to understand an exciting partnership. Could this become a value-based care model to treat AD and beyond?
It’s Official: Funding for brain implants has topped $1B this year, pushed over the finish line by Synchron’s $200 Series D and other new deals. What does it mean? Where does BCI go from here? Stay tuned for insights from my discussion with Founder and CEO Tom Oxley.
Cornucopia: Over $160m in additional venture funding to Beacon, Amae, NextSense, Coherence, along with millions in awarded grants and announced funding opportunities. Several commercial data partnerships from big tech to power discovery platforms.
Milestones: Welcome back, US government! Regulatory greenlights across TMS, epilepsy, and robotics. Expanded reimbursement and coverage benchmarks from federal payers. New commercial leadership appointments and clinical data readouts.
Social: UNESCO’s neuroethics guidance ripples around the world. Organoids continue drawing interest and scrutiny. Media coverage of brain technology continues to grow. One strange meeting in DC has me scratching my head.
Last week’s Neurotech Leaders Forum is already a blur but I got almost 30 pages of notes on exciting presentations by Setpoint, Neuronoff, Cognixion, Axoft, Kernel, Subsense, and a couple dozen other startups and experts. Exciting trends emerging. Now I just have to write it up…😭
Also: New jobs. New partners. New content. New announcements. Stay tuned.
🤝 Thanks for two years of readership. Let’s team up in 2026!
I shared with my wife last night that this newsletter is the single best thing I’ve ever done in my 18-year career. It began as a figment of my imagination. I’m so excited to keep it going.
In so many ways, it feels like my neurotech journey is just beginning.
Thanks for being a part of it.
Naveen
👋🏽 Hi, I’m Naveen. I believe brain health is human health. You are one of the 3,301 readers of my biweekly reports on emerging neurotech markets.
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NANS: Invitation from Dr. Ryan D’Souza to save on registration for NANS 2026 in Las Vegas—early bird rates for end Wednesday, November 19!
TTP: What does it cost to build a brain-computer interface (BCI) today? Read more
Datwyler: People are always at the center of Innovation: See our opening for an electrical engineer
BrainMind: Summits, Salons, Dinners, Discussions: Learn more about how we’ve cultivated leadership and investment through gatherings, past and future
Funding
Synchron Raises $200 Million for Brain Implant (Business Wire)
Beacon Biosignals Raises $86M to Accelerate AI-Driven Insights into Brain Health (Beacon)
What do you want to know about Beacon’s Series B? Stay tuned for my upcoming conversation with founder and CEO Jacob Donoghue.
Amae Health Announces $25 Million Series B to Advance Towards a Cure for Severe Mental Illness (Business Wire)
NextSense Raises $16 Million Series A to Launch the World’s First Truly-Wireless Earbuds with EEG Sensors (Business Wire)
Modulight Biotherapeutics Announced $12 Million Seed Funding for Novel Optogenetic Therapy to Treat Neurological Disorders (PR Newswire)
Coherence Neuro announces $10m seed round led by Topology Ventures and Artesian (LinkedIn)
Why we’re confused about what it means to cure cancer (Coherence Neuro)
Precision Neuroscience and SCI Ventures Partner to Bring Brain-Computer Interfaces to People Living with Paralysis (Globe Newswire)
Audicin announced €1.2 million in nondilutive funding from Business Finland (Linkedin)
Axoft awarded $835,000 in non-dilutive funding from M2I2 (LinkedIn)
MBAL announces investment in Paradromics (Linkedin)
Band of Angels announces investment in SharperSense (LinkedIn) and Theta Neurotech (Linkedin)
ARIA Scalable Neural Interfaces Opportunity seeds (ARIA)
AtDev Joins $41 Million ARPA-H Initiative to Build the Future of Robotic Mobility and Independence (PR Newswire)
Highland Instruments Awarded $4M NIH Grant to Advance ESStim TM Noninvasive Brain Stimulation (PRLOG)
Cerca Magnetics and Epileps Research Institute awarded one of Innovate UK’s Quantum Sensing Mission Primer awards for OPM-Meg, a portable, quantum-enabled brain imaging tool into the NHS (LinkedIn | Gov.UK)
Praxis Announces the SCI Accelerate 2025 Cohort (Praxis)
SynchNeuro, Inc. awarded first place and $10k in the American Diabetes Association’s HealthTech Showcase (LinkedIn)
Q3 2025 Medtech VC and PE Trends (Pitchbook)
Commercial
WVU Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute and Cognito Therapeutics Launch Brain Health Collaboratory to Accelerate Neurotherapies with AI-powered Research (BusinessWire | Forbes)
INBRAIN Neuroelectronics Announces Collaboration with Microsoft to Advance Agentic AI for Precision Neurology and Brain-Computer Interface Therapeutics (Business Wire)
Neuronoff, Inc. announces launch of Calm Medical, LLC (Linkedin)
California Association of Health Facilities (CAHF) Selects Darmiyan as Preferred Provider for Cognitive Health Solutions (PR Newswire)
Prime Therapeutics and Sempre Health Expand Innovative Behavior-Based Pricing Model to Advance Patient Affordability (PR Newswire)
HistoSonics Expands Insurance Coverage for Non-Invasive Liver Tumor Treatment to 45.4 Million Elevance Health Members (Business Wire)
Allen Institute taps AWS, Google to spur ‘aha moments’ in neuroscience with new brain research platform (Geekwire)
Cleveland Clinic to test Piramidal’s “AI co-pilot” in brain ICU care (Axios Cleveland - from August)
Introducing Ozlo’s Medical Advisory Board (Ozlo Sleep)
Breaking New Ground: How the Normative Neuroimaging Library is Revolutionizing Brain Health Research Through Strategic Partnership (Linkedin)
Motif Neurotech appoints Cate Lapp new Director of Clinical Affairs (Linkedin)
Onward appoints former Boston Scientific VP as new CCO (Mass Device)
BrainScope Names Matt Adams as Chief Executive Officer (Yahoo Finance)
José M. Muñoz appointed Head of Neurotechnology at CINET (Linkedin)
Gagan Sooch joins CoMind as Director of Clinical (Linkedin)
Regulatory
FDA Greenlights Pivotal Study of PRECISIS’ Minimally Invasive Brain-Stimulation Therapy for Drug-Resistant Epilepsy (Precisis)
MMI Receives IDE Approval from FDA for First Robotic Microsurgical Study in Alzheimer’s Patients (MMI)
NeuroCytonix Authorized by COFEPRIS to Launch Neuro-Restorative Treatment Program in Mexico (EIN PressWire)
Magstim gets FDA green light for magnetic stimulation to treat chronic pain (Massdevice)
BrainsWay Receives FDA Clearance of Deep TMS™ as Adjunct Therapy for Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) in Adolescents Aged 15 to 21 (Globe Newswire)
CMS’ 2026 Medicare Final Physician Fee Schedule grants permanent Telehealth Status for NeuroSphere™ Virtual Clinic (Abbott)
Industry
Precision Neuroscience performs “first-ever elective craniotomy” for intracranial aneurysm BCI case in the US (Linkedin)
Musk announces first patient to receive a Neuralink upgrade (X)
Nyoxah: Bilateral Hypoglossal Nerve Stimulation for OSA: A Cautious Step Forward on a Promising Path (Night Shift)
Neurovascular Devices Market worth $7.22 billion in 2030 with 9.3% CAGR (PR Newswire)
Tinnitus UK Rates Lenire as Most Effective Treatment Option (PR Newswire)
CEFALY Marks a Milestone: #1 Neuromodulation Device Prescribed by Veterans Health Administration (PR Newswire)
New Patent Granted for Micro-Leads’ Next-Gen Neurostimulation Lead Technology (Linkedin)
Introducing Enso: Your personalized AI brain coach from Muse (Muse)
RESET clinical trial demonstrates superior pain relief with SPRINT PNS compared to standard interventional management for chronic low back pain (SPR)
Responses to Adverse Event Report in Transcranial Ultrasound Neuromodulation (Linkedin | Linkedin)
Cognixion: Non-Invasive Brain-Computer Interface Trial Balances Regulatory Requirements With Patient Needs (Clinical Leader)
Apple @ Work: How Apple Vision Pro is helping redefine accessibility through non-invasive brain-computer interfaces (9to6mac)
Lowering the cost of data, raising the scale of discovery (Substack)
CDRH Meets User Fee Goals – But At What Cost? (Substack)
How to Explain TMS (Carlat Report)
Neurotech.TV
Penn Talks Science shared Episode 1 of new mini series, “A Misfolding Misfortune” (Linkedin)
Jacques Carolan | The future of brain health (Foresight Institute)
What is Cancer Neuroscience? (BrainPrize)
Science founder and CEO Max Hodak speaks with Alex Kantrowitz at Web Summit (Linkedin)
Surgery-Free Brain Implant for Brain-Computer Symbiosis (Youtube)
Michael Mager, Precision Neuroscience | theCUBE + NYSE Wired: MedTech Unplugged (Youtube)
Neuralink’s second n1 user Alex becomes first to use Robotic Arm in CONVOY trial (Barrow Neurological Institute)
Innovating Hope: Charting the New Era of Alzheimer’s and Other Dementias (Milken Institute)
See Milken’s full program here.
Society
Ethics of neurotechnology: UNESCO adopts the first global standard in the cutting-edge technology (UNESCO)
Engagement of People With Lived Experience in Spinal Cord Injury to Address Innovation Priorities (PubMed)
Computer Chips in Our Bodies Could Be the Future of Medicines. These Patients Are Already There (TIME)
Investors ‘dumb transhumanist ideas’ setting back neurotech progress, experts say (The Guardian)
The Next Privacy Battleground Is Inside Your Brain (NYTimes)
From Texas to the G20: The Man Leading the World’s Brain Health Movement (Health Policy Watch)
Republican Senator: U.S. Must Outcompete China in Biotechnology (Newsweek)
Neuroethics: The Implications of Mapping and Changing the Brain (The Transmitter)
When Thought Becomes Data: The MIND Act and the Coming Debate Over Neurotechnology (CSIS)
From Broadcast to Belonging: Dana’s Public Engagement Evolution (Linkedin)
What We Can Learn From Brain Organoids (The New York Times)
As brain organoids grow increasingly complex, leading scientists and bioethicists call for global oversight (STAT)
Let the Mind-Control Games Begin! (NYTimes)
Perimenopause: An important—and understudied—transition for the brain (The Transmitter)
Research
Clearing brain plaques isn’t enough to heal Alzheimer’s (Science Daily)
Neural implant smaller than a grain of salt can wirelessly track brain (Medical X Press)
Lowering the cost of data, raising the scale of discovery (EXINTX)
Heart Rate Variations Indicate Success of Depression Treatment Using Magnetic Brain Stimulation (Scienmag)
Whole-brain, bottom up neuroscience: The time for it is now (The Transmitter)
Variations in mental distress among caregivers of individuals with chronic illnesses and comorbid cognitive impairment (AJPM)
Rising Cognitive Disability as a Public Health Concern Among US Adults (Neurology)
Clearance of intracranial debris by ultrasound reduced inflammation and improves outcomes in hemorrhagic stroke models (Nature | Linkedin)
A subnanolitre tetherless optoelectronic microsystem for chronic neural recording in awake mice (Nature)
Dementia Caregivers’ Perspectives on Technology’s Place in Care Practices: Mixed Methods Survey (Linkedin | JMIR)
A probabilistic histological atlas of the human brain for MRI segmentation (Nature)
From prediction to understanding: Will AI foundation models transform brain science? (Neuron)
Neural implant smaller than salt grain wirelessly tracks brain (Cornell Chronicle)
Beyond Alzheimer’s disease–translating biomarker in sights across CNS diseases (Science)
MIT researchers invent new human brain model to enable disease research, drug discovery (MIT News)
Pre-clinical development of a wireless neural interface system for osseointegrated prosthetic control in sheep (Frontiers)
That’s a wrap! What did I miss? Send news + tips + suggestions for next time.