Neurotech Notables #53: April 16-30, 2026
Two New Events in May! Acquisition, Partnerships, Funding. Double Octopus.
Happy Friday, Neurotech Lovers.
Here’s another BIG edition filled with commercial announcements across markets, modalities, and our own upcoming programming at Neurotech Futures. Some highlights to guide your weekend reading:
Business Season: Congratulations to Noctrix, whose acquisition by ResMed was announced this morning. Plus: Neuraxis’s reimbursement news and ANEUVO’s FDA clearance. New partnerships between Mint Neuro & Motif, Piramidal & IntraNerve, and new platform plays from Neurable, Neuvotion, Zeto, and AHG.
Funding: $200m in new capital deployed to Axoft, Cala, Nervonik, Sinaptica, and others. New grants from ARPA-H and other funders awarded to neurotech startups, research labs, clinics. New ideas from ARIA. Check out a few open funding announcements with upcoming deadlines, too.
Clinical: Motif’s IDE gets the green light. Setpoint’s launches new MS trial. Precision and UChicago partner up. Cortec’s third-in-human and FDA Tap acceptance. INBRAIN’s first-in-human data.
Regulatory: Huge neurotech business implications from Washington, with a new RAPID reimbursement pathway and Real-Time Clinical Trials pilot announced this week. We’re covering all things DC in more depth through our new newsletter, On the Reg. Hit reply - I want to hear from you about these new programs.
AND MORE: Research papers, social commentary, investor outlooks, fresh jobs. Look for exciting bits about fascia, octopus, mitochondria, patient perceptions in FUS, another octopus, upcoming events, and much more.
🗓️ Save the Date! Two New Events in May
1) May 12: The Rise of Biocomputing: Using Neurons as new Computing Systems
On May 12th we’re sponsoring our first webinar with Neurofounders! Join us live to ask questions to leaders from Cortical Labs and FinalSpark. If you cannot make it, send us your questions. A recording and summary article will be sent out afterwards.
These are just two companies pursuing commercial applications, with other leaders and more to emerge. Following a private tour of The Biological Computing Company’s lab, I am deeply intrigued by the upside for neural organoids & biological computing. I want to know your top questions and meet your expert colleagues.
2) May 13: Dreams of Our Future: A Neurotech Odyssey
Join me in San Francisco May 13th at 7pm for a networking reception featuring some of my favorite neurotech visionaries! I’ll share the stage with some special founders building across the gamut of neurotechnology:
Blake Gurfein - CEO & founder, Fareon
Elise Jenkins - CTO & cofounder, Coherence Neuro
Corten Singer - President & cofounder, Augmental
Keith Murphy - CTO & cofounder, Attune Neurosciences
Nathalie Gouailhardou, CEO & founder, Neurode
Avery Krieger, CEO & cofounder, Constellation
Michel Maharbiz, CEO & cofounder, Epia Neuro
Omari Bouknight, CEO, Resonant Link Medical
The venue only holds 250 guests so register now and plan to arrive on time! There will also be an open bar + company demos + a private investor lounge.
I’m co-hosting this with Human+ Tech Week, whose Future of Healthspan event takes place before (and a few blocks away from) this. If you want to connect 1:1, the HTW forum is a great place to do it, so register with my discount code and reach out to grab a time there.
👋🏽 Hi, I’m Naveen. I believe brain health is human health. You are one of the 4,280 readers of my biweekly reports on emerging neurotech markets.
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PL Neuro: Eon’s demonstrated what it believes is the world's first whole-brain emulation producing multiple behaviors: uploading a fruit fly brain (140,000 neurons, 50M connections) into a physics-simulated digital body. The announcement went viral on X with millions of impressions and sparked genuine scientific debate.
Resonant Link Medical: “Old Ideas, New Innovations”, with Neuroloop, Cadence Neuroscience, and More - Watch the Webinar and Connect with Omari to learn more.
NANS: NANS Urges UnitedHealthcare to Revisit Stroke Therapy Coverage - Read the Letter
TTP: What’s it like to work with TTP? A perspective from a Start-up CEO and President, Paul Goode, PhD.
Datwyler: Join us in Mountain View, CA, June 10-11, 2026, at the TechBlick event, “The future of electronics RESHAPED.” Learn more and connect!
BADASS Labs: Your Lab, Your IP: Unlocking the Bay Area with Zero-Equity Shared Lab Space - Read More
Pssst - I work out of BADASS Labs Alameda office! Let me know if you want to arrange a visit or learn about their wet lab space.
Funding
Axoft Secures $55M Series A to Advance Clinical Trials Globally for its Bio-Inspired, Implantable Brain-Computer Interface (Business Wire)
US Brain Implant Company Tests in China in Apparent First (Bloomberg)
Trinity Capital Inc. Provides $50 Million in Growth Capital to Cala Health to Support Commercial Expansion of Wearable Tremor Therapy (PR Newswire)
Nervonik Announces $52.5 Million Series B Financing to Advance Peripheral Nerve Stimulation Therapy (MorningStar)
Era raises $11M to build a software platform for AI gadgets (TechCrunch)
If you find this interesting please reply and tell me why.
Sinaptica closed an oversubscribed $9 million round (LSI)
Khosla Ventures backs Sabi’s EEG Beanie (Wired)
Sabi’s cap will have anywhere from 70,000 to 100,000 miniature sensors. Chhabra says the company has so far amassed 100,000 hours worth of brain data from 100 volunteers.
More on Sabi from Dominic here. I honestly don’t understand this one. If you know more about Khosla’s interests here my inbox is open.
Cerca Magnetics Secures £3.8m/$5.2m in Series A Funding to Scale Quantum Brain Scanner (Quantum Insider)
Neurava Awarded $4 Million NIH Blueprint Optimizer Award to Develop SUDEP Risk Stratification Algorithm (PR Newswire)
Gabify, an Indian startup solving neurodevelopmental challenges in children, raises $175,000 in funding (Indian Startup Network)
ARPA-H announces first research teams in $139 million initiative to transform behavioral health (ARPA-H)
2026 Eli Lilly and Company Grand Challenge Grant Application (Nucleate)
SOMA Foundation Grant Program (SOMA Foundation)
KU Medical Center to receive $5 million from state legislature to build Kansas Brain Health Assessment Network (KUMC)
Sunnybrook Announces $41-Million Gift to Advance Canada’s Global Leadership in Clinical Trials (Sunnybrook Foundation)
Commercial
ResMed Acquires Noctrix for $360m (Michael West)
According to this analyst Noctrix is generating around $24m/year in revenue. What questions do you have about this exit? What does it signal to you?
NeurAxis Expands Payer Coverage with Four New Medical Policies (Yahoo Finance)
MintNeuro and Motif Neurotech Partner to Advance Miniature Brain-Computer Interface Therapy for Mental Health (PR Newswire)
Precision Neuroscience™ Partners With UChicago Medicine Researchers to Advance Brain–Computer Interface Research (GlobeNewswire)
SetPoint Medical Announces First Patients Enrolled in Pilot Study Evaluating Neuroimmune Modulation for Multiple Sclerosis (SetPoint Medical)
IntraNerve Neuroscience and Piramidal form a strategic partnership to develop AI tools that rapidly analyze continuous EEG data for seizure, stroke, and brain injury detection in critical care settings (PR Newswire)
NRx Pharmaceuticals Advances Robotic-Enabled Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Combined with Neuroplastic Therapy for Military and First Responder Applications (Yahoo)
“A key objective of the NRx Defense Systems initiative is to develop robotic and artificial intelligence-enabled solutions that can be forward-deployed within military organizations without relying on a new layer of skilled medical professionals. The prototype is being developed in partnership with Zeta Surgical, Inc., whose AI-powered neuronavigation platform received FDA 510(k) clearance for TMS navigation in October 2025.”
Nexalin Technology Advances Pivotal Clinical Trial of HALO™ Clarity Toward Q2 2026 Enrollment (Nexalin)
Neurable Open for Business: Scaling Neurotechnology Adoption Through Global OEM Integration (BusinessWire)
This strikes me as both a big pivot for a “smart headphone company,” but also as an inevitable evolution into the broader tech landscape. What are your thoughts, questions, predictions about this trend?
Neuvotion announces the upcoming launch of NeuStim as part of its AI-guided brain–body interface platform for stroke and spinal cord injury (PR Newswire)
Zeto Introduces NeuroNotis™: An AI-Enabled Report with Human Review (PR Newswire)
AHG announces initiation of world-class proprietary brain-computer interface R&D program, targeting the next frontier of human neurotechnology (PR Newswire)
NeuroOne, Eden Prairie company, expands OneRF med tech to trigeminal neuralgia chronic pain disorder (TCB Mag)
Connectome partners with football club Como 1907 (Connectome)
MYndspan Opens Its Analysis Pipeline to Clinicians, MEG Labs, and Individuals Worldwide (Fitt Insider)
Radial Expands to Seven Clinics with New Locations in Brooklyn and Spartanburg, SC(PR Newswire)
Ilan Gur joins Renaissance Philanthropy as a Senior Fellow (LinkedIn)
David Eagleman joins Subsense’s Scientific Advisory Board (Subsense)
Phagenesis Appoints Former Medtronic Executive Stephen Oesterle, MD, to Board of Directors (citybiz)
Regulatory
ANEUVO Receives FDA Clearance for ExaStim® (GlobeNewswire)
Motif Neurotech Receives FDA Approval to Begin First Clinical Trial of its Therapeutic BCI for Treatment-Resistant Depression (Business Wire)
CorTec’s Brain Interchange Accepted into FDA Total Product Life Cycle Advisory Program (TAP) – Third patient successfully implanted at Harborview Medical Center as NIH-funded stroke trial advances (Cortec)
Expert panel support for breakthrough medical devices: pilot programme (EMA)
CMS and FDA Announce RAPID Coverage Pathway to Accelerate Patient Access to Life-Changing Medical Devices (CMS)
Credit Where It’s Due: The RAPID Coverage Pathway (What the FDA)
CMS proposes repeal of add-on payment path for breakthrough devices (MedTechDive)
FDA Announces Real-Time Clinical Trials pilot (Marty Makary | HHS)
So many changes happening in Washington! I want to hear from you and your leadership team about the emerging programs above.
On the Reg: Regulatory Strategy, Opinion, and Insights for Neurotech Leaders
On the Reg is a new initiative to spotlight strategy, opinion, and insights from the neurotech field’s evolving regulatory landscape. It’s written for and by commercial leaders and experts from our a…
📌Community Board
🆕Pin your news - Highlight key deals, events, roles, or announcements!
D44 Capital is launching a series of high-impact neuro summits. This will start with the Berkshires Brain Summit 2026 in June, and continue with gatherings on autism, neurotech, psychedelics, neurodegeneration, and other areas. Learn more
ARIA: Massively Scalable Neurotechnologies - Apply by 11 May!
WashU’s Neurotech Hub: Engineering Hidden in Plain Sight: Novel Foraging Behavior - Read more
Industry
INBRAIN Neuroelectronics Completes Enrollment of World’s First-in-Human Study of Graphene Neural Interfaces for Brain Decoding & Mapping (Business Wire)
Kneu Health shares poster at the AAN Annual Conference: Real-World Multicentre Smartphone Based Tracking for Parkinson’s Disease (Kneu Health)
Nexalin Announces Peer-Reviewed Publication with Neuroimaging Data in Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics Highlighting Brain-Network Effects and Clinical Improvement in Chronic Insomnia (Nexalin)
ONWARD Medical Announces First Participant Enrolled in
Global Pivotal Study Evaluating ARC-IM System to Address
Blood Pressure Instability After Spinal Cord Injury (ONWARD)
Longevity Sector Update: Feb-April 2026 (Mary Furlong & Associates)
How AI Will Reshape Computer Systems by 2035: A Jeffersonian Dinner in San Francisco About Our 10,000x Future (CRA Industry)
The Imitation Game (Grounded Neuro)
Flow: Depression at home: FDA clears first at‑home brain stimulation device for major depression (New York Times)
The Real World Burden of post-stroke Dysphagia (Phagenyx)
Investors Sound Off on BCI Hype, Regulatory Risk, and the AI Gold Rush (Bio-IT World)
Brain Computer Interface Stocks: 10 Plays Beyond Neuralink (InvestorPlace)
New Peer-Reviewed Study Using BrainCheck Identifies Four Distinct Cognitive Trajectories in Patients Hospitalized for COVID-19 (Business Wire)
Comphya: Safety and tolerability of a novel implantable neurostimulator to improve erectile function: a pilot study in patients with spinal cord injury (Journal of Sexual Medicine)
Collaboration Connects Early Autism Diagnosis with High-Quality Outcomes-Driven Care Amid Industry-Wide Access Issues (PR Newswire)
HealthTechConnex: Monitoring Cognitive Brain Function Before and After Spaceflight: Feasibility of Brain Vital Signs (Space: Science & Technology)
Promises and performance in brain–machine interfaces: will AI be our saviour? (EPJ Special Topics)
huMannity Medtec Fulfills Alfred Mann’s Medical Visions (Neurotech Reports)
Extending Our Perception: What if we could build Hypersensory Intelligence – integrated systems of sensing and AI designed to tackle the world’s most critical challenges? (ARIA)
Related: How ARIA Is Reimagining Health With Radical New Approaches (Wired). ARIA is one step ahead of ARPA-H….
Neurotech Investing Into 2035 (Delphi Ventures)
Solid report. “The surge in capital interest isn’t coming from a single thesis. Sovereign wealth funds, defence agencies, consumer electronics strategics, clinical medtech incumbents and pure-play technology VCs are all deploying capital into the same space, each drawn by a different facet of the opportunity. The clinical value, the platform potential, the hardware moats, the data assets, the national security implications, or just the pure speculation in a market driven by frontier science. Neurotech is fundamentally interdisciplinary, sitting at the intersection of materials science, semiconductor engineering, clinical medicine, software and AI simultaneously. But the same structural forces that make neurotech compelling also make it treacherous to invest in without discipline. Category-defining infrastructure and well-funded science projects are hard to differentiate at first glance.”
Neurotech.TV
Can We Engineer Dreams? with Adam Haar Horowitz (David Eagleman)
A High-Resolution Atlas of the Developing Human Brain (Johns Hopkins Medicine)
The Swiss Tech Helping Paralyzed People Walk And Thrive Again (Core Memory)
Living with BCI - Nathan Copeland (Julius Moorman)
How to teach AI empathy using brain signals (Existential Hope)
New Jobs added in the last two weeks from LVIS, Paradromics, Synchron, Nerualink, Sharper Sense, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Blackrock, Saluda Medical, AXION, Abbott, Quiver, LivaNova and more!
Society
Why do discussions about ‘brain health’ ignore mental illness? (STAT | LinkedIn)
Brain science needs a new social contract (Dana Foundation in Nature)
Aligning Incentives to the Future of Science (Dana Fdn)
Sergey Brin’s Family Office Takes Over Brain-Focused VC Fund (Bloomberg)
Europe needs new rules for wellness neurotech devices (CfG)
A Synthetic Biology Pioneer Has Left Us: Remembering J. Craig Venter (1946–2026) (SynBioBeta)
Research
Do octopus brains work like humans’ — or is there another way to be smart? (Nature)
Solving the problem of inception: a cross-species perspective on strategies for a mechanistic refinement of intracortical microstimulation (Journal of Neural Engineering)
Analog Cognition and Consciousness (PsyArXiv)
Dr. Martijn Figee on the Psychiatry-Neurosurgery Collaboration that is Changing Everything (Frontier Psychiatrists)
Reporting from China highlights growing clinical use of brain–computer interface systems in stroke and motor recovery rehabilitation programs, with hospitals using non-invasive EEG-based BCIs to translate patients’ movement intentions into limb activation and strengthen brain–body connectivity (People’s Daily Online).
Coverage of Columbia Engineering’s BISC platform details a high-density, flexible brain–computer interface chip with 65,536 electrodes and integrated recording, stimulation, and wireless power/data, demonstrating chronic recordings in large-animal and intraoperative human settings and underscoring the trend toward thin, high-bandwidth cortical surface BCIs (In Electronics & Design).
Predictive coding with spiking neural networks: A survey (Neural Networks)
A survey on neuro-mimetic deep learning via predictive coding (Neural Networks)
Artificial neurons successfully communicate with living brain cells (Science Daily)
UW research team applies game theory to create a new framework for neural interface design (U of Wash)
Platform Bridges Gap to Human Brain Therapies (U of Wash)
Fuel for thought: A brain fit for the 21st century is one that understands – and respects – its own bioenergetic foundations (Aeon)
Wearable Technology and Its Role in Neurologic Care (Neurology)
Yawn. Milquetoast, nothing new. Where’s the brainy leadership here?
A standardized framework for reporting participant-experienced events in low intensity focused ultrasound neuromodulation (Brain Stimulation)
Effects of non-invasive spinal cord stimulation on autonomic function in individuals with subacute spinal cord injury: A pilot clinical trial protocol (PLOS One)
Long-Term Outcomes of Subthalamic Nucleus and Globus Pallidus Interna Deep Brain Stimulation for Young-Onset Parkinson Disease (Neurology Clinical Practice)
Fascia: The Fabric That Listens: (NeuroChronicle)
The Imitation Game: Foundation models in neuroscience: representational alignment versus mechanistic understanding (Grounded)
That’s a wrap! What did we miss? Let me know for next time.
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