Neurotech Notables #55: May 15-31, 2026

Fund, Acquire, Partner, Build: Neurotech CROs are coming

Happy Monday Readers,

Daycare germs are The Worst. Here’s your Dayquil-fueled notable neurotech updates from the last two weeks of May.

• Funding & Commercial: $70m+ in fresh capital for neurosurgical brain mapping, BCI, focused ultrasound, tDCS, and more. Medtronic’s $650m purchase of SPR was the most notable of several acquisitions across diagnostics, digital health, and eye tracking, but the MedTech giant faces an ongoing leadership transition in neuro. Other key leadership news worth noting too.

• The emergent Neurotech CRO stack: Oura’s two new partnerships with ResMed and Cambridge Cognition, BIOS Health’s spinout of Kordata, Clearpoint’s 10-year focused ultrasound deal, and an ophthalmology clinical research buyout are all the latest signals that neurotech’s best short-term business bets might be in biotech. Your thoughts welcome.

• Regulatory wins: Noninvasive neuromodulation gains more traction with Neurovalens’ de novo approval for PTSD and MagStim’s 510k for accelerated TMS. Meanwhile, Neuropace’s new AI clearance and ABILITY’s IMDD Approval show the ongoing evolution of clinical brain implants.

• Elsewhere in this edition: New Foundation models from Sophont and Alljoined. A new focused ultrasound industry group emerges. A global study of the mental health disease burden in Lancet. New research into speech-based cognitive assessment, exposome, sleep, consciousness, and clitoral nerve mapping. As always, fresh job postings, upcoming events and deadlines, & more!

In local news: I joined Omniscient’s Business of Neurotech podcast, wrote about a new spinout venture from BIOS, and published our second regulatory review last week. Check out a new partnership with Arkane Capital in the Community Board below and reach out as pertinent. Stay tuned for more neurotech analysis and commentary this month!

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👋🏽 Hi, I’m Naveen. I believe brain health is human health. You are one of the 4,787 readers of my biweekly reports on emerging neurotech markets.
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Interested in Becoming an Ecosystem Partner? Inquire today.

• PL Neuro: Episode 3: Jacques Carolan — The Mission to Get Breakthrough Brain Treatments to Everyone - Watch Now

• Resonant Link Medical: If you’re looking for unprecedented performance, power to unlock new capabilities, and a faster, lower-risk path to market, meet Vivigo™ — Resonant Link Medical’s 20-Minute Universal Charger, now in its next generation.

• NANS: NANS Applauds Aetna for Revising Policy on Peripheral Electrical Nerve Stimulation for Pain Policy - Read More

• TTP: Exploring ultrasound-enabled devices? Discover the engineering lessons behind integrating ultrasound into complex product architectures. Find out more

• Datwyler: Join us in Mountain View, CA, June 10-11, 2026, at the TechBlick event, “The future of electronics RESHAPED.” Learn more and sign up!

• BrainMind: BioPhilia: How to Harness Nature for Wellbeing - Explore Infographic

  

  “Explore BrainMind’s Biophilia infographic: a landscape of 12 concrete habits you can adapt outdoors and indoors to support mental wellness through the power of nature.” (source)

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Funding

• Omniscient Neurotechnology Closes $27.2M Series D to Expand Connectomics-Driven Clinical and BCI Applications (InsideBCI)

• Japanese Alzheimer’s Startup Sound Wave Raises About $17 Million (WSJ)

• Neurosoft Bioelectronics Closes $7.5M Oversubscribed Seed Round to Build Stretchable and Scalable Brain-Computer Interfaces (Morningstar)

• Kordata Launches to Advance Neurotech Powered Clinical Trials (Forbes)

• Psilera Closes Oversubscribed $8.8M Seed Funding Round to Accelerate Neuroplastogen PSIL-006 Into the Clinic (PR Newswire)

• ReVision closes oversubscribed €4m round (LinkedIn)

• Wearable Startup Sychedelic Raises $3.5 Mn in Seed Funding (Indian Retailer)

• UC San Diego Awarded $4.85M to Grow NEMAR into HPC Hub for Neuro-AI (UC San Diego)

• Neurotype Awarded NIH Phase II SBIR Support to Advance NeuromarkR™ (Neurotype)

In Case You Missed It: Last month we published a YTD roundup of implanted BCI funding around the world, as part of our limited series with PL Neuro

Commercial

• Medtronic announces intent to acquire SPR Therapeutics, Inc., for $650 million, expanding care options for people living with chronic pain (Medtronic)

  • Medtronic Neuroscience head Brett Wall to depart, replacement named (Mass Device)

• CortiCare announced the acquisition of Integris Neuro LLC (Linkedin)

• Nexalin Acquires AI-Integrated Digital Health Platform Behind HALO™ Clarity and Nexalin NeuroCare™ Ahead of Planned FDA Pivotal Trial (Nexalin)

• Lexitas Pharma Services, a Leading Ophthalmology CRO, Announces the Acquisition of Erie Retina Research, CASExERIE and Element Erie (Business Wire)

• Strategic Analysis of the ResMed and Oura Partnership: Bridging Consumer Wearables and Clinical Sleep Medicine (Nelson Advisors)

• Launch of brain health study with Oura (Cambridge Cognition)

• ClearPoint Neuro Enters into 10-year Focused Ultrasound Development Partnership with Sungkyunkwan University, South Korea, Further Expanding Our Drug Delivery Ecosystem and Global Footprint (Yahoo)

• Brian Pepin announces departure from Rune Labs (LinkedIn)

• Alison Buick joins ki:elements as Therapeutic Area Lead, Alzheimer’s Disease (LinkedIn)

• TBC Taps Into Big Tech, Academic Networks to Secure New Strategic Advisors (PR Newswire)

• Naqi Logix Joins Lenovo Innovation Accelerator at BEYOND Expo at Macao (EIN Presswire)

Regulatory

• Neurovalens earns FDA nod for neuromod fo PTSD (Mass Device)

• MagVenture Receives FDA Clearance for Accelerated TMS Protocols, Expanding Flexibility for Clinics and Patients (MagVenture)

• Neuropace announces new FDA-Approved NeuroPace AI application for the RNS® System - designed to streamline iEEG review in PDMS (LinkedIn)

• ABILITY Neurotech Receives IMDD Approval to Start Clinical Trial for Chronic Implantation of Brain-Computer Interface in ALS Patients (Yahoo Finance)

• Nexalin Technology Secures key Neurostimulation Legislative Provision & Commends U.S. House-Passed Report Language Expanding Non-Invasive Deep Brain Neurostimulation Research at the Department of Veterans Affairs for Traumatic Brain Injury (Nexalin)

• OMB published 412 pages in the Federal Register that give political appointees the authority to terminate NIH grants, override peer review scores, and block publishing, attending conferences, or subscribing to journals with federal funds (LinkedIn)

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📌Community Board

🆕Pin your news - Highlight key deals, events, roles, or announcements!

• Arkane Capital is looking for founders and scientists building novel applications of non-invasive neuromodulation for brain health that can replace drugs and invasive stimulation methods. If this describes you or someone in your network, please reply with pertinent materials.

• Before the June 5 deadline, Hear from Researchers Inside the SPARK NS Program (SparksNS | (Clinical Trials)

• New Global Clinical Society to Bring Focused Ultrasound Into Mainstream Medicine (Focused Ultrasound Foundation)

• Brain Tech Australia- early bird pricing available until 31 July by registering here: braintechaustralia.com.au

• Nucleate is building a fundraising guidebook to support early-stage life sciences founders as they navigate raising capital (Linkedin)

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Industry

• Oral Health Map (LinkedIn)

• SetPoint Medical Announces First Patients Enrolled in Pilot Study Evaluating Neuroimmune Modulation for Multiple Sclerosis (Shepherd Center | Linkedin)

• Release of CortexMAE and Brainmarks, fMRI Foundation Models & Benchmarking Tools (Sophont)

• Decoding Emotion from EEG: Introducing NOVA (Alljoined)

• Neurotechnology Industry Trends 2026: BCI, AI, Neuromodulation, Wearable EEG and Neural Data Privacy (Brain Patch)

• Is AI Set to Supercharge Medical Devices? (WSJ)

• Mitacs helps Neron AI build brain assessment tools for medical and military use (Mitacs)

• BrainPatch launches Academic Program (BrainPatch)

• Terrific new report just out via the G7 France Presidency (Linkedin)

• Is the most impactful & innovative AI wearable in the world being built in Singapore? (Linkedin)

• Miruns is accepted into the Ignite programme at Cambridge Judge Business School (Linkedin)

• The Future of Brain Medicine with Owen Muir (NeurotechX)

• Blood pressure tech floods the market after FDA relaxes wearables oversight (Stat 10)

• NextSense: A novel, wearable, in-ear EEG technology to assess sleep and daytime sleepiness (Bioelectronic Medicine)

• Cerevia Neurosciences announces they were selected for the 2026 MedTech Innovator Accelerator Cohort through the American Heart Association Speciality Track (Linkedin)

• Four decades of Alzheimer’s disease discoveries, data, and research resources: The NIH Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center Program (Linkedin)

• The next generation of wheelchairs can navigate curbs and hold beverages (PittWire)

Neurotech.TV

• Jon Nelson and Amanda Geisinger at Asilomar for the Brain and Mind (Youtube)

• New Books in Neuroscience: Yosef Grodzinsky, “How Deeply Human Is Language?: Chomsky, the Brain, and the AI Fantasy” (Medlink Neurology)

• Inflammation, Limbic White Matter, and Symptoms After Repetitive Head Impacts in Retired Football Players (Spotify)

• Jacques Carolan - The Mission to Get Breakthrough Brain Treatments to Everyone (Youtube)

• Bernd Montag’s latest SHIFT Innovation Talk (Linkedin)

• “Lived Experience” in neurorehabilitation (Virginia Tech News)

• Groundbreaking treatment for depression with Dr. Owen Muir (Good Morning America)

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New Jobs from: LVIS, Beacon Biosignals, Kforce, Precision Neuroscience, Synchron, Coherence Neuro, LivaNova, Astera Institute, and Nia Therapeutics. Browse, apply, and post your open roles for free!

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Society

• EBC Introduces the Seal of Responsible Neurotechnology (European Brain Council)

• Linking the exposome to the brain–behaviour phenotype (Nature)

• Recommendations on post-trial responsibility in implantable neural device research: a multidisciplinary consensus study (Springer)

• China moves AI brain implants from trials towards real-world use (Nature)

• Attention Spans Aren’t Shrinking (Cognitive Wonderland)

• The Autism “Overdiagnosis” Debate Is Really About the Limits of the Medical Model (Linkedin)

• Beyond One-Size-Fits-All: A Neuroscientist’s Battle with Anxiety & Depression (ADAA)

• Your Brain Deserves the Same Care as the Rest of You (Linkedin)

• Scientists mapped all the nerves of the clitoris for the first time (Live Science)

Research

• Matthew Sacchet - What can the interface of sleep, consciousness, and advanced meditation teach us? (Linkedin)

• Speech-based digital cognitive assessment for clinical trials: Detecting cognitive impairment stages and AD biomarker relations across European cohorts (Alzheimer’s & Dementia)

• Premotor cortex uses a compositional neural geometry to plan words (BioRxiv)

• Machine Learning Doubles Depression Remission Rate (Neuroscience News)

• A deep-learning framework reveals whole-body perturbations at cell level (Nature)

• Updated trends in the global prevalence and burden of mental disorders, 1990-2023: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2023 (The Lancet)

• Printed devices turn neuromorphic (Nature)

• A clinically integrated, frameless human Neuropixels workflow (medRxiv)

• Sequential visual stimuli increase high frequency power in the visual cortex (Nature)

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That’s a wrap! What did we miss? Let me know for next time.

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