Neuralink rival Precision raises $102m, and other financings

Precision Neurosciences has closed an impressive $102 million investment round as it races with Elon Musk's Neuralink and others to bring brain-computer interface (BCI) technology to the market.

The New York-based company's Series C brings its total funding to around $155 million and will be used to accelerate clinical trials of its brain implant, which is being developed initially to enable paralysed people to operate computers with their thoughts. It will also go towards new hires and developing future versions of its artificial intelligence-powered BCI, said the company.

While Neuralink has been grabbing headlines due to its association with controversial billionaire Musk, other companies - including Precision, Blackrock Neurotech, Paradromics, and Inbrain Neuroelectronics - have been making advances in the BCI field with less of a fanfare.

Precision – which was co-founded by former Neuralink executive Benjamin Rapoport – broke the world record for the number of neuron-stimulating electrodes placed on a living human's brain (more than 4,000) earlier this year, and implanted its device into a test patient last year, months before Neuralink achieved that first-in-human milestone.

Unlike Neuralink's N1, which is implanted into the brain, Precision's device does not penetrate the brain at all, but rests on top, and has now been implanted in more than a dozen subjects.

"We're beginning by addressing some of the most debilitating disorders – severe spinal cord injury, stroke, ALS – and our goal is to develop a product that is safe enough, and scalable enough, to treat a broad range of neurological conditions," said Michael Mager, the company's co-founder and chief executive. "This funding brings us one step closer to that vision."

The third-round financing was led by General Equity Holdings, with participation from investors including B Capital, Duquesne Family Office, the investment firm of Stanley F Druckenmiller, and Steadview Capital and, according to Precision, makes it "one of the best-funded companies in the BCI industry."

Morgan Stanley recently estimated the commercial BCI market could reach a value of $400 billion in the US alone.

Other financings

In other recent digital health financing news, investment firm Redesign Health closed a $175 million fund that will be used to back healthtech start-ups, plus rounds for DeepLife, TG0, and Tuva Health.

New York-based Redesign Health's new fund – its largest so far – will support around 20 new companies and will focus on those working in areas like addressing healthcare labour shortages, preparing for an ageing population, eliminating barriers to health equity, and growing the insured patient population, among others.

France's DeepLife gathered $10 million in Series A financing for its AI-powered models to simulate living human cells – described as 'digital twins' of cells – that are designed to make new medicine discovery more effective and reliable by simulating drug effects at a molecular level.

UK-based human-machine interface specialist TG0 closed a $4.5 million ($5.7m) Series B to fund its work to develop AI-powered hardware technology for use in industries including medtech. In the health arena, it is working on pressure mapping and touch-sensing devices for therapy, rehabilitation, and training applications.

Finally, US health data and analytics start-up Tuva Health emerged out of the shadows with $5 million for its open-source platform that turns electronic health record (EHR) and health claims data into an actionable resource for payers, providers, and pharma companies.