Synchron, a New York-based endovascular brain-computer interface (BCI) company, raised $75M in Series C funding.
The investor syndicate included new investors ARCH Venture Partners, Gates Frontier, Bezos Expeditions, Reliance Digital Health Limited, Greenoaks, Alumni Ventures, Moore Strategic Ventures, and Project X, with follow on participation from existing investors including Khosla Ventures, NeuroTechnology Investors, METIS, Forepont Capital Partners, ID8 Investments, Shanda Group and University of Melbourne. Ari Nowacek from ARCH Venture Partners will join Synchron’s Board of Directors, and ARCH Co-Founder and Managing Director Robert Nelsen will join as Board Observer.
The company, which has raised $145M since inception, intends to use the funds to accelerate product development, facilitate commencement of a pivotal clinical trial, and advance its market approval for the treatment of paralysis.
Led by CEO and founder Tom Oxley, Synchron is a clinical-stage endovascular brain computer interface (BCI) company. Since 2012, the company has been developing a BCI platform that avoids the need for open brain surgery by using a minimally-invasive procedure. The Synchron Switch™ brain computer interface is implanted in the blood vessel on the surface of the motor cortex of the brain via the jugular vein, through a minimally-invasive endovascular procedure. Once implanted, it is designed to detect and wirelessly transmit motor intent out of the brain, restoring a capability for severely paralyzed patients to control personal devices with hands-free point-and-click.
The Synchron Switch BCI received FDA Breakthrough Device Designation in 2020, and is currently in human clinical trials in the US and Australia. The company has an ongoing US clinical trial, COMMAND, that assesses the impact on daily tasks such as texting, emailing, online shopping, and telehealth services. The FDA granted Breakthrough Device designation to Synchron in August 2020 and an Investigational Device Exemption in July 2021.
Synchron is based in Brooklyn, New York with R&D facilities in Melbourne, Australia.
FinSMEs
15/12/2022