Neuroscientists Unveil Technology to Address Health Issues without Pharma; Investors include Village Global, LDV Partners, founders of Skype and Nest, and MIT Investment Fund
A group of leading scientists, doctors and entrepreneurs are unveiling a first-of-its-kind wearable neurotechnology platform that uses proprietary algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI) to improve health through noninvasive, proactive brainwave stimulation, without the side effects of pharmaceuticals. Elemind, the new AI-enhanced neurotech health company, emerged from stealth, closing a $12M Seed round to further develop its first product ahead of its reveal in the coming months.
The scientists launching the company are associated with leading research institutions, like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Imperial College London, Harvard Medical School and the University of California at Berkeley. The team published multiple studies proving the efficacy of the science and technology in peer-reviewed journals including Nature Communications.
The company’s wearable neurotechnology reads individual brainwaves and guides them in real-time by responding with tailored stimulation. Precision guidance of brainwaves changes behavior in a smarter, more targeted and natural way than pharmaceuticals.
Elemind calls the approach “electric medicine”—a drug-free, personalized and adaptive approach that fine-tunes the stimulation based on the body’s response until the desired state is achieved. The company partnered with multiple leading research institutions to validate the technology and build applications for it.
To date, Elemind’s technology is supported by five clinical trials and several publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals. Clinical trials show Elemind’s technology is effective at inducing sleep up to 74% faster, suppressing essential tremor with a significant decrease after only 30 seconds of stimulation, and boosting memory. Clinical trials also demonstrate Elemind is effective at increasing pain thresholds and enhancing sedation; this study is currently in peer review. Elemind has potential impact across many neurological conditions.
“Chemical drugs affect the entire body, often leading to unwanted side effects. Elemind offers a non-chemical, direct, and on-demand solution that learns and dynamically adjusts to each person,” said Meredith Perry, CEO and co-founder of Elemind. “We’re the first and only company able to precisely guide and redirect brainwaves in real-time.”
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Top-tier Tech Investors and Founders Participate in Round
The company’s seed round boasts a list of investors that includes some of the industry’s most successful entrepreneurs, business leaders and funds:
- Village Global was the first investor in the company. Village is an early-stage venture fund backed by Jeff Bezos, Reid Hoffman, Bill Gates and Ann Wojcicki, among others.
- LDV Partners, a global deep-tech and life sciences fund, also invested. LDV Partner Dr. Qing Zhang, a seasoned investor and entrepreneur, and a Harvard-trained medical doctor, has taken a seat on Elemind’s board.
- Other funds participating in the round included MIT’s investment fund, E14 Fund, Wharton’s Alumni Angel fund, Embark Ventures, as well as the founders of Skype, Nest, Opentable, Broadvision, Boston Scientific, Vital Proteins, and Fab Fit Fun.
“We were impressed by Meredith and the team’s bold vision, the significant market potential, and were fortunate to be the first investor in Elemind,” said Erik Torenberg, Venture Partner at Village Global. “Elemind’s neurotech wearable represents the latest advancements in the industry. The team has made significant progress towards its vision and has made our decision to invest look easy. I’m excited about what’s to come in 2024.”
“Elemind is revolutionizing neurotechnology,” said Dr. Qing Zhang MD, partner at LDV Partners. “Their innovative design combines cutting-edge technology with thoughtful craftsmanship to help individuals improve their health.”
Technology/Research
The Elemind team has been conducting research and developing its technology in stealth since 2019. Elemind currently holds three critical patents covering its core signal processing algorithms and dynamic neurostimulation techniques.
The team includes several seasoned neuroscientists and researchers:
- Dr. Ed Boyden, co-founder, has served as a neurotechnology professor at MIT for 17 years and pioneered the field of Optogenetics. He’s a Howard Hughes Medical Investigator and Stanford Neuroscience PhD. Boyden co-founded TI Solutions AG, SynLife, Cognito Therapeutics and Expansion Technologies, and won the Breakthrough Prize.
- Dr. David Wang, PhD in Artificial Intelligence from MIT, is co-founder and chief technology officer (CTO). Previously he was co-founder and CTO of the NuVu Innovation School.
- Dr. Ryan Neely, PhD Neuroscience from UC Berkeley where he studied brain-machine interfaces, is vice president, Science and Research. He held prior positions at Known Medicine and iota Biosciences, and studied and taught neuroscience at Harvard University.
- Dr. Nir Grossman, co-founder, is an 11-year neuroscience professor at Imperial College London and an MIT Research Fellow.
- Dr. Heather Read, co-founder, is a 21-year behavioral neuroscience and biomedical engineering professor at the University of Connecticut.
“A new era of transformative neurotechnology is arriving and Elemind is at its forefront,” said Dr. David Wang, CTO and co-founder of Elemind. “Elemind broke new ground with an algorithm that allows for instantaneous neuromodulation. Each brain is unique and constantly changing, so we leverage AI and ML to optimize stimulation parameters to achieve the desired state the fastest. You can think about it like noise cancellation for the mind – our technology uses phase-locking auditory stimuli to align precisely with the user’s brainwaves and steer them to a different frequency associated with a different state.”
SOURCE: BusinessWire
