AI neurotech health company Elemind comes out of stealth with $12 million

The company has developed a wearable that can read individual brainwaves and respond in real-time

Right now, the best way to diagnose mental health conditions, such as depression and anxiety, is self-reported data from questionnaires like the PHQ-9 and the GAD-7. That's beginning to change as a number of companies are starting to measure the brain itself through specific biomarkers, as a way of diagnosing, and treating, these diseases; the most well known of those is Elon Musk's Neuralink, which recently announced that it implanted a brain chip in a human being for the first time. 

Now there's a new player on the scene: AI neurotech health company Elemind, which came out of stealth on Tuesday and revealed a $12 million seed round, which it says it will use "to further develop its first product ahead of its reveal in the coming months."

Founded by in 2019 by neuroscientists and researchers from MIT, UConn, and Imperial College of London, the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Elemind is developing wearable with what it calls “electric medicine” technology, which can non-invasively read individual brainwaves and guide 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; this allows issues to be addressed without the side effects of pharmaceuticals. The device is able to augment sleep, attention, and, as the company puts it, "the human experience."

“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,” Meredith Perry, CEO and co-founder of Elemind, said in a statement. 

“We’re the first and only company able to precisely guide and redirect brainwaves in real-time.”

Elemind has partnered with multiple leading research institutions to validate the technology and build applications for it. So far, clinical trials have shown its technology to be effective at inducing sleep up to 74% faster, suppressing essential tremor with a significant decrease after only 30 seconds of stimulation, increasing pain thresholds, enhancing sedation, and boosting memory. 

The company's first product is decribed as a general wellness device and will not be subject to FDA regulation.

Investors in the new funding round included Village Global, an early-stage venture fund backed by Jeff Bezos, Reid Hoffman, Bill Gates and Ann Wojcicki, along with LDV Partners, 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.

In conjunction with the funding Dr. Qing Zhang, a partner at LDV, and a Harvard-trained medical doctor, has joined the board of directors at Elemind.

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.

Companies in the neurotech space 

In addition to Neuralink, other companies in the neurotech space include Neumora Therapeutics, which matches the right patient populations to targeted therapeutics; Ceribell, a brain monitor for point-of-care seizure triage and treatment optimization; Synchron, developer of an endovascular brain computer interface; Alto Neuroscience, which is studying the brain to match the right patient with the right drug; and Fisher Wallace Laboratories, which is creating wearables that treats the brain electrically to relieve depression, anxiety and insomnia.

(Image source: elemindtech.com)