BARCELONA, Spain--(BUSINESS WIRE)--INBRAIN Neuroelectronics S.L., a company in the intersection between Medtech, Deeptech and Digital Health dedicated to developing the world’s first intelligent graphene-brain interface, today announced $16.8 million in Series A funding for its disruptive system for treating epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease.
The investment, co-led by Asabys Partners and Alta Life Sciences, and joined by Vsquared Ventures and TruVenturo GmbH, includes the participation of the Spanish Ministry of Science’s CDTI and a follow-on investment by the Institut Català de Finances’ ICF Venture Tech II fund.
INBRAIN’s technology harnesses the power of graphene, a two-dimensional material first isolated in 2004 made of a lattice of carbon atoms only one atom thick. The strongest material ever tested, roughly 100 times stronger than the equivalent thickness of steel, graphene has unique electrical and thermal conduction properties that are still being explored.1,2
INBRAIN’s less-invasive graphene electrodes take advantage of some of these properties to enable ultra-high signal resolution at levels never seen before. The INBRAIN system’s machine learning software detects therapy-specific biomarkers to deliver highly focused, adaptive neuromodulation therapy that is personalized for each patient.
The funding will be used to advance INBRAIN’s first-in-human clinical program, aiming to establish the safety of graphene as the new standard of care for neurotechnology devices.
“At INBRAIN, our mission is to improve the lives of patients with brain-related diseases, who are forced to live alone with their conditions. Less invasive and more intelligent neuroelectronic technologies like ours could provide safer therapies that are upgradable and adaptive in real time, to empower these patients and improve the outcomes that matter to them,” said INBRAIN Neuroelectronics Co-founder & CEO Carolina Aguilar.
“Graphene technology has matured and is ready for the next challenge. This investment is an important stepping stone toward our goal of transforming the way neurological disorders are treated,” added Jose Garrido, Co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of INBRAIN.
“At Asabys, we believe strongly in the promise of dedicated ecosystems in developing treatments to transform the lives of patients everywhere. This investment shows how applied science, international talent and specialized financial support can generate truly disruptive therapies addressing significant unmet needs,” noted Asabys Managing Partner Josep Sanfeliu, who is chairman of the board at INBRAIN.
“Led by an extraordinary team of professionals and investors with long-time expertise in the industry, INBRAIN represents a revolution in current neurological treatments, addressing a clear medical need and lowering costs for healthcare systems,” said Scott Moonly, managing partner at Alta Life Sciences.
About INBRAIN Neuroelectronics
INBRAIN Neuroelectronics S.L., founded in 2019, is a medical device company dedicated to developing the world’s first intelligent graphene-brain interface to treat a variety of conditions. INBRAIN’s first product is designed to read and modulate brain activity, using artificial intelligence to trigger adaptive responses for personalized neurological therapy for epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease. For more information, please visit www.inbrain-neuroelectronics.com.
About Asabys Partners
Asabys Partners is a venture capital manager firm specialized in the healthcare sector, founded by Josep Ll. Sanfeliu and Clara Campàs and participated by Alantra. Its first investment vehicle, Sabadell Asabys Health Innovation Investments SCR, SA, was launched in 2019 and is backed by the Banc Sabadell as reference investor. The fund has a target size of more than €80M and invests in healthcare companies across three verticals: medtech, digital therapeutics and biotech, that have highly innovative and disruptive technologies. The fund’s investment in the company benefits from the financial backing of the European Union under the European Fund for Strategic Investments (“EFSI”) set up under the Investment Plan for Europe. The purpose of EFSI is to help support financing and implementing productive investments in the European Union and to ensure increased access to financing. www.asabys.com
About Alta Life Sciences
Alta Life Sciences Spain I FCR (ALSS I FCR) is a venture capital fund that invests in companies in all their stages of development: from financing through seed capital to business growth, and in all spheres of life sciences including biotechnology, medical devices, diagnosis, genomics and digital health. Altamar Private Equity SGIIC, a leading independent firm in the management of international private assets, is the managing company of ALSS I FCR and Alta Life Sciences, S.L., formed by leading professionals in the life sciences business, acting as an exclusive investment consultant. www.altals.com
About CDTI
CDTI is the body from the General State Administration that supports knowledge-based innovation, advising and offering public aid for innovation through subsidies or partially reimbursable aids. CDTI also internationalizes the R&D and innovation business projects of Spanish companies and entities and manages Spanish participation in international R&D organizations, such as Horizonte2020 and Eureka, as well as in the Science and Space industries. Additionally, through the Innvierte Economía Sostenible initiative, it supports and facilitates the capitalization of technology companies. www.cdti.es
About Vsquared Ventures
Vsquared Ventures is a VC firm based in Munich. Backed by leading European technology entrepreneurs and family offices, Vsquared Ventures embraces technology to advance society. Past founding investments include Isar Aerospace and IQM Quantum Computers among others. www.vsquared.vc
About TruVenturo
TruVenturo is one of the most successful early stage investors and company builders in Europe. For over a decade TruVenturo has been investing at the forefront of digitalization and life sciences, always focusing on identifying big future markets and disruptive business models. Therefore, the team is a strong believer in pharma to prevent age related disease and prolong healthy human lifespan as well as utilising neurostimulation technologies to create bi-directional Computer-Brain-Interfaces. TruVenturo’s current portfolio includes over 20 companies, among them several industry leaders and hidden champions. www.truventuro.com
About ICF Venture Tech II
ICF Venture Tech II FCRE is a €20M venture capital fund managed by ICF Capital SGEIC that invests in technology and innovative companies with high growth potential in early stage and Series A. It is one of the four venture capital funds directly managed by Institut Català de Finances. Investments are mainly in equity or debt/convertible debt, preferably in co-investment with other funds. The ticket size is between €500,000 and €2M. www.icf.cat
1Cao, K. (2020). "Elastic straining of free-standing monolayer graphene". Nature Communications. 11 (284): 284.
2 Novoselov, K. S.; Geim, A. K.; Morozov, S. V.; Jiang, D.; Zhang, Y.; Dubonos, S. V.; Grigorieva, I. V.; Firsov, A. A. (22 October 2004). "Electric Field Effect in Atomically Thin Carbon Films". Science. 306 (5696): 666–669.
