Synchron through Business Wire
Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos- backed foundations ( Gates Frontier and Bezos Expeditions) have joined other companies in investing $ 75 million in Synchron, the endovascular brain-computer interface (BCI) company, according to a press release by the organization published on Thursday. This is a Series C financing round led by ARCH Venture Partners that brings the total amount raised since inception to $145 million.
Additional companies investing are Reliance Digital Health Limited, Greenoaks, Alumni Ventures, Moore Strategic Ventures, and Project X join ARCH as new additional investors. Existing investors, including Khosla Ventures, NeuroTechnology Investors, METIS, Forepont Capital Partners, ID8 Investments, Shanda Group and University of Melbourne participated in the round.
The funding will serve to support and promote the development of Synchron’s first platform product (Synchron Switch BCI), as well as the beginning of a pivotal clinical trial.
Synchron through Business Wire
“We have an opportunity to deliver a first-in-class commercial BCI. The problem of paralysis is much larger than people realize. 100 million people worldwide have upper limb impairment,” said Tom Oxley, M.D., Ph.D., CEO & Founder, Synchron. “We are extremely excited to work with ARCH and this world-class syndicate to bring this technology to the people who need it.”
“At ARCH, our approach has always been to pair great science and technology with remarkable teams to build disruptive companies. The technology we witnessed at Synchron is helping people with previously untreatable conditions regain connection to the world. It is an exciting time for neurotechnology,” said ARCH Co-Founder and Managing Director Robert Nelsen.
The Synchron Switch brain computer interface is designed to detect and wirelessly transmit motor intent out of the brain. This will restore a capability for severely paralyzed patients to control personal devices with hands-free point-and-click. The device 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.
In July 2021, Synchron received the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) green light to run a clinical trial with human patients, beating out competitors such as Elon Musk's Neuralink. The goal at the time was to implant a device called Stentrode in the brain to allow paralyzed patients to operate digital devices like computer cursors with their thoughts.
Synchron has already conducted a number of experiments, such as the four-patient study in Australia where two of the patients were able to control their computer with their thoughts thanks to data transfer from motor cortex to digital devices. However, the first U.S. patient was only implanted in July 2022 at Mount Sinai in New York.
Synchron also has an ongoing U.S. clinical trial, COMMAND, that assesses the impact on daily tasks such as texting, emailing, online shopping, and telehealth services. In addition, the FDA granted Breakthrough Device designation to the start-up in August 2020 and an Investigational Device Exemption in July 2021.
The latest investment will also see Ari Nowacek from ARCH Venture Partners join Synchron’s Board of Directors, and ARCH Co-Founder and Managing Director Robert Nelsen join as Board Observer.
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