FlectoThink (柔灵科技), a brain-machine interface (BMI) startup, has bagged tens of millions of yuan from a pre-Series A round of funding, a medtech-focused media outlet VB Data reported on October 9
The round was led by Bluebay Group, with participation from Zheng He Xiang, a pharmacy chain, and a former partner at Bain Capital.
Two other industrial venture funds also took part but chose not to reveal their information.
Following the latest fundraiser, Hangzhou-based FlectoThink plans to accelerate the commercialization of products such as BMI sleep monitors.
At the same time, it will speed up the clinical trial of products in the pipelines and certification of existing products with the National Medical Products Administration.
The pre-Series A came after the company’s angel and angel+ rounds in August 2021 and March 2023, respectively.
Treatment of sleep disorder
According to FlectoThink, proceeds from the latest fundraising will be plunged into several areas.
To begin with, the company looks to further market its brain-computer interface (BCI) sleep monitor, which was already licensed in May this year.
It will be sold primarily to China’s public hospitals at every level, in a bid to help establish smart sleep centers within these organizations.
Image credit: Unsplash
The firm plans to partner with sports rehab facility, Traditional Chinese Medicine parlor, retail drugstore, internet hospital and meditation studio, to deploy the sleep monitors.
“Based on precise quantifiable data gathered by sleep monitors, we can better empower stakeholders involved in the treatment of sleep disorder,” said Chen Wenkai, co-founder and chief business officer of FlectoThink.
A foothold in EMG
Apart from its presence in the electroencephalogram (EEG) sector, the company also has a foothold in electromyography (EMG).
It aims to monetize innovations like an EMG wristband. Designed to function in a similar way to EEG products, this gadget is scalable and can serve as a new form of interaction under the metaverse.
Photo courtesy of FlectoThink
FlectoThink has begun to work with a top domestic automaker to verify its EMG-driven human-machine interaction solutions to push the boundaries of commercial application.
What’s more, it will increase the spending in the R&D of invasive BCI products, and facilitate clinical trials, to better solve shared problems facing patients.
These include regaining the walking ability through spinal cord stimulation, restoring sight to the blind via artificial reconstruction of visual nerves, emotional decoding and closed-loop emotional control.
Standard bearer in BCI
Currently, the startup is supplying these invasive BCI devices to several top-notch domestic hospitals, including Xuanwu Hospital and Chinese PLA General Hospital in Beijing.
Commenting on its investment into FlectoThink, Deng Jianxin, founding partner at Bluebay Group, said he expects the company to leverage its worldclass EEG and EMG technologies, unparalleled material science and modular designs, to realize continuous innovations in use cases and technical iterations.
“We hope FlectoThink will become a standard bearer in the BCI segment moving forward,” said Deng.
According to the startup, in the medical use case, the global market for BCI technologies is forecast to hit US$145 billion in 2040. The Chinese market, for its part, is projected to record revenue in excess of 100 billion yuan (US$13.71 billion) by then.
