Brain Science Meets Smart Capital: Redefining the Future of Neurotechnology with Sequoia China
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Brain science represents one of the fundamental scientific challenges facing human society and is regarded as the “final frontier” in humanity’s understanding of nature and itself. In China, brain disorders—including autism, sleep disorders, depression, Parkinson’s disease, and Alzheimer’s disease—affect more than 100 million patients, accounting for the largest share of the healthcare burden. With the continuous emergence of AI-driven innovations and ongoing advances in brain and cognitive sciences, breakthroughs in fields such as brain disorders are poised to trigger substantial industrial transformation.
Understanding the structure and function of the brain is one of the most challenging frontier scientific issues of the 21st century, with broad application prospects. Currently, advanced countries and regions worldwide, including the United States, the European Union, and Japan, are actively launching brain science initiatives. In 2021, China officially launched the billion-level “China Brain Project,” and brain science was listed for the first time as a standalone key frontier area in China’s 14th Five-Year Plan. The plan clearly adopts a “one body, two wings” framework, which is based on researching the neural principles of brain cognition, aiming to develop treatments for major brain disorders and promote the development of next-generation artificial intelligence.
It is precisely due to the promising prospects of brain science and supportive policies that it has also gained favor in the market. According to data from CB Insights, the global market size for brain science was $6.2 billion in 2020 and is projected to surpass $10 billion by 2024, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17% expected between 2020 and 2024, thereby positioning it as the next industry potentially capable of delivering disruptive impacts on human society.
This is the finest era for medical innovation. Looking ahead to innovations in brain science and healthcare, we must forge ahead through uncharted territory, building on past achievements to open up new horizons. The 21st century is the “Century of Brain Science.” Only by aligning scientific and technological achievements with national needs, public demand, and market requirements, and by successfully making the triple leap from scientific research and experimental development to widespread application, can we realize the value of innovation and drive innovation-led development, thereby truly propelling China’s brain science into a new stage.
In this context, the 2022·6th Future Healthcare Top 100 Conference, in partnership with Sequoia China, co-hosted the Forum on Innovative Development of the Brain Science Industry. Starting from the perspective of driving technological innovation and industrial transformation, and focusing on research institutes, innovative enterprises, and investment institutions as core threads, the forum aimed to listen to the insights of scientists, entrepreneurs, and investors on shaping competitiveness in the cutting-edge field of global brain science. It sought to facilitate the incubation of the future backbone innovators in brain science over the next decade, helping them transition from concepts to applications and from research to production at the current stage, thereby jointly decoding the innovation secrets of life sciences’ “final frontier.”
This forum aims to establish a highland for cutting-edge technologies in the health and medical industry, propelling the brain science industry toward high-quality, high-level, and high-standard development. It seeks to continuously promote the integrated development of innovation, entrepreneurship, and venture capital in the field of brain science, build an industrial ecosystem with highly aggregated and rapidly developing upstream and downstream segments of the brain science industry chain, and deeply tap into the innovative vitality of the future brain industry. The Brain Science Industry Innovation and Development Forum is imminent; here is a sneak preview of the four major highlights of the conference:
By integrating resources from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, academic experts, partners from top-tier investment firms, and innovative enterprises, this initiative aims to converge industry, academia, research, and investment sectors to co-create a medical science and technology innovation ecosystem. It strives to comprehensively showcase the pioneering forces in China’s brain science field and fully promote cross-industry exchange and interaction. Furthermore, Sequoia China, as one of the co-organizers of this forum, has been actively investing in the brain science-related industrial chain, including leading companies in the brain-computer interface (BCI) sector such as NeuroXess. As a bridge between academia and industry, insights into how top-tier investment institutions like Sequoia China evaluate emerging technologies can be further gleaned from the on-site discussions.
The forum provides a rare opportunity for scientists, entrepreneurs, and investors to exchange ideas and foster collaboration. It offers a panoramic overview of the innovation ecosystem integrating industry, academia, and research from the perspectives of diverse stakeholders, thereby providing broader insights into the development of technological innovation. The event invites key domestic players in fundamental brain science research, innovation translation and enablement, as well as core industrial innovation and enablement, to comprehensively showcase innovations and breakthroughs in the translation of scientific and technological achievements in the field of brain science. This includes the “from nothing to something” phase spanning concept validation to initial outcomes; the “from outcomes to products” phase covering the transition from preliminary results to product prototyping; and the “from products to business” phase involving the transformation from established products to commercialization and industrial scale-up.
Brain science research is a prerequisite for breakthroughs in artificial intelligence technology. We are now at a critical stage in the development of AI, with brain-inspired intelligence, neuromorphic chips, brain-computer integration, deep learning algorithms, and large-scale neural network modeling emerging rapidly and proliferating like mushrooms after rain. The Corporate Frontier Roundtable will focus on the latest developments in brain-computer interfaces, digital healthcare, and intelligent applications. It will conduct scientific analysis and assessment of the historical evolution, future prospects, and scenario-based conceptualizations of brain science, while proposing recommendations that align with the laws of scientific evolution and meet the needs of medical scenarios, thereby providing constructive insights to drive industrial development.
Envisioning the Future: New Perspectives on the Future Landscape of Research, Investment, and Commercialization
The rate of translation and industrialization of brain science achievements remains critically low. In the process of innovative development in brain science, the industrialization of scientific and technological achievements is a crucial link. This forum will establish a strong nexus for integrating frontier technologies with industrial applications, fostering collaboration between academia and industry. It aims to serve as a core bridge facilitating triangular interaction and positive feedback loops among “venture capital,” “technological innovation,” and the “medical industry.” By outlining future directions for the industrialization of brain science, the forum highlights how publicly listed companies with diversified strategic layouts can drive progress by allocating human and financial resources to the brain science sector—a move that serves as an incentive and catalyst for the field. From the perspective of listed companies, the forum will provide case-based analyses of investment commitments and promising sub-sectors, offering valuable insights into the developmental trajectory of the brain science domain in the near future.
Editor:Guo Ye
Forum Date: June 14, 2022 Day 1
Forum Venue: Shishan International Conference Center, Suzhou, Jiangsu
Forum Organizers: VB100, VCBeat, Artery Orange, Eggshell Research Institute
Co-hosted by: Sequoia China
● 09:00-09:20
Brain-Inspired Intelligence and Brain-Computer Interfaces
Li Chengyu | Director, Major Tasks and Technology Transfer Office, Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
● 09:20-09:40
Flexible Brain-Computer Interface Technology
Fang Ying | Researcher, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology
● 09:40-10:00
Neuropixels: Visualising the Rhythms of the Whole Brain
Barun Dutta | Chief Scientist, IMEC-STS
● 10:00-10:20
(Bridging the Gap Between Cutting-Edge Technology and Industrialization)
Yang Yunxia | Partner at Sequoia China
● 10:20-10:40
Brain-Computer Interface DBS and the Treatment of Mental Disorders
Ning Yihua | Founder, Chairman, and General Manager of Jingyu Medical
● 10:40-11:00
(Proposed) Multi-Sector Industrialization Progress of Brain-Computer Interfaces
Xu Honglai | Chairman of Neuracle
● 11:00-11:20
Brain AI: From Diagnosis to Treatment, or from Treatment to Diagnosis?
Qin Lan | Founder and Chairman of U-Brain
● 11:20-11:40
New Perspectives on the Commercialization and Industrialization of AI-EEG Integration (Draft)
Yang Huan | Founder and CEO, Nuoer Medical
● 11:40-12:30
New Reflections on the Future Form of Scientific Research, Investment, and Industrialization (Draft)
Guest Host:
Chen Xuanze | Vice President, Sequoia China
Roundtable Guests:
Lv Yiran | CEO of Echo Medical
Song Donglei | Founder of Donglei Brain Hospital
Qin Lan | Founder and Chairman of U-Brain
Yang Huan | Founder and CEO, Nuoer Medical
● Mapping the Industry Landscape, Telling China’s Story: The 2022 Top 100 Future Healthcare Companies Conference Held with Great Momentum
From “Eye of the Storm,” “Species Big Bang,” “Tide Direction ING,” and “New Growth in Life” to “The Calculation of Life”; from 20 speakers, 150 companies, and 400 attendees at the inaugural event to a cumulative total of over 1,000 domestic and international speakers, more than 5,000 participating companies, over 20,000 attendee visits, and 5 million+ impressions... The Future Healthcare Top 100 Conference has grown alongside China’s medical and health industry, continuously expanding to become the largest-scale gathering for industry-capital integration in China’s healthcare innovation sector, offering the most extensive information exchange.
The 6th Future Healthcare Top 100 Conference will be held at the Shishan International Convention Center in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province. This year, we will collaborate with embassies from various countries to jointly host a global roadshow for innovative healthcare projects. Embarking with a renewed vision, we will focus on “China’s Story,” ground ourselves in innovation, and faithfully document the evolution of the global healthcare industry. We will identify leading innovative enterprises in the sector and analyze industry hotspots from five dimensions: policy orientation, technological frontiers, capital perspectives, industrial innovation, and market demand. By interpreting development trends in the future healthcare industry, we aim to drive transformative change in the innovative healthcare sector. Our goal is to converge core industry forces, promote transformation in the innovative healthcare industry, and build a comprehensive communication and matchmaking platform for the entire medical and health industrial chain.
● Converging Multiple Highlights to Create the 2022 Premier Healthcare Industry Event in China
Top-Tier Guest Lineup——Led by Academicians and Scientists300+ Distinguished GuestsBringing you three days of cutting-edge medical technology, industry trends, and business innovation
Business Wisdom of Industry Leaders——ChinaStrategic Launch by Benchmark Listed Companies, Insights into the Future of the Industry and the Innovation Landscape
Global Perspective and Overseas Resources— FromUnited Kingdom, Canada, Belgiumand the industrial development trends and capital markets of multiple countries, linking high-quality overseas technological innovation projects
In-Depth Insights into Niche Sectors——Major AnnouncementSix Industry Research Series Reports, Exploring Development Opportunities and Innovative Cases in Niche Fields
Gathering Core Forces for the Future of Healthcare——ReleaseTop 5 & Top 100 Lists and Two Awards, Bringing Together 1,000+ Unicorns and High-Potential Innovative Enterprises to Explore Pathways for Innovation-Driven Development
Forward-Looking Capital Perspective——100+ including GP/LP/CVC/VC/PE/FA, etc.Financial Institutions as Forward-Looking Investors: Sensing the Direction of Capital Heat in the Industry
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Conference Dates: June 14-16, 2022
Conference Venue: Shishan International Convention Center, Suzhou, China
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