Neuracle and BrainCo Race to Become the "First BCI Stock," Raising Over RMB 4 Billion in Six Months with 230% Growth

SHANGHAI — Neuracle Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. (hereafter referred to as Neuracle) received an IPO status update on June 9. The Report on the Completion of Pre-listing Tutoring for the Initial Public Offering and Listing of Neuracle Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., submitted by its pre-listing tutor CITIC Securities, was released on the official website of the China Securities Regulatory Commission.

The document notes that Neuracle completed pre-listing tutoring on May 6. The work kicked off with the filing in early February and lasted for three months. The progress moves Neuracle a step closer to becoming China's first brain-computer interface stock.

It is not only Neuracle that is making a concerted push to become the "first brain-computer interface (BCI) stock"; BrainCo is also intensifying its efforts. As one of Hangzhou's "Six Little Dragons," BrainCo submitted its IPO application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on a confidential basis in late January, with no information disclosed to date.

Meanwhile, the brain-computer interface (BCI) sector has attracted massive investment over the past six months, significantly surpassing the total funding raised throughout the entire previous year; its golden age has arrived.

Neuracle is one of the leading enterprises in China's invasive brain-computer interface (BCI) sector, having been established as early as 2011. Its core founders hail from the Laboratory for Neuroengineering at Tsinghua University, which ranks among the top globally in the field of brain-computer interfaces.

According to publicly available information, Neuracle possesses strong R&D capabilities and has obtained 17 technical patents and nine software copyrights. The company has undertaken or participated in the National 12th Five-Year Plan Science and Technology Support Program project titled "Weak Signal Acquisition Technology and Product Development in Brain-Computer Interfaces," as well as the Ministry of Science and Technology's 13th Five-Year Plan Key R&D Program project titled "Research on Key Technologies and Clinical Applications of Neuromodulation and Intelligent Rehabilitation for Alzheimer's Disease."

In October 2023, Neuracle's brain-computer interface (BCI) product, NEO, completed its first implantation at Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University. A patient who had been quadriplegic for over a decade was able to use "mind control" to grasp a water bottle and independently drink from it following the surgery. This case is also recognized as the world's first wireless minimally invasive BCI implantation.

Unlike Neuralink, Neuracle's system is a semi-invasive brain-computer interface (BCI), with electrodes placed on the dura mater between the skull and the cerebral cortex. This approach aims to balance BCI performance with surgical trauma. Although signal acquisition is inferior to that of fully invasive systems, it requires only minimally invasive surgery and does not damage brain cells. Furthermore, the implant can be wirelessly powered by an external device, achieving a balance between minimal invasiveness and long-term usability.

In the first implantation case at Xuanwu Hospital, the patient was discharged and returned home just 10 days after surgery.

Subsequently, Neuracle conducted feasibility trials at Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Shanghai Huashan Hospital, and Jiangsu Province Hospital, achieving significant results. As of December 2025, 32 patients with cervical spinal cord injuries had undergone NEO implantation surgery across 11 hospitals in China. According to information disclosed at the clinical trial summary meeting, all patients successfully achieved home-based brain-controlled grasping assistance and rehabilitation training, attaining a 100% success rate on the primary clinical endpoints.

These advancements have allowed Neuracle to take the lead in securing regulatory approval for brain-computer interface (BCI) medical devices. In August 2024, Neuracle's "Implantable Brain Acquisition and Stimulation System" entered the National Medical Products Administration's Special Review Procedure for Innovative Medical Devices, becoming the first BCI product in China to enter this procedure.

In March 2026, the product officially received the Class III medical device registration certificate from the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA), with its approved name changed to "Implantable Brain-Computer Interface Hand Motor Function Compensation System," becoming the world's first invasive brain-computer interface medical device approved for market launch.

Within just one week, after obtaining the brain-computer interface (BCI) product catalog and codes released by the National Healthcare Security Administration, the Shanghai municipal healthcare security authorities conducted a rapid review through a green channel. By the end of March, they had included this innovative product in the city's medical insurance catalog for medical consumables and completed its listing on the Sunshine Procurement Platform, thereby truly establishing a complete closed loop encompassing "clinical use – billing – medical insurance reimbursement."

In addition, Neuracle's transcranial electrical stimulator and electroencephalograph (EEG) machine have also obtained medical device registration certificates, primarily for applications such as neuromodulation, adjunctive rehabilitation therapy, and monitoring and assessment of brain function.

The product is not only widely applicable in scientific research fields such as neuroscience, psychology, human factors engineering, kinesiology, and management science, but also in clinical medical domains including the diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation engineering of neurological disorders. Its R&D achievements and technical capabilities have gained widespread recognition from experts in the fields of neural engineering and clinical medicine both domestically and internationally.

As a leading enterprise in China's invasive brain-computer interface (BCI) sector, Neuracle has long been a favorite in the capital market. In December 2015, Neuracle completed an angel round of financing worth RMB 12 million, making it one of the earliest domestic BCI companies to secure funding. In March 2018, it closed a Pre-A round of RMB 30 million. Since then, Neuracle has completed multiple subsequent funding rounds, with renowned institutions such as HSG, Green Pine Capital Partners, T-Capital, Pudong Venture Capital, and Baidu Ventures joining its investor roster.

In 2025, Neuracle reportedly completed its D+ round of financing, reaching a post-money valuation of RMB 3.5–4 billion. Subsequently, Neuracle filed an application for listing guidance, targeting the STAR Market with the aim of becoming the first publicly traded brain-computer interface (BCI) company.

Rumors of an IPO for BrainCo, one of Hangzhou's "Six Little Dragons," emerged even earlier than those for Neuracle. As early as late January, BrainCo submitted its IPO application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on a confidential basis.

Since its establishment in 2015, BrainCo has completed six rounds of financing. The company closed its angel and Pre-A rounds in 2016, followed by its Series A round in 2019, which pushed its valuation to $400 million. Starting in 2025, as the brain-computer interface (BCI) concept gained significant traction, BrainCo secured multiple rounds of funding in a short period, becoming one of the biggest beneficiaries of this BCI boom in China.

In January this year, BrainCo secured a funding round of up to RMB 2 billion, setting a new record for investment in China's brain-computer interface (BCI) sector. On a global scale, BrainCo's financing was equally impressive, ranking as the second-largest funding round in the BCI field after Neuralink.

Following the completion of this round of financing, media outlets estimated its valuation at approximately RMB 8.8 billion, surpassing that of Neuracle (approximately RMB 3.5 billion).

BrainCo's technological focus differs slightly from that of Neuracle, and it is a representative company in China for non-invasive brain-computer interfaces.

At the time of its founding, the maturity of brain-computer interface (BCI) technology was limited, and there were no successful precedents for implanted invasive BCIs. (Companies like Neuralink had yet to demonstrate such technology.) Consequently, general acceptance of invasive BCIs remained low. Non-invasive BCIs, by avoiding the risks associated with craniotomy, enjoyed higher public acceptance and exhibited stronger consumer-oriented attributes, which contributed to their higher valuations.

Currently, BrainCo's non-invasive brain-computer interfaces are widely applied across multiple sectors, including medical rehabilitation, health management, and education. However, their medical applications primarily focus on sleep improvement, stress reduction, and attention training, exhibiting a pronounced consumer-health orientation.

In addition, BrainCo has further expanded the application scenarios of brain-computer interfaces. Since its establishment, the company has continuously developed intelligent bionic hands and intelligent lower limbs, obtaining FDA certification. Leveraging years of accumulated expertise, BrainCo achieved technological breakthroughs in this field and successfully developed the world's first mass-produced intuitively controlled intelligent bionic hand last year.

This is also linked to the currently hottest concept of embodied intelligence, further driving up its valuation.

In the promotional video, BrainCo's product not only easily picks up and crushes an egg with significant force but also instantly switches to a gentle mode to pick up fragile eggshells. The entire process requires no manual intervention, relying entirely on the force control of its bionic hand with tactile feedback, demonstrating operational flexibility comparable to that of humans.

Judging from the video, BrainCo's intelligent bionic hand can accurately capture users' electromyographic (EMG) and neural signals, enabling coordinated five-finger manipulation and helping individuals with upper-limb disabilities regain fine motor skills.

BrainCo aims to leverage its brain-computer interface (BCI) technology to improve the lives of 10 million patients suffering from neurological conditions such as autism, ADHD, Alzheimer's disease, and insomnia. Over the next 5–10 years, the company also seeks to help one million individuals with physical disabilities regain their daily functioning through neurocontrolled prosthetics. Furthermore, BrainCo envisions a future where ordinary people can interact directly with the world via thought using BCI devices, experiencing the convergence of humans and machines.

Currently, BrainCo's products have been deployed on a large scale and have achieved substantial revenue. Given that most brain-computer interface companies are still in the clinical stage, this undoubtedly adds more weight to its IPO prospects.

BrainCo and Neuracle race for IPOs, adding fuel to the already hot domestic brain-computer interface market.

Public information indicates that the primary market for brain-computer interfaces (BCI) has become increasingly vibrant in the past one to two years. In 2025, a total of 26 financing events occurred in the BCI sector, with the total funding amount reaching RMB 1.778 billion. Among these, more than six deals exceeded RMB 100 million each, continuously breaking previous funding records. This represents a significant increase compared to the seven financing events and RMB 230 million in total funding recorded in 2024.

Incomplete Statistics of Brain-Computer Interface Financing Events in 2026 (Chart by VCBeat)

Since the beginning of this year, driven by various favorable factors, enthusiasm in the primary market for brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) has remained strong. According to incomplete statistics, there have been 34 financing deals in China's BCI sector over the past six months, with the total funding amount continuing to rise. Among the deals with disclosed amounts, the total exceeds RMB 4 billion, already surpassing last year's full-year total. It is all but certain that the annual financing scale will increase significantly, setting a new historical high.

In addition to rapid advancements in financing, brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) have also received strong policy support. On January 1, 2026, the standard "Terminology for Medical Devices Using Brain-Computer Interface Technology" officially came into effect. Developed in the second half of 2025, this standard is China's first BCI medical device standard and will lay the foundation for the high-quality development of the BCI medical device industry.

From a regulatory perspective, Neuracle's brain-computer interface (BCI) officially received the Class III medical device registration certificate from the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) in March, becoming the world's first approved invasive BCI medical device to be marketed. Meanwhile, StairMed's "Implantable Wireless Brain-Computer Interface System" and BCIFlex's "Intracranial Deep Electrodes" have also entered the special approval process for innovative medical devices.

In March, at the Fourth Session of the 14th National People's Congress, brain-computer interfaces (BCI) were again included in the Government Work Report, explicitly listed for the first time as one of the future industries to be cultivated and developed, alongside quantum technology and embodied AI. This provides the highest level of policy endorsement for the entire industry, signaling that the state will intensify its efforts in technological breakthroughs and industrial support in this field.

Seizing this opportunity, many regions have launched development plans for brain-computer interfaces. To date, provincial-level action plans have been introduced in Jiangsu, Guangdong, Hainan, Beijing, Tianjin, and Sichuan.

Taking Jiangsu Province as an example, nine departments, including the Industry and Information Technology Department of Jiangsu, issued the "Action Plan for Innovative Development of the Brain-Computer Interface Industry in Jiangsu Province" in March.

The Plan outlines the following quantitative targets: by 2027, no fewer than two provincial-level brain-computer interface (BCI) industry clusters will be established across the province; by 2030, at least 20 BCI products will have obtained medical device registration approval in the province, two to three BCI leading enterprises with domestic and international influence will be cultivated, and a high-quality dataset comprising no fewer than 20,000 standard trial cases and patient samples will be constructed.

On the clinical front, brain-computer interface (BCI) technology in China continues to achieve breakthroughs. Taking Neuracle as an example, its BCI medical devices have begun commercial implantation in multiple hospitals following regulatory approval, allowing patients to use brain-controlled grasping assistance functions at home post-surgery.

On June 8, China's first Good Clinical Practice (GCP) clinical trial of a high-resolution visual brain-computer interface (BCI), jointly advanced by the team of Wenzhou-based scientist Yang Jiawei and Nanochap, achieved success. The patient was able to recognize letters on the second day after postoperative device activation and tuning, with expected visual acuity recovery to 0.5. This also marks a major breakthrough in visual reconstruction, the second-largest clinical application direction for brain-computer interfaces.

In late May, China's independently developed semi-invasive brain-computer interface system, "BeiNao No. 1," announced that it had completed implantations in 16 cases across 16 research centers. The longest implantation duration exceeded one year, with the system accumulating over 55,000 hours of safe operation, helping patients achieve mind-controlled robotic arm manipulation and motor function reconstruction.

According to the plan, "BeiNao No. 1" will complete 40 implantations this year and advance the clinical validation of "BeiNao No. 2" in the second half of the year. In 2027, "BeiNao No. 1" will launch pilot promotion at qualified Grade A tertiary hospitals across China.

At the beginning of this year, StairMed completed the clinical implantation of its self-developed WRS02, a 256-channel wireless high-throughput invasive brain-computer interface (BCI) system pending registration, and successfully validated its brain-controlled interaction capabilities. The company plans to launch large-scale, multi-center registrational clinical trials in mid-2026, aiming to enroll and implant approximately 40 patients within the year. This would bring its total number of clinical implants close to, or even surpassing, that of Neuralink.

Furthermore, in May, BCIFlex launched the first prospective, multicenter clinical trial in China for a fully implantable brain-computer interface (BCI) system with over one hundred channels. This clinical trial, involving 32 patients across 11 hospitals, is also the first Good Clinical Practice (GCP) clinical trial in China for a 128-channel fully implantable BCI.

Although brain-computer interfaces are still some way off from truly transforming patients' fates, they are clearly no longer just a fanciful concept but have made tangible progress.

BrainCo and Neuracle race for IPOs: a microcosm of Chinese tech firms' shift from "following" to "keeping pace," showcasing China's prowess in brain science. For the industry, regardless of which company secures the title of "first stock," it will provide a significant boost to the sector.

We also hope that the IPOs of these two leading enterprises will not mark the end, but rather serve as the starting point for building a comprehensive industry chain ecosystem. This will drive the coordinated development of upstream core chips and downstream applications, accelerate the growth of more companies, and ultimately lead to their successful IPOs.

VCBeat will continue to monitor developments in this field and welcomes industry professionals to share relevant information.