Shanghai: The Global Hub for Brain-Computer Interface Innovation

On March 13, reporters from The Paper learned that recently, the National Medical Products Administration approved the innovative product registration application of Neuracle Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. for its implantable brain-computer interface hand motor function compensation system, marking the world's first launch of a brain-computer interface medical device. This signifies that the world’s first invasive brain-computer interface medical device has entered the clinical application stage.

According to the introduction, this product is suitable for patients aged 18 to 60 years old who suffer from quadriplegia caused by cervical spinal cord injury and whose fingers cannot perform grasping functions. It serves as an auxiliary and alternative hand function device and entered the national market in August 2024.Innovative HealthcareInstrument Channel. To date, 36 clinical surgeries have been completed (4 feasibility clinical cases, 32 multi-center confirmatory clinical cases), and the clinical endpoint collection was finalized by the end of November 2025.

Brain-computer interface is a cutting-edge field that links technology and medicine, and this breakthrough is of great significance. It is not only the result of enterprises' continuous efforts in product innovation, but also due to Shanghai's long-term efforts in fostering an innovative environment and carefully cultivating the ecosystem in the brain-computer interface field.

The year 2025 that has just passed is known as the first year of China's brain-computer interface. The proposal for the country’s "15th Five-Year Plan" released in October 2025 explicitly identified brain-computer interface as one of the six major future industries. This forward-thinking top-level design has injected strong national momentum, indicating that the brain-computer interface industry is ushering in an unprecedented period of strategic opportunity.

When the country has needs, Shanghai has conditions. Guided by the national strategy, Shanghai has become a highland for the development of brain-computer interface in China, relying on years of scientific research accumulation, talent advantages, and financing environment.

On January 10, 2025, the "Shanghai Brain-Computer Interface Future Industry Cultivation Action Plan (2025-2030)" was officially issued, marking Shanghai's first action plan for a细分领域 of future industries.

So far, Shanghai has seen the emergence of nearly 60 brain-computer interface startups, including Neuracle, BrainLink, and StepMed.

Shanghai's Full-Chain Advantages Empower

The core team of Neuracle graduated from the Neuroengineering Laboratory of Tsinghua University. Xu Honglai, founder, chairman, and general manager of Neuracle, graduated from this laboratory in 2012.

After Neuracle Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. settled in Shanghai, the city accelerated the clinical validation of its products through its own resources. In October 2024, Neuracle conducted the first clinical trial in Shanghai at Huashan Hospital. The trial was highly successful, with positive feedback on patient experience, product functionality, and safety validation. Subsequently, large-scale clinical trials began.

It has been two and a half years since the first clinical case. Mao Ying, president of Huashan Hospital, said in an interview that the original clinical hope was for patients without upper limb function to control exoskeletons through the will of their brains to assist limb functions. After a series of training sessions, the original goal was achieved. Under the guidance of the air-filled glove, the patient was able to complete grasping motions he couldn't previously perform. Moreover, after long-term training, his original grasping ability gradually improved even without the support of the exoskeleton. Other neurological functions were also partially restored.

According to President Mao Ying, this patient was able to write two words twice with his paralyzed hand four years later — once his name "Xiao Dong," and once "Thank You" to express gratitude to the medical staff.

When talking about settling in Shanghai, Xu Honglai said that Shanghai is the highland of brain-computer interface in China, with full-chain capabilities. For example, Shanghai's capabilities in medical device inspection and testing, production quality management systems, animal experiments, and clinical trials are all leading.

In addition to full-chain capabilities, Neuracle also values the talent base of Shanghai's manufacturing industry, as Shanghai has a sufficient density and concentration of talent.

Neuracle Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. ultimately chose to settle in Zhangjiang, Shanghai, adjacent to the Shanghai Medical Device Inspection Institute (SCIDI). Shanghai has an advantage in the inspection and testing of medical devices, as all products must be tested by SCIDI before entering hospitals.

As a startup, Neuracle faced some financing needs during its rapid development. Shanghai also acted decisively during their Series D funding round, with Fortane Capital under SDIC in Shanghai and Pudong Sci-Tech Investment leading the investment in Neuracle.

Neuracle stated that obtaining the certification is just the beginning. Subsequently, it will accelerate the introduction of its products into hospitals, establish standardized usage and rehabilitation procedures, and strive to achieve the first clinical application for a patient within the year. Meanwhile, the company will continue to optimize its product manufacturing processes, ensure stable large-scale production, improve the supply chain, reduce manufacturing costs while guaranteeing quality, so that patients can not only access the product but also use it effectively and affordably.

Shanghai Brain-Computer Interface Company Profiles

Shanghai is home to nearly 60 brain-computer interface startups, not just Neuracle.

Shanghai has clear industrial policies and a complete brain-computer interface ecosystem, providing fertile ground for the growth of a number of brain-computer interface companies in Shanghai.

Stairway Medical was founded in 2021, primarily focusing on the development and construction of brain-computer interface-related software and hardware. It mainly addresses three types of patient issues. The first type involves assisting patients with motor function disorders, such as complete or partial loss of motor functions, language impairments, or the inability to speak. The second type helps address sensory perception issues, such as the loss of sensory perception. The third type aims to solve certain disease-related problems, such as Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, depression, and more. Stairway Medical has completed China’s first prospective clinical trial of an invasive brain-computer interface system.

Li Xue, founder of Stairway Medical, introduced that the company completed the construction of the first-generation system in 2025 and conducted three clinical trials in the same year, verifying the safety and effectiveness of the first-generation system. Certain improvements and iterations were also made. In 2026, the development of the second-generation system began, which shows a significant overall performance improvement compared to the first-generation system. The company is currently actively preparing for the overall development and clinical work of the second-generation system.

Discussing Shanghai's policy environment, Li Xue noted that Shanghai has gathered many favorable policy factors, along with the city’s hard-tech capabilities and the "soft power" of its business environment, enabling the company to succeed in this endeavor. However, these are all external factors; the internal factor remains the enterprise's own commitment to doing the work well.

In addition to Neuracle and Jieti, there are several other highly capable brain-computer interface companies in Shanghai. For instance, Brain Tiger Technology completed the world's first prospective clinical trial of real-time Chinese language decoding, while Shen Fuxing completed China’s first brain-spine interface IIT trial.

In terms of products, currently, three invasive products in Shanghai have entered the special review process for innovative medical devices at the national level in China, and one invasive product has received FDA Breakthrough Therapy designation. In the non-invasive sector, a number of innovative products are being applied in areas such as motor function rehabilitation for stroke patients, screening for diseases like depression and anxiety, and diagnosis and treatment of insomnia. Products from companies such as Neuracle, Siyi, Aowei, Quanlan, and Niantong have already achieved market sales, with revenues reaching tens of millions of yuan respectively.

Create the World's "First Hub for Brain-Computer Interface Innovation"

In recent years, Shanghai has been focusing on the goal of "building a global source of biomedical innovation and a world-class industrial cluster," adhering to the full-process innovation of "R&D + clinical + manufacturing + application" and accelerating the entire industrial chain to promote the high-quality development of the biomedical industry.

In the field of brain-computer interface, Shanghai has gathered a group of universities, research institutes, medical institutions, and innovative enterprises, building a complete chain from basic research, key components, testing and inspection, standard setting to clinical transformation and industrialization.

Led by Huashan Hospital, the iBRAIN Alliance was established in collaboration with multiple medical institutions across China to develop a high-quality intracranial EEG database. To date, approximately 700 high-quality patient datasets have been collected.

In terms of enterprise development, Shanghai has fostered a group of startups in the brain-computer interface field, such as Neuracle, BrainCo, Stair Medical, Surilli, Synder, Aoi, Quanlan, Niantong, and nearly 60 others.

In addition, Shanghai has witnessed a series of landmark achievements, such as the world's first registration certificate for an implantable brain-computer interface, the world’s first prospective clinical trial for real-time Mandarin decoding, and the successful completion of China's first brain-spine interface IIT trial.

Shanghai's full-chain ecological advantages, coupled with these star companies' continuous efforts in various fields such as invasive, semi-invasive, and non-invasive technologies, have made Shanghai the world's first innovation hub for brain-computer interface across all technical routes. Within Shanghai's innovative cluster ecosystem, different technological approaches are constantly merging, leading to more unimaginable breakthroughs in brain-computer interface products.

Tracing back to Shanghai's cultivation and nurturing of the brain-computer interface industry, in 2017, Shanghai launched three municipal major projects related to brain-computer interfaces (approximately 2 billion yuan), incubating several leading brain-computer interface companies in the city.

On January 10, 2025, Shanghai officially released the "Action Plan for the Future Industrial Cultivation of Brain-Computer Interface in Shanghai (2025-2030)." This action plan is the city's first specialized action plan for a future industry sector. For the future cultivation of the brain-computer interface industry, Shanghai has formed a "four-in-one" cultivation mechanism. Among these, project manager teams are responsible for management; key task lists have been outlined to focus on breakthroughs and the development of certain key products; an industrial fund has been established to empower enterprises; and an industrial cluster zone has been created to cultivate the ecosystem.

In 2025, Shanghai's biopharmaceutical industry achieved counter-trend growth, with its scale surpassing the trillion-yuan mark for the first time. The output value of the biopharmaceutical manufacturing industry reached nearly 210 billion yuan, marking a comparable increase of 2.4%. The industrial structure continued to evolve towards innovation and optimization. The proportion of output value from innovative pharmaceuticals and medical device companies further increased to 20.9%, up by 12.8 percentage points compared to 2020. International competitiveness steadily improved. The number of overseas licensing deals reached 48, a year-on-year increase of 55%, ranking first in China; the total transaction value amounted to $33.761 billion, a year-on-year increase of 85%, ranking second in China.

As a brand-new frontier track, the future of brain-computer interface (BCI) is full of various possibilities. BCI can help paralyzed individuals regain their motor abilities, allow the blind to see again, and enable more precise treatments for brain diseases. In the long term, enabling more efficient interaction between carbon-based life and silicon-based intelligence is the vision and ideal of BCI practitioners.

As the technological competition between countries intensifies, brain-computer interface (BCI), like AI, will also become part of the competition among major powers. Relying on its deep accumulation and precise layout, Shanghai is expected to foster a group of BCI leading enterprises with international competitiveness.