Flint Rehab Secures $1.72M NIH Grant to Advance Stroke Rehabilitation Devices

VCBeat (WeChat Official Account: vcbeat) has learned that Flint Rehab, a neurorehabilitation device company, announced the completion of a $1.72 million financing round on March 13, 2019. The new funding comes from an award granted by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) after the company successfully applied for the Eunice Kennedy Shriver Prize. (External organizations seeking NIH investment must apply for this prize; upon successful application, the NIH invests in the company in the form of an award.) Since 2012, the company has maintained a strong collaborative relationship with the NIH. Including this latest round of financing, the NIH has provided a total of $8 million in funding to the company. The funds from this round will be used to further develop the company’s three devices—FitMi, MusicGlove, and MiGo—to improve rehabilitation outcomes for stroke patients.

Flint Rehab is a California-based neurorehabilitation device company specializing in the field of neurological rehabilitation, including stroke recovery, and providing rehabilitative assistive tools for patients. Flint Rehab has also established an online stroke rehabilitation community to help patients regain their social skills. Currently, the company primarily develops the following three products:

(1) FitMi is a home-based rehabilitation tool that helps patients retrain their brains, enabling those with nerve damage to regain a certain degree of limb flexibility. The device consists of two puck-sized spheres and a therapeutic application, which customizes rehabilitation exercises and monitors patient progress based on individual recovery status.

(2) MusicGlove is a wearable therapeutic device. Clinical evidence has demonstrated that patients can achieve a certain degree of rehabilitation after two weeks of use. In contrast to other monotonous hand rehabilitation training methods, this device incorporates engaging music-based games, encouraging patients to actively participate in hand and finger rehabilitation exercises.

(3) MiGo is the first activity tracker specifically designed for stroke patients, capable of monitoring every movement of the arms, trunk, and legs, while intelligently filtering out involuntary tremors.

Nizan Friedman, CEO of Flint Rehab, stated, “We are deeply grateful for the support from the NIH. This funding will drive the development and enhancement of our products. Stroke is a leading cause of disability among adults, with more than 7 million people in the United States alone living with stroke-related disabilities. Typically, after discharge, stroke patients struggle to achieve desired outcomes in their post-acute rehabilitation due to a lack of professional guidance. Our products effectively fill this gap. We hope to expand into the market for rehabilitation devices targeting conditions such as brain injuries and spinal cord injuries, and to extend our reach to regions including Australia, South Africa, India, Singapore, and Europe.”

The National Institutes of Health (NIH), established in 1887 and located in Maryland, is a U.S. biomedical research agency dedicated to biomedical and health-related research. As part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the NIH conducts medical research through its Intramural Research Program (IRP) and provides major funding for biomedical research to other institutions through its Extramural Research Program.

(Compiled by Yang Shiying)