AI-Powered Non-Invasive Brain-Computer Interface Startup BCI-Sonics Secures RMB 200 Million Pre-A Round Led by Sequoia China and Yunqi Partners

Recently, BCI-Sonics (Shanghai) Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “BCI-Sonics”), a non-invasive AI brain-computer interface company, announced the completion of its RMB 200 million Pre-A financing round. The round was co-led by Sequoia China and Yunqi Partners, with participation from Bilinxing Investment, Yuanhe Holdings, Xuhui Science and Technology Innovation Investment, and Deshi Investment. Existing shareholders Matrix Partners China and Delian Capital continued to increase their investments, while Xunguang Capital and Yuewei Capital served as joint financial advisors.

It is reported that this round of funding will be allocated to product R&D and iteration, recruitment of core talent, advancement of multi-center clinical trials, and AI infrastructure development.

Meanwhile, this marks the second round of financing exceeding RMB 100 million that BCI-Sonics has completed within a year. Previously, the company had closed its angel round led by Matrix Partners China, as well as its Angel+ round co-led by Delian Capital and Daoyuan Capital. To date, the company has raised nearly RMB 300 million in total funding, further signaling strong investor confidence in the non-invasive ultrasound brain-computer interface technology pathway.

BCI-Sonics, founded in 2025 and headquartered in Xuhui, Shanghai, is an innovative technology company focused on the non-invasive AI brain-computer interface (BCI) sector. Within just over a year of its establishment, BCI-Sonics was selected for the “Top 100 Most Investable Companies in China 2026” list, becoming one of only five BCI companies featured on the list.

The core team comprises experts from prestigious institutions such as Tsinghua University, Imperial College London, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and Zhejiang University. Their expertise spans neuroscience, acoustics, medical imaging, artificial intelligence, clinical translation, medical device engineering, and commercialization. The team possesses comprehensive experience covering the entire pipeline from prototype development to clinical validation and regulatory approval.

Among them, Li Xin, the company’s founder and CEO, holds a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from a joint program between the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics Research (Fraunhofer IGD) in Germany. He joined GE Healthcare in 2015, progressing from a scientist in the life sciences sector to become the Head of GE’s Global Research Center in China. Prior to this, he consecutively founded innovative technology and healthcare companies, accumulating over ten years of experience in the research, development, and commercialization of medical imaging, ultrasound, artificial intelligence, and brain-computer interfaces.

丨A Closed-Loop System Comprising Ultrasound, Multimodality, and AI

BCI-Sonics’ technological framework comprises three layers—brain writing, brain reading, and decoding—that form a closed loop. Its core development strategy is to become the benchmark enterprise for non-invasive AI brain-computer interfaces in China, and on this foundation, to grow into a Neuro AI company built on brain data infrastructure.

BrainX, centered on low-intensity transcranial focused ultrasound, has developed a proprietary transcranial phase correction algorithm to address energy attenuation and focal shift caused by skull interference, thereby achieving personalized precision calibration. Two generations of the FUS-BCI series products have completed development and passed safety verification, with clinical trials for the closed-loop ultrasound brain-computer interface system scheduled to commence in the first quarter of 2027.

BCI-Sonics constructs a multimodal brain signal acquisition system centered on functional ultrasound imaging (fUS) and electroencephalography (EEG), integrating technologies such as fMRI and PET, and equipped with passive cavitation detection (PCD) to enable comprehensive acoustic safety monitoring.

The AI decoding end identifies brain states in real-time through models, generates personalized stimulation parameters, and dynamically iterates based on neurofeedback, forming a closed loop of "reading—understanding—modulating—feedback—optimization."

In September 2026, the company launched an AI platform for interactive parameterization of ultrasonic neuromodulation and the Cortex Atlas interactive human brain map, directly addressing the challenges of personalized precise modulation and clinical dose standardization.

Leveraging its core technology platform, the company has established a strategic layout across three product lines: research, clinical, and consumer.

The R&D division has launched three major products, including a non-invasive closed-loop brain-computer interface (BCI) system, enabling rapid deployment in universities and research institutions. The clinical division focuses on indications such as chronic pain, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, addiction, and sleep disorders, while also advancing ultrasound-mediated blood-brain barrier opening technology. Multi-center investigator-initiated trials (IITs) are being conducted in collaboration with numerous Grade A tertiary hospitals, alongside regulatory submission efforts. The core objective over the next 1–2 years is to identify standardized indications and obtain reproducible clinical efficacy data. The consumer division plans to introduce wearable BCI terminals targeting scenarios such as sleep improvement, attention enhancement, and emotion regulation, with related products already entering the mass validation phase.

丨Summary

According to data from IT Juzi, in the first half of 2026, the domestic brain-computer interface (BCI) sector completed over 60 financing rounds, with the total amount exceeding RMB 7 billion, surpassing the 49 rounds and RMB 2.723 billion recorded for the entire year of 2025. Among these, ultrasound-based BCI has emerged as one of the most active sub-sectors in terms of fundraising. On the policy front, the “15th Five-Year Plan” lists brain-computer interfaces as a key future industry to be cultivated. The National Medical Products Administration, along with local authorities in Shanghai, Hubei, Guangdong, and other regions, have successively introduced industrial support policies and regulatory guidelines, creating an increasingly favorable policy environment for industry development.

Driven by the dual forces of increased capital investment and favorable policies, this round of financing for BCI-Sonics not only affirms its technological approach and team capabilities but also provides critical financial support to advance clinical validation and strengthen its AI infrastructure.