Funding to move from validation towards scale-up
Imperial College London spinout MintNeuro has announced a $5 million funding round to scale its specialised semiconductor platform for devices that connect with the brain and nervous system. The company says the investment will support product launches, customer programmes, partnerships and expansion into international markets.
The announcement was made on 7 October. MintNeuro develops chips intended for neural devices, including implants and other systems that sense or stimulate neural activity. Its stated purpose is to provide components designed for the constraints of those devices, rather than requiring developers to adapt general-purpose electronics or fund a bespoke chip design.
Co-founder and chief executive Dorian Haci described the financing as a move from technology validation to commercial scale-up. The company says it has delivered working silicon and reached integration milestones with research and development partners. That is a development-stage claim, not evidence that a finished MintNeuro product is already in routine clinical use.
Investors and intended use
Odyssey Ventures led the round. Other named participants include 33East, JSK Investments and Alumni Ventures, alongside returning investors Empirical Ventures and Jumpspace Ventures and other early backers. The company says the capital will help expand its engineering and commercial teams, bring products to market, support customers adopting its chips and strengthen its presence in the United States as well as its UK and European base.
The round follows an earlier £1 million raise in 2024, which Imperial said was supported by the Imperial College Enterprise Fund and conversion of a loan note issued through its MedTech SuperConnector seed fund. The new announcement represents a later financing milestone; it should not be read as a claim that the company has secured the full cost of future product development or clinical deployment.
MintNeuro originated in Imperial’s Next Generation Neural Interfaces Lab, led by Professor Tim Constandinou in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering. Constandinou and Haci started the company in 2022, building on a business case developed through the university’s MedTech SuperConnector accelerator. The venture’s focus is the semiconductor layer inside neural devices, rather than the development of treatments itself.
Chips for neural interfaces
The company describes its platform as modular, with functions including neural sensing, signal processing and electrical stimulation. In broad terms, a device may record signals from the nervous system, process them and deliver electrical pulses. Combining such functions in purpose-designed hardware could help device developers manage the competing requirements of size, power use, signal quality and safety. The practical performance of any resulting medical device, however, depends on its own design, testing and regulatory pathway.
Neural technologies include brain-computer interfaces, neuromodulation systems and sensory prostheses. These are distinct kinds of research and medical-device work, not interchangeable therapies. They are being investigated for potential applications across neurological and other conditions, but MintNeuro’s funding announcement does not establish that its chips treat stroke, epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, depression or any other condition.
One existing commercial relationship is with US company Motif Neurotech. MintNeuro says the pair announced a partnership and multi-year commercial chip supply agreement earlier in 2026, supporting development of a minimally invasive neurostimulator initially targeting treatment-resistant depression. That wording describes the intended target of a device under development; it is not evidence of an approved treatment or demonstrated patient benefit. Imperial also identifies UK company Amber Therapeutics among MintNeuro’s research and development partners.
A specialised supply layer
For developers, the proposition is to buy or integrate specialist chips rather than begin with generic components or commission every element of the semiconductor design from scratch. MintNeuro argues that this can reduce development barriers and help teams move more quickly. Those are the company’s aims; the funding announcement does not quantify savings, establish a market-wide shortage or show how quickly individual partner devices will reach patients.
Instead, the immediate measures of progress will be practical: further product launches, more customer programmes, partner integration and the company’s capacity to support adoption. The $5 million round gives MintNeuro additional resources for that work, while the ultimate reach of the technology will depend on product performance and the development of the devices in which its chips are used.
