BCI-Sonics
Shanghai startup building a non-invasive brain-computer interface around low-intensity transcranial focused ultrasound. Closed a RMB 200 million Pre-A round co-led by HongShan and Yunqi Partners on 22 September 2026, with closed-loop clinical trials scheduled for Q1 2027.
Overview
BCI-Sonics was founded in Shanghai in 2025 by Li Xin, formerly Head of the GE Global Research Center China, who holds a joint PhD in biomedical engineering from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Fraunhofer IGD in Germany. The core team is drawn from Tsinghua, Imperial College London, Shanghai Jiao Tong and Zhejiang University.
Technology
The company stimulates the brain with low-intensity transcranial focused ultrasound (tFUS or LIFU) and reads activity through a multimodal system combining functional ultrasound, EEG, fMRI and PET, with passive cavitation detection for safety monitoring. It describes a proprietary skull phase-correction algorithm for calibrating each patient. Three product lines are in development: a research toolchain for neuroscience laboratories; a clinical line aimed at pain, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, addiction, sleep and ultrasound-mediated blood-brain-barrier opening for drug delivery; and a consumer wearable for sleep, focus and emotion.
Latest
On 22 September 2026 BCI-Sonics closed a RMB 200 million Pre-A round co-led by HongShan, the former Sequoia China, and Yunqi Partners. Proxima Capital, Oriza Holdings, Xuhui Sci-Tech Innovation Investment and Moral Stone Investment joined, and Matrix Partners China and Delian Capital followed on. The valuation was not disclosed. Closed-loop clinical trials are scheduled for Q1 2027; no trial registration number has been published.
Why it matters
The round closed on the day Premier Li Qiang inspected BCI products in Shanghai and directed the expansion of “patient capital”. A HongShan co-lead marks top-tier Chinese venture money taking named positions in ultrasound BCI, a modality also pursued by Gestala in China and Merge Labs in the US.
Coverage on InsideBCI
- 8 October 2026: Bridge Neurotech raises $13.5 million to build a brain-computer interface without surgery
- 25 September 2026: Precision Neuroscience closes oversubscribed $250 million Series D co-led by Pershing Square and the Ackman Oxman Institute
- 24 September 2026: BCI-Sonics closes RMB 200 million Pre-A led by HongShan and Yunqi Partners
- 2 August 2026: Delian Capital partner warns of a Chinese BCI bubble