Michael Mager
Co-founder and chief executive of Precision Neuroscience, the New York brain-computer interface company that closed a $250 million Series D in September 2026.
Background
Michael Mager co-founded Precision Neuroscience in New York in 2021 with neurosurgeon Ben Rapoport, a member of Neuralink’s founding team, Demetrios Papageorgiou and Mark Hettick. Mager is chief executive; Rapoport is chief science officer.
Precision under Mager
Precision’s Layer 7 Cortical Interface is a thin, flexible electrode film that rests on the surface of the brain without penetrating it. The FDA cleared it on 30 March 2025 for temporary use of less than 30 days. Surgeons place it in patients already undergoing operations such as tumour removal or epilepsy monitoring. Precision says more than 100 patients have now been implanted. In October 2026 it posted a preprint, with Mager among its 61 authors, describing an atlas of the human nervous system built from the first 70 of them. The company also has a commercial partnership with Medtronic and its own manufacturing facility in Texas.
Latest
On 24 September 2026 Precision closed an oversubscribed $250 million Series D co-led by Pershing Square, the Ackman Oxman Institute and an undisclosed life-sciences fund, taking total funding to $430 million. Proceeds go to the clinical programme, further FDA review of Layer 7 and commercial infrastructure. A permanent implant for people with paralysis is still in development; chief clinical officer Jayme Strauss said in July that the first patient would probably receive it at the beginning of 2028.
Why it matters
Precision builds its data from short recordings in many surgical patients, while Neuralink trains on long-term recordings from people living with its implant. The Series D gives Mager the capital to carry that approach through to a permanent device.
Coverage on InsideBCI
- 9 October 2026: Precision Neuroscience posts a 70-patient map of the human nervous system
- 25 September 2026: Precision Neuroscience closes oversubscribed $250 million Series D co-led by Pershing Square and the Ackman Oxman Institute
- 21 July 2026: Precision Neuroscience demonstrates thought-based gaming in non-paralysed volunteers