Overview

Synchron is the leading endovascular brain-computer interface company, pursuing neural recording without open-brain surgery. The company was founded in Melbourne in 2012 by Australian neurologist Tom Oxley together with Nicholas Opie and colleagues from the University of Melbourne’s Vascular Bionics Laboratory. Synchron has since relocated its commercial centre of gravity to New York, with a research and engineering hub in San Diego and continuing Australian clinical operations. The company has raised $345 million in equity capital across multiple rounds.

Technical approach

Synchron’s Stentrode is a stent-mounted electrode array delivered via catheter through the patient’s vascular system to the motor cortex region. The approach eliminates the need for open cranial surgery, reducing infection risk and recovery time. The electrodes record neural activity from the superior sagittal sinus, a major brain vein, achieving signal quality adequate for motor control applications.

Clinical progress

Synchron has demonstrated functional motor control in human patients in the COMMAND clinical trial in the United States, with participants achieving cursor manipulation, text input, and external-device control through neural signals. Synchron was the first company to integrate with Apple’s Brain-Computer Interface Human Interface Device (BCI HID) protocol, announced 13 May 2025, with the first demonstration coming in August 2025 of a COMMAND-trial participant with ALS controlling an iPad with thought alone. The company holds FDA Breakthrough Device Designation and is in active discussions with the FDA on endpoints for a pivotal trial.

Backing and partnerships

Synchron has been backed by major investors across its rounds. The $75 million Series C in December 2022 was led by ARCH Venture Partners with participation from Gates Frontier (Bill Gates’ personal investment fund), Bezos Expeditions (Jeff Bezos’ investment fund), and Khosla Ventures.

The $200 million Series D in November 2025 was led by Double Point Ventures with existing investors ARCH Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Bezos Expeditions, NTI, and METIS participating. New Series D investors included the Australian National Reconstruction Fund (with a $54 million investment), Qatar Investment Authority, T.Rx Capital, K5 Global, Protocol Labs, and IQT.

Strategic position

Synchron’s endovascular methodology positions it as the lower-risk surgical alternative to penetrating intracortical electrode arrays from peers including Neuralink, Paradromics, and Precision Neuroscience. The trade-off is lower signal resolution at the gain of substantially lower surgical and infection risk. The company’s Apple HID integration positions it as an early default integration for any consumer-side BCI standard that emerges around the Apple ecosystem.