NeuroXess raises RMB 700 million for its brain implant

By Inside BCI · Edited by Velco Dar · October 29, 2026

A person paralysed below the neck by a spinal cord injury can lose the use of both arms. NeuroXess, a Shanghai company, is testing a brain implant meant to compensate for some of that lost hand and arm function, and on 28 October it announced RMB 700 million in new funding to take the device through the registration trial whose data it needs to apply for approval from China’s regulator.

The round

The Series B was co-led by SDIC Juli, Shenzhen Capital Group and Qinzhi Capital. Follow-on investors include IDG Capital, Huangpu Investment, Jiangxi Financial Holding and Huafu Securities, and earlier backers Shanda and Zhongping Capital took part again. 36Kr described the round as dominated overall by state capital. Founder Tao Hu told 36Kr that because brain-computer interfaces are now a national strategic priority, state-backed lead investors bring stronger policy support.

NeuroXess says the money will pay for the multicentre registration trial and regulatory review of its Triple-Full system, mass production at its new factory, next-generation products and work combining brain-computer interfaces with AI. It aims to reach large-scale use in the medical market within two years.

The company was founded in 2021. It raised RMB 97 million in its angel and pre-A rounds, led by Shanda and Sequoia China’s seed fund, and several hundred million yuan in a Series A led by Zhongping Capital in December 2022.

Where the implant stands

The registration trial began on 7 July 2026 at Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, led by Professor Mao Ying’s team. It is testing the implant for compensating lost upper-limb function in people with quadriplegia caused by cervical spinal cord injury, and the company now says nearly 20 hospitals are taking part. On 21 July the device entered the National Medical Products Administration’s special review procedure for innovative devices. NeuroXess says it has completed 65 clinical cases across its studies.

The factory, in Ganjiang New Area in Jiangxi province, broke ground in January 2026. Its first phase is planned to cover about 14,300 square metres, with a production target on the order of 10,000 units, covering flexible electrodes and the Triple-Full system. In March the company said production would start in the second half of 2026. It has not said whether it has.

Why it matters

StairMed, another Shanghai implant developer, raised RMB 350 million in a Series B in February 2025 and RMB 500 million in a round led by Alibaba in March 2026. On the same day as NeuroXess’s announcement, StairMed said it had raised about RMB 1.4 billion since the second half of 2026, without itemising rounds, and RMB 2.6 billion in total as of September, which it says is the most of any invasive brain-computer interface company in China. It also said it has completed 42 long-term implants. BrainCo, which makes non-invasive devices including bionic prosthetics, raised about RMB 2 billion in January.

Capital is following regulatory progress. China’s regulator approved its first implantable brain-computer interface, from Neuracle, in March, and on 30 June issued guidance stating for the first time that invasive and implantable brain-computer interface medical devices are regulated as Class III, the highest-risk category. Neuracle has since filed to list on Shanghai’s STAR Market. In its statement on the round, Shenzhen Capital Group noted that brain-computer interfaces are one of six future industries in China’s 15th Five-Year Plan.

The round was announced six days after the US Treasury proposed barring US persons from most new investments in Chinese brain-computer interface companies.

Not disclosed

NeuroXess has not disclosed its valuation, how much each investor put in, the number of people in the registration trial, its results so far, or when it expects approval. In January 2022 its then chief executive, Peng Lei, told Jiemian he expected a Class III licence in about two and a half years.

What to watch

Whether the registration trial reports results and when NeuroXess files for approval.

Whether the Jiangxi factory starts production on schedule.

Whether NeuroXess starts preparing for a share listing.

Whether the final US Treasury rule changes which investors can take part in rounds like this one.

Sources

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Cross-reference to prior InsideBCI coverage:

market China NeuroXess Tao-Hu funding Series-B SDIC-Juli Shenzhen-Capital-Group Qinzhi-Capital IDG-Capital StairMed BrainCo Huashan-Hospital registration-trial state-capital