Prices continue to rise as investors aggressively rush to buy old shares at a premium, with capital flooding into brain-machine interface projects.

Securities Times reporter Zhang Shuxian

“Recently, nearly 10 funds actively reached out to seek to acquire shares from Qiangnao Technology, all top-tier institutions, and many were politely declined.” Liu Dan, one of the early investors in Qiangnao Technology and a well-known investor in the life sciences industry, said in an interview with Securities Times, “Moreover, the inquiries have been on the rise, with some intentions even exceeding the prices for new investments.”

In the primary market, the trading of old shares typically trades at a discount compared to new shares. The unusual market for the transfer of old shares in brain-machine interfaces reflects the unprecedented heat in investment and financing within this sector: industrial capital and major internet companies are entering the arena one after another. However, during the interviews, it was found that while there is a frenzy for brain-machine interface projects, different capital sources have varying preferences for technological routes.

"Brain-machine interface companies

can generally secure financing quickly."

Brain-machine interfaces have been included in this year’s government work report as a future industry. Coupled with the approval for the world’s first invasive brain-machine interface classified as a Class III medical device, there have been technological breakthroughs, marking the “DeepSeek moment” in the domestic brain-machine interface primary market.

On March 13, the star startup in the brain-machine interface sector, Step Medical, announced the completion of 500 million yuan in strategic financing, bringing the company’s total financing to over 1.1 billion yuan within the past year; on March 12, Gestalt Technology announced it had completed 150 million yuan in angel round financing, setting a record for the highest angel round financing in the Chinese brain-machine interface field; in January, Qiangnao Technology completed a new round of financing of about 2 billion yuan, setting a record for a single financing round in the field of non-invasive brain-machine interfaces in China.

According to data from IT Juzi, as of March 19, there have been 17 financing events in the brain-machine interface field this year, totaling 3.803 billion yuan, far exceeding the total financing scale of 1.455 billion yuan in 2025.

Liu Dan stated that under the current heat, startup companies with some foundation in the brain-machine interface industry are generally popular, allowing them to secure rapid financing, with leading companies in niche segments becoming the target for mainstream funds looking to fill gaps, “Some top funds are entering the sector through the acquisition of old shares.”

Dao Tong Investment is one of the lead investors in Gestalt Technology’s angel round financing. Its partner, Lin Zhengcheng, told reporters that the financing round progressed rapidly and achieved oversubscription, with multiple institutions still eager to invest in subsequent rounds. “The brain-machine interface has become the focus of investment and financing in the medical field. We began researching and laying out this sector two years ago and have currently invested in four to five projects, with another two or three projects planned for investment.” he said.

In this wave of investment and financing in the primary market for brain-machine interfaces, funds are still primarily flowing into leading companies, with large financing rounds concentrated in enterprises with high technological barriers and rapid clinical advancement. Mao Shuo, executive director of Qiming Venture Partners, stated in an interview that institutions generally prefer four types of targets: those with hard-core technology, especially with clear advantages in implantable and flexible brain-machine interface technologies; founding teams with top academic backgrounds and industrialization capabilities; leading clinical progress, capable of advancing type testing, clinical trials, with clear approval and commercialization paths; and clear application scenarios in areas such as motion decoding and neuro disease treatment.

This is also the reason why Qiming Venture Partners continuously invests in Step Medical. “The founding team of Step Medical possesses strong professionalism and growth, achieving the development of the first miniaturized implantable flexible brain-machine interface system in China and completing a series of stringent preclinical validations while actively promoting the formation of industry standards and approval pathways.” Mao Shuo said, “We see a clear future vision in Step Medical. They have completed the first clinical implantation for motion decoding in China and have also established clear technical routes in language decoding, visual reconstruction, and precise control of neuro diseases.”

Companies involved in brain-machine interface components and materials have also become a niche track for capital investment. Yang Bo, managing director of Shuimu Wutong Venture Capital, told reporters that invasive brain-machine interface companies with high technical barriers, such as flexible electrodes, signal processing systems, chips, and implantable devices, are favored by investors.

Industrial capital and major internet companies are entering the field

In this wave of financing in the brain-machine interface sector, the participants are becoming more diverse. Yang Bo observed that the brain-machine interface industry, which was previously an emerging niche track primarily focused on by a few medical device funds and hard technology funds, has now captured the attention of more comprehensive funds, industrial capital, local state-owned assets, and major internet companies.

Among the investors in Qiangnao Technology’s 2 billion yuan financing are IDG Capital, Huaden International, as well as industry giants like Lens Technology and Lingyi Zhizao, along with strategic investment institutions such as Runze Technology, Huazhu Group, and TAL Group. The investors in Gestalt Technology also include Fourier Intelligence and other industry players; in the 500 million yuan financing for Step Medical, Alibaba led the investment, with Tencent again following suit. This company is also the first target for Alibaba and Tencent’s investment in the brain-machine interface field.

According to Lin Zhengcheng, with industrial capital and major internet companies beginning to lay out the brain-machine interface sector, the industry will see more long-cycle funding and resources from the industrial chain, which will further promote the development of foundational research, product development, continuous iteration, and application scenarios in the brain-machine interface industry.

The entry of industrial capital and major internet companies is also aimed at business integration and synergy. Many interviewees believe that the development direction of brain-machine interfaces should not be limited to clinical applications; in the future, the application potential for human-machine interaction in non-medical fields such as entertainment, education, health, and industrial applications will be much greater.

Mao Shuo stated that brain-machine interfaces are not only a cutting-edge medical technology but also an important direction for the deep integration of life sciences and information technology. He cited Step Medical as an example, stating that major internet companies have accumulated deep expertise in multimodal large models, computing power support, smart hardware, and ecological layout, which can be combined and synergized with Step Medical’s advantages in core brain-machine hardware technology and clinical transformation to jointly create a new generation of brain-machine interface systems and more cutting-edge application ecosystems, “This is not only a strong support for medical innovation but also a forward-looking layout for the core capabilities of the next generation of human-machine interaction.”

“The approval of the world’s first invasive brain-machine interface classified as a Class III medical device, along with the entry of major internet companies into the brain-machine interface sector, can be seen as a marker indicating that the industry is gradually moving towards a turning point of commercialization.” Lin Zhengcheng said.

Discrepancies in technical routes emerge

Institutional layouts have varying focuses

Although various institutions generally have a positive outlook on the brain-machine interface sector, they have different emphases on different technological routes and niche tracks.

Mao Shuo stated that Qiming Venture Partners will focus on companies with hard-core technological barriers and clear clinical landing value, paying particular attention to core areas such as implantable brain-machine interfaces, neuro modulation, and signal decoding. They prioritize companies with top interdisciplinary teams, leading clinical progress, and clear technical roadmaps and commercialization paths, especially favoring founding teams capable of transitioning from scientists to entrepreneurs, combining academic strength with industrialization capabilities. They will also pay attention to quality targets upstream and downstream of the industrial chain to complete their investment layout.

Liu Dan is more optimistic about the future development and application of semi-invasive technology routes, “Semi-invasive technology is like being in the midfield of a sports field, with application scenarios that can penetrate both medical and non-medical settings, allowing for both offensive and defensive strategies, and is relatively flexible.”

Yang Bo is also currently focusing on projects in the brain-machine interface sector. He told reporters that he is looking at investment opportunities in leading star projects while also observing early-stage, high-growth, technology-driven companies, such as front-line technology projects related to electrodes, signal processing systems, algorithm development, and the integration of brain-machine and embodied intelligence.

In his view, in the field of non-invasive brain-machine projects, there are both medical devices under strict clinical medical systems and non-invasive brain-machine products in scenarios related to mental and emotional health, education, and 3C applications, but the investment scale of these companies is still unable to compete with leading invasive brain-machine interface companies.

“The future development direction of brain-machine interfaces should not be limited to clinical applications. We hope to see the policy support system further extend to foundational research, breakthroughs in key core technologies, and multi-scenario integrated applications.” Yang Bo said in an interview, “Especially in the direction of the integration of AI and brain-machine interfaces, the collaboration of brain-machine and embodied intelligence, and the verification of new human-machine interaction scenarios, we look forward to seeing a more systematic top-level design, special support, and complementary industrial policies.”

While closely monitoring the continuous breakthroughs in invasive brain-machine interface technology, Lin Zhengcheng is very optimistic about the vast application space and potential of non-invasive brain-machine interfaces. He has laid out medical projects related to depression, Parkinson’s disease, pain, epilepsy, and Alzheimer’s disease, distributed across different application scenarios in hospitals and at home. He also sees great commercial potential for brain-machine interfaces in non-medical fields, with some research teams exploring commercial applications, such as brain-controlled drones, brain-controlled cars, and brain-controlled games, “The brain-machine interface is a track with a long slope and deep snow, and we will vigorously lay out in this sector.”