Summary

• MintNeuro has raised $5 million in a round led by Odyssey Ventures to accelerate product launches and international expansion.
• Its chips are designed around the power, size and signal-processing constraints of neural implants and related devices.
• The company has already delivered functioning silicon and holds a multi-year commercial chip supply agreement with Motif Neurotech.

MintNeuro has raised $5 million to move specialised semiconductor chips for neural devices from technical validation towards commercial scale, addressing a hardware constraint beneath brain-computer interfaces, neurostimulators and other systems that interact with the nervous system.

The Imperial College London spinout will use the financing to accelerate product launches, expand partnerships and build its international presence. Odyssey Ventures led the round, with participation from 33East, JSK Investments and Alumni Ventures alongside returning investors including Empirical Ventures and Jumpspace Ventures.

Neural devices create unusual semiconductor requirements because electronics may need to operate inside or close to the body while processing extremely small biological signals. Physical size, power consumption, heat and the number of sensing or stimulation channels become constraints that differ substantially from those affecting conventional consumer electronics.

Developers can use generic components or commission custom integrated circuits, although both approaches involve trade-offs. Off-the-shelf chips may consume more power or occupy more space than an implant can tolerate, while custom silicon can add years of engineering and significant upfront cost before a medical device reaches clinical development.

Specialist silicon becomes shared infrastructure

MintNeuro is attempting to create reusable semiconductor platforms designed specifically around neural applications, allowing device companies to obtain specialist hardware without beginning an entirely bespoke chip programme for each product.

The underlying technology originated in Imperial’s Next Generation Neural Interfaces Lab led by Professor Tim Constandinou. Chief executive Dorian Haci co-founded MintNeuro in 2022 after working as a postdoctoral researcher in the same laboratory.

The business has moved beyond simulation and early prototypes to functioning silicon, with chips already delivered and integration milestones reached with development partners including UK company Amber Therapeutics and US business Motif Neurotech.

Motif provides the clearest commercial evidence so far. MintNeuro has an existing multi-year supply agreement covering chips for a minimally invasive neurostimulator that Motif is initially developing for treatment-resistant depression.

The agreement does not establish that the eventual therapy will succeed clinically, but it moves MintNeuro into a different stage from semiconductor developers without a defined product customer. Its chip now sits inside a device programme whose engineering, regulatory and clinical milestones extend beyond the semiconductor supplier itself.

Neurotechnology is constrained by its hardware

Brain-computer interfaces attract attention for applications ranging from restoring communication to controlling external systems, while electrical stimulation of the nervous system is already used clinically in several conditions. Newer devices are pushing towards smaller form factors, less invasive procedures and more sophisticated sensing or stimulation.

Those ambitions increase the demands placed on electronics. Recording more neural channels produces more data, while complex stimulation requires precise control, yet implanted hardware cannot rely on the large batteries and active cooling available to ordinary computers.

Specialised chips can therefore influence what a neural device is physically capable of doing. Lower power use may permit a smaller battery or longer operating life, while integration of more functions onto one component can reduce the amount of hardware that has to be packaged inside the body.

The new capital follows £1 million raised in 2024 with support from the Imperial College Enterprise Fund and other investors. MintNeuro has also benefited from UK research and innovation support while moving its semiconductor technology towards commercial products.

A $5 million round remains modest in semiconductor terms. Fabrication, customer support and component qualification can require significant capital, while medical-device development cycles extend further because hardware intended for treatment has to fit into larger regulatory and clinical programmes.

That makes reuse across several customers central to the business model. If one semiconductor platform can support multiple neural-device companies, development expenditure can be spread across programmes rather than depending on a single implant reaching market.

MintNeuro is now trying to convert functioning chips and early commercial relationships into repeatable semiconductor products. Its progress will depend partly on medical-device programmes outside its control, but the financing reflects growing demand for the enabling components beneath neurotechnology rather than only the finished implants that receive most public attention.