Recently, StairMed, an innovator in China's implantable brain-computer interface (BCI) sector, announced the completion of a 350 million yuan Series B financing round. This round was co-led by Qiming Venture Partners, OrbiMed, Lilly Asia Ventures, and prominent industry investors, with continued participation from angel investor Fountainbridge Capital. Springhill Master Fund acted as financial advisor. The funds will be used to accelerate clinical trials of products, develop next-generation technologies, and establish a medical-grade MEMS production base, providing strong support for the commercialization of brain-machine interface technology.
This financing represents the largest single investment in the history of China's implantable brain-computer interface industry. Prior to this, StairMed had secured hundreds of millions of yuan in Series A financing and tens of millions of yuan in angel-round financing.
Founded in August 2021, StairMed specializes in the R&D and application of minimally invasive implantable brain-computer interface (BCI) technology. Like Neuralink, the company has adopted the technically challenging yet high-potential path of invasive BCI development. It has successfully developed China's first medical-device-standard-compliant high-throughput implantable BCI system, designed to help paralyzed patients perform complex brain-controlled tasks. This product also marks China's first invasive BCI device to complete regulatory-type inspection. StairMed was selected for the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's 2023 "Unveiling the List" Future Industrial Innovation Mission program as the only implantable BCI company from Shanghai. It has also secured support from Shanghai's 2024 "Science and Technology Innovation Action Plan" for BCI projects.
Currently, StairMed has partnered with multiple leading domestic hospitals to conduct over 50 brain-computer interface (BCI)-related investigator-initiated trials (IIT), demonstrating significant clinical outcomes. The company has established the world's largest single-cell dataset of human flexible electrodes. StairMed plans to initiate China's first long-term implant prospective clinical trial (First-in-Man, FIM) for invasive BCI in 2025, followed by large-scale clinical trials in 2026 to pave the way for product registration and commercialization.
As StairMed's legal counsel, Llinks has leveraged its extensive expertise in financing transactions to provide professional legal services throughout the company's multiple funding rounds.
Llinks Engagement team:
Selena She, Partner
Colin Shi, Partner
Chunhui BAI, Associate
