Neurotech startup and Neuralink competitor Paradromics secures strategic investment from Saudi Arabia’s Neom

Texas-based neurotech startup Paradromics announced on Wednesday it has secured strategic investment from Saudi Arabia’s Neom. As part of the deal, Paradromics will establish a Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) Center of Excellence in the region.

The investment was led by the Neom Investment Fund, Neom’s strategic investment arm. Paradromics didn’t disclose the amount of funding involved.

“This partnership marks a pivotal moment for Paradromics and the broader BCI industry,” Paradromics founder and CEO Matt Angle said in a statement. “NEOM and Paradromics both have expansive visions for the future of mental health that are highly aligned. Working together, we can accelerate the rate of innovation in BCI and expand access to impactful BCI-based therapies.”

With this investment, Paradromics joins a growing list of neurotech startups challenging Elon Musk’s Neuralink. Another startup is Synchron, a New York-based brain interface company backed by Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, which is also advancing human trials for its mind-controlled computing.

Paradromics is developing a brain-computer interface—a system that reads brain signals and converts them into commands for external devices. The startup plans to collaborate with Neom to push forward BCI-based therapies and set up what it calls the “premier center for BCI-based healthcare” in the Middle East and North Africa.

Paradromics is one of several companies in the race to bring BCIs to market, alongside big names like Elon Musk’s Neuralink. Earlier this month, Neuralink shared that it had implanted its technology in three human patients. Other players in the space include Precision Neuroscience and Synchron—the latter backed by Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates—both of which have also conducted human implants.

So far, none of these companies have received final approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Paradromics’ own BCI, the Connexus Direct Data Interface, uses an array of tiny electrodes implanted directly into brain tissue. The technology aims to help patients with severe paralysis regain communication abilities by decoding their neural signals.

The company is preparing to launch its first human trial later this year and opened its official patient registry in July. While it hasn’t secured full FDA approval yet, Paradromics did receive the FDA’s Breakthrough Device designation in 2023, signaling that its technology holds promise for addressing unmet medical needs.

Neom, located in northwest Saudi Arabia, was unveiled in 2017 by Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman. The NEOM project pitches itself as a hub for innovation, envisioning a futuristic region featuring a floating industrial complex, a global trade hub, luxury tourist resorts, and a linear city running entirely on renewable energy.