Meet Neuralink’s rivals in China

Welcome to Tech in Asia’s daily newsletter, your essential dose of Asia’s tech and startup buzz. Not yet a subscriber? Register here. Got a story tip? Send it to editors@techinasia.com.

In focus

• Chips coming to your brain soon?
• Fresh doses of funding for China’s healthcare startups
• We’re looking for China tech pitches.

Hello reader,

The idea of microchips being implanted into the brain used to be the stuff of sci-fi. But today, it’s much closer to a reality.

Neuralink gets most of the headlines for its work in the brain-computer interface (BCI) world, which tends to happen when Elon Musk is your founder. But it’s not the only company making moves in the sector.

Today’s Top Story from our freelance writer Ye Yuan dives into the Chinese neurotech startups moving toward the commercialization of BCI products. Firms like NeuroXess and NeuCyber NeuroTech have state backing, and the latter’s brain implant could enter the market as soon as 2027.

Like Neuralink, Chinese firms are testing implants on paralyzed patients to help them communicate. In their home market, they’re also testing these products on people with epilepsy.

It’s a noble cause, but not the ultimate goal. Once commercialized, these devices could let users play video games, tap into AI, and, perhaps most unsettling, scroll social media. Less sci-fi, more horror.

What struck me the most was that these Chinese firms have far less funding than Neuralink, with their rounds in the tens of millions. In contrast, Musk’s company announced a US$650 million series E round in June.

Neuralink might be ahead in the race to put a chip in your brain, but all that cash has only bought it a slender lead.

BCI isn’t the only sector in China getting investors’ attention. This edition also features our visual story on the Chinese healthcare startups leading the pack and closing massive funding rounds.

Peter Cowan, engagement editor

Top Story

The Chinese neurotech startups chipping away at Neuralink’s lead

Caption: Experimental brain-computer interface implants on display by Chinese startup NeuroXess. / Photo credit: NeuroXess

A data story you shouldn’t miss

Pitch us China tech stories