Infera Neuro lands $62,000 FONGIT grant to build brain-computer chips
What's the deal? Infera NeuroDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, an EPFLDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → spin-off developing chips for brain-computer interfaces, has won a 50,000 CHF (about $62,000) FIF Grant from the Fondation pour l'Innovation Technologique (FONGIT)Dealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →.
What does it do? The Geneva-based startup builds application-specific integrated circuits, or ASICs, for non-invasive thought-to-speech wearables. Its systems aim to restore communication for people who have lost the ability to speak after a stroke or from neurodegenerative disease.
What's the tech? Conventionally, neural signals are sent off the device before being interpreted, adding delay and draining power. Infera Neuro decodes the data directly on the chip, keeping raw neural data on the device and limiting how far sensitive information travels.
What's the money for? The grant will fund the company's incorporation in Geneva and the next stage of its chip design. Infera Neuro is a spin-off from the Integrated Neurotechnologies Laboratory at Campus Biotech, cofounded by Raphael Berner and Masoud Farivar.
The signal: The grant sits in the smallest tier of disclosed funding events, a scale typical of early institutional support for research spin-offs. For Infera Neuro, it marks the shift from lab project to incorporated company in Switzerland's Health Valley cluster.
Read more: bioalps.org
Image credit: 狐☭忠 ❂ Fidelis
