Nexus NeuroTech Ventures

Addressing the funding gap in early-stage medtech

The traditional venture capital funding model, while successful for biotech, presents a unique challenge for early-stage medical technology (medtech) companies. Medtech development involves longer timelines, greater regulatory and reimbursement hurdles, and lacks the clearly defined accretive inflection points found in therapeutics development, making it less attractive to traditional investors seeking quick returns. This creates a funding gap where promising neurotechnology inventions with strong scientific foundations but limited human clinical evidence struggle to secure the necessary capital to advance – in particular they have difficulty finding early-stage lead investors.

The Nexus NeuroTech solution: a continuum of support

Nexus NeuroTech's Incubator Program aims to address this gap by employing a hybrid approach, combining aspects of both a foundry or venture studio and pre-seed/seed investment models. This will enable us to support and invest in potentially transformative technologies that may not yet be ready for traditional venture capital.

Incubator & foundry model

NNT will build new companies around promising intellectual property (IP) originating from inventors, universities, or other sources. These ventures would focus on technologies in NNT’s core clinical areas: PD, ASD, BPD, and related cross-cutting areas. The incubator will provide the resources and expertise needed to advance these technologies through technical and clinical development, preparing them for pivotal trials and potential commercialization.

Pre-seed & seed investments

NNT will make pre-seed and seed-stage investments into existing university spin-outs or startups developing neurotechnology solutions aligned with Nexus NeuroTech’s strategic focus areas of PD, ASD, BPD, and related cross-cutting clinical areas.

What we look for

The Nexus NeuroTech Incubator program focuses on investing in technologies targeting Parkinson’s disease (PD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and bipolar disorder (BPD), along with cross-cutting clinical areas such as seizures (common in ASD and elevated risk in PD), cognitive dysfunction (common in PD, ASD, and BPD), and mood disorders (common across ASD, PD, and BPD) with:

Promising scientific rationale but limited clinical evidence

Strong Theoretical Foundation
Preliminary Evidence
Plausible Mechanism of Action
Peer Validation
Risk Assessment

Medical workers looking at medical devices

Pathway to de-risking and future investment

Prototype Development
Technical Proof of Concept (PoC)
Preclinical Testing (in vitro/in vivo)
Regulatory Pathway Identification
Intellectual Property (IP) Strategy
Early Market Validation
Team and Partnership Development Plans
Manufacturing Feasibility
Financial Milestones

Alignment with NNT’s investment profile and beneficial ecosystem

Developing technologies with the potential to meaningfully improve patient outcomes. This might involve supporting companies that address underserved needs or explore novel approaches that complement existing NNT initiatives.
Encouraging collaborations between incubator companies and other entities within the NNT ecosystem, including research institutions, clinical centers, and existing portfolio companies. Such collaborations could involve data sharing, joint research projects, and early-stage validation studies, fostering a dynamic network of innovation within the ecosystem.
Supporting the development of research tools and platforms that can be broadly utilized within the ecosystem to accelerate discovery and clinical development.
Measuring the impact of incubator companies not solely through financial metrics, but also through their contributions to scientific advancements, patient access to novel therapies, and overall improvement in the quality of care.

Broader Ecosystem

Leveraging the Nexus NeuroTech ecosystem for success

Nexus NeuroTech is part of a broader ecosystem, which includes a number of leading organizations dedicated to advancing research and care for brain disorders. The incubator program will leverage the resources and expertise of our ecosystem to provide portfolio companies with access to: