China's Neuralink competition heats up, Brainway's product reaches key milestone, world's first invasive brain-computer interface medical device enters clinical application stage, Ladder Medical secures 500 million yuan in financing, tech giants like Alibaba and Tencent place their bets

The competition for China’s version of Neuralink’s brain-machine interface is heating up. Who will come out on top?

On the afternoon of March 13, news that the world’s first invasive brain-machine interface medical device entered clinical application stage sparked a surge in the A-share market. As the A-shares declined in the afternoon, concept stocks related to brain-machine interfaces saw significant movements: Yingkang Life surged over 14%, Chuangxin Medical and Sanbo Brain Science both jumped nearly 10%, and stocks like Nanjing Panda, Yanshan Technology, Aipeng Medical, and Xiangyu Medical also rose sharply.

The Hong Kong stock market’s brain-machine interface concept also saw substantial gains, with Nanjing Panda Electronics, Brain Dynamics Aurora-B up nearly 11%; Brain Dynamics Aurora-B (06681.HK) up nearly 8%; and Micro-Invasive Brain Science rising over 6%. By the close, Yingkang Life increased by 12.53%, Chuangxin Medical by 6.59%, and Sanbo Brain Science by 3.23%.

Notably, recently, the National Medical Products Administration approved Boli Kang’s registration application for an innovative implantable brain-machine interface hand motor function compensation system, marking the world’s first launch of a brain-machine interface medical device into the market, and signifying that the world’s first invasive brain-machine interface medical device has entered the clinical application stage.

Currently, the domestic competition for China’s version of Neuralink is entering a heated phase. The first domestic invasive brain-machine interface clinical trial was conducted by Jiatie Medical, which plans to complete its first clinical trial in 2025, with the product entering the National Medical Products Administration’s innovative “green channel.”

This Boli Kang implantable brain-machine product includes a brain-machine interface implant, an implantable EEG electrode set, a brain signal transmitter/receiver, pneumatic glove device, disposable surgical kit, EEG decoding software, medical testing software, and clinical management software. It is suitable for patients with quadriplegia caused by cervical spinal cord injury, assisting hand grasp functions through pneumatic glove devices.

Patients must meet the following conditions: aged 18-60, with C2–C6 cervical spinal cord injury rated A–C, diagnosed more than a year ago, with stable condition for at least six months after standard treatment, unable to grasp with their hands, but with some remaining upper arm function. The product uses minimally invasive extradural implantation and wireless power and communication technology. Clinical trial results show that participants experienced significant improvements in hand grasp ability, thereby enhancing quality of life.

“Boli Kang” has completed IPO guidance

Previously, Boli Kang completed IPO guidance.

According to the China Securities Regulatory Commission’s IPO guidance disclosure system, brain-machine interface company Boli Kang Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. completed its IPO guidance filing on February 4, with CITIC Securities as the guiding underwriter. This marks the official start of Boli Kang’s IPO on the STAR Market.

The guidance filing report shows that Xu Honglai directly holds 12.2453% of the company’s shares, and controls 11.0879% through Beijing Boli Kang Investment Partnership (Limited Partnership) and Shanghai Boli Kang Enterprise Management Partnership (Limited Partnership), totaling 23.3332%, making him the controlling shareholder.

Public information indicates that Boli Kang was founded in November 2011. Its core team includes experts from Tsinghua University’s Neural Engineering Laboratory, ranked among the top five globally, and clinical neurology market specialists. The company specializes in R&D, manufacturing, and related technical services for brain-machine interface systems.

In December 2015, Boli Kang completed angel round financing of 12 million yuan. In March 2018, it raised 30 million yuan in Pre-A round funding. Since then, it has completed multiple funding rounds, with participation from well-known institutions such as Sequoia China, Baidu Venture Capital, and others.

In 2025, Boli Kang completed Series D+ funding, with a post-investment valuation of 3.5 to 4 billion yuan.

However, this valuation is still far from Elon Musk’s Neuralink, which remains the highest-valued brain-machine interface company globally. After completing Series E funding in 2025, Neuralink’s valuation reached $9 billion.

Jiatie Medical secures 500 million yuan in funding

Additionally, Jiatie Medical, which completed China’s first invasive brain-machine interface clinical trial in 2025, announced a major financing move today.

On the morning of March 13, Jiatie Medical announced it had completed a strategic financing of 500 million yuan. The round was led by Alibaba, with Guotou Chuanghe participating; existing shareholders Tencent, Yuanlai Capital, Aobo Capital, Yuanhe Yuan Dian, Qiming Venture Partners, Lilly Asia Fund, Source Code Capital, and Shanghai Guotou Xian Dao continued to invest. In less than a year, Jiatie Medical has raised over 1.1 billion yuan.

Founded in 2021, Jiatie Medical focuses on minimally invasive brain-machine interfaces, developing “brain control” and “neurostimulation” technologies, providing innovative therapies for patients with movement disorders and neurological diseases. It previously developed ultra-flexible electrodes 1/100th the thickness of human hair and the world’s smallest wireless brain implant, completing China’s first invasive brain-machine interface clinical trial in 2025, with the product entering the NMPA’s innovative “green channel.”

Global brain-machine interface medical market projected to reach $40 billion by 2030

In January this year, Elon Musk announced via social media that Neuralink, his brain-machine interface company, plans to achieve mass production of devices by 2026.

Recently, Max Hodak, co-founder of Neuralink, made a startling prediction on a podcast, suggesting that the first people to live to 1,000 years old may already have been born. Hodak views 2035 as a “technological event horizon,” foreseeing an irreversible acceleration in human-technology integration.

On March 7, Yao Dezhong, a member of the National People’s Congress and director of the Sichuan Brain Science and Brain-like Intelligence Research Institute, predicted that as products mature, China could see brain-machine interface technology enter practical use within the next three to five years. “Elon Musk’s direction can basically be realized domestically,” he said.

According to the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, China’s brain-machine interface market size was 3.2 billion yuan in 2024, up 18.8% year-over-year, and is expected to reach 5.58 billion yuan by 2027, with a growth rate of 20%. McKinsey estimates that the global market for medical applications of brain-machine interfaces could reach $40 billion by 2030. However, industry experts agree that brain-machine interface technology is still in its early stages, and large-scale medical applications will require overcoming strict clinical validation, ethical standards, and other hurdles.