Coherence Neuro co-founders Elise Jenkins and Ben Woodington have announced the company’s $10 million seed round on social media.
The two took to LinkedIn to share the news of the funding, which supports the company’s flagship SOMA-1 device. SOMA-1 is a therapeutic brain-computer interface (BCI) that continually monitors and administers custom stimulation to potentially treat cancer.
SOMA-1 features a wireless, coin-sized implant designed to subtly stimulate and record from the brain. It works with an over-ear wearable that delivers all-day power and memory. Then, the SOMA app provides real-time insights, session history and symptom tracking tools.
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Coherence Neuro says its system monitors cancer progression in real time and delivers targeted stimulation to overwrite cancer’s bioelectric signaling. Rather than impact the entire body, SOMA-1 embeds in the relevant areas and administers therapies directly. The technology tailors therapy to each individual’s unique physiology.
According to the company, the device is MRI-transparent and enables home-based care, fewer hospital visits and easier compliance. Its closed-loop system learns from each patient in real-time while AI decodes electrical signals to identify the fingerprint of each tumor.
On LinkedIn, Jenkins said the company aims to bridge the gap between neuro and AI with a closed-loop, bi-directional cancer-treating system. It developed SOMA-1 to listen to electrical cues that evolve as diseases progress and “nudge them back towards a healthier state using electrical stimulation.” She said the funding propels the company toward its first-in-human trial.
Woodington added on LinkedIn: “40% of us will get cancer in our lifetimes, yet there is no single cancer care company. Why? Because the entire process involves numerous moving parts, various approaches, medications, and monitoring techniques, with no unified whole. We solve this through our therapeutic neurotechnology and BCI platform—a critical technology for extending life and improving the human condition. Our platform brings a new approach to treating the disease while capturing biological data that was previously impossible.
“With these breakthroughs, we can build cancer prediction models that update in real time. We’ll adapt stimulation and drug therapies with continuous feedback to ensure the most effective course of treatment. We believe cancer is a system-state error, and is now solvable. All this begins with a tiny implant that treats your cancer with electricity via your body’s master control system—the nervous system.”
The seed round was led by Artesian & Topology Ventures. Pre-seed investors Blackbird and Possible Ventures also participated. They were joined by investors and angels, XEIA Venture Partners, Jumpspace Ventures, Xtal, Divergent Capital, SmartGateVC, Spacewalk VC, Matt Krisiloff, Linhao Zhang and Tim Shi.
