Cortical Visual Prosthesis Companies (Schema, Aug 2026)
What: Current major organizations developing cortex-interfacing visual prostheses (V1/LGN). Companion to cortical-visual-prosthesis and visual-prosthesis. For retinal systems, see retinal-prosthesis-companies.
Company schema
| Company / Org | HQ | Device · target | Status (Aug 2026) | Key facts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phosphoenix B.V. (Roelfsema) | Amsterdam, NL (EU) | Fountain Probe™ — high-density ultra-flexible volumetric interface; LGN (lateral geniculate nucleus, thalamus) | Preclinical (mouse studies; FIH 2027) | Founded 2019 (NIN spin-off); founders pieter-roelfsema (NIN Director, SIGHTED Sci. Coord.), Xing Chen (inventor), Bert Monna (CEO); pre-seed Sep 2022 (TTT Medtech, FIRST/BGV, Innovatiefonds Noord-Holland); Health-Holland PPP €211k (POSITIONED); EIC SIGHTED grant 2024 (>€2.5M EU, TRL 3→5); FIH: 5 blind patients, early 2027; commercial launch target 2032; scientific basis: Chen et al. Science 2020 (1024-ch macaque V1/V4); human LGN translational data: Self et al. Nat Commun 2025 (first human LGN single-unit recordings, Roelfsema group); HBP Innovation Award 2023; Falling Walls ‘23 |
| ReVision Implant | Leuven, BE (EU) | Occular — intracortical V1, deep arrays; >1,000 electrodes (grayscale >1,000 px target); virtual electrodes | FIH approved; Oct 2026 intra-op test planned | Co-founders Frederik Ceyssens (CEO, ex-KU Leuven), Peter Janssen (KU Leuven); FDA Breakthrough Device Designation: March 2026 (TAP Pilot access); €4M round May 2026; EIC FlairVision €2.4M; imec.istart/Plug&Play; monkey pre-clinical (Janssen lab, eye-tracking); >2 yr animal studies; acute intra-op test Oct 2026 (epilepsy resections, TTK Budapest); blind-volunteer trial target summer 2027; target ≥3/20 vision by 2030; ~650,000 target patients in US+EU (company estimate); cleanroom in-house |
| Neuralink (Blindsight) | Fremont, CA, US | Blindsight — implant in visual cortex, camera-driven | Clinical dev. | FDA Breakthrough Device designation (2024); Musk: human implants expected within 6–12 months (2026 statements; monkey must have 3-yr implant data); N1 motor trials expanded to 21 participants; IEEE Spectrum critique: “likely to disappoint” (resolution expectations) |
| Cortigent, Inc. (Vivani Medical) | Valencia, CA, US | Orion — 60 micro-electrodes on V1 surface; wireless IPG + camera glasses | Active (EFS done → pivotal planning) | 6 subjects implanted 2018–19; 6-yr EFS results (NANS Jan 2026; NIH UH3NS103442): all devices functional, <4% electrode loss, all improved on/off, FLORA positive; only company with FDA-approved artificial-vision device (Argus II legacy); >82,000 profoundly blind Americans target population; S-1 filed (Nasdaq CRGT) |
| Mindtrix (明视脑机) | Suzhou + Beijing, CN | ECoG-RS 128-ch dual-function (record+stimulate) surface array over cortex; MT-RS16/256 stimulators; wireless, closed-loop; cortical (V1) pathway | Human IITs done → blind-patient IIT planned 2026 | Found. Oct 2024; founder Dr. Liu Bing (neurobiology PhD, primate BCI); Pre-A RMB 350M Aug 2026 + Angel RMB 150M = RMB 500M (~US$70M) cumulative (Casstar Capital, Midas Capital, Seashell Capital); human IITs: Chinese character 八 perception (after “7”); claims China’s only human visual-cortex reconstruction database (shape+colour+grayscale+characters, 100% hit); roadmap: IIT in completely blind patients 2026 → registrational trials 2028 → first-gen product 2030; targets blindness from eyeball/optic-nerve damage; also depression/Parkinson’s applications; see mindtrix |
| Monash Vision Group | Melbourne, AU | Gennaris — cortical arrays (≈172 ch/device, multiple devices/hemispheres) | Preclinical (FIH planned) | Monash University + Alfred Health partnership; first-in-human trial planned “in a small number of participants”; no company spin-out yet |
| Biomedical Technologies SL | Alicante, ES | Cortical Vision Neuroprosthesis for the Blind — intracortical | Clinical (early) | NCT02983370; monkey pre-clinical confirmed visual potentials; 1 human trial (consistent stimulation thresholds); further trials underway; biomedical-technologies.com |
| Illinois Institute of Technology / Chicago Lighthouse | Chicago, IL, US | ICVP (Intracortical Visual Prosthesis) — floating microelectrode arrays, wireless | Phase 1 | No scalp connectors; 1 patient implanted; phase 1 recruiting (2024); chicagolighthouse.org/icvp |
| Academic landmarks | Various | UMH Elche 96-electrode implant (patient Berna Gomez, 2021); ICVP (surface, few-mm); Beauchamp/Yoshor dynamic stimulation | Research | Provide the human evidence base; Blackrock Neurotech supplies Utah arrays; EU projects NeuraViPeR (UZH, >1,000 flexible electrodes) and HyperStim (KU Leuven, ≥20x resolution encoding) |
Dimensions of comparison
- Target anatomy: surface V1 (Orion; high currents, low res) vs deep intracortical V1 (Occular; ~5x res, µA currents, access/lifetime challenges) vs LGN (Phosphoenix; compact, structure-preserving, but small + surgical access deep).
- Channel count: 60 (Orion) → 96 (UMH) → ~1,000+ (Occular, preclinical; ~1,000 needed for real-world use per NeuraViPeR estimates) → 1,024 proven in monkey (Chen 2020); Mindtrix’s 128-ch ECoG surface array is small but human-validated in IITs.
- Evidence maturity: human chronic data only for Orion (6 yrs); acute/animal for the rest; Mindtrix has completed human IITs (shape/colour/character perception) but no chronic blind-patient data yet.
- Funding scale: Neuralink 70M) cumulative — highest among dedicated cortical-visual-prosthesis startups**.
Verdict
Cortex devices are the universal solution (any blindness cause; retina must be healthy for retinal implants) but remain years from commercial use: every company either just passed preclinical or is in early trials. The EU holds a formidable scientific position (NIN/Phosphoenix 1024-ch macaque breakthrough; KU Leuven/ReVision +“HyperStim”; UZH “NeuraViPeR”), while US players (Neuralink, Cortigent) have the capital. China has now joined the race via mindtrix (RMB 500M, human IITs demonstrating shape/colour/Chinese-character perception; blind-patient IIT 2026) — currently the best-funded dedicated cortical-visual-prosthesis company. Whether cortex programs catch up to PRIMA’s already-commercial reading vision is the sector’s defining race. See also visual-prosthesis for the strategic debate.
References
- BioGeneration Ventures PR (2022-09-22, Phosphoenix pre-seed); phosphoenix.nl (LGN pivot, 2026).
- Vivani Medical / Cortigent NANS 2026 release; HT World (2026-05, ReVision €4M).
- Bionic Vision spotlight: Ceyssens interview (2025); Horizon Magazine (EU, 2023).
- Chen et al., Science 2020;370(6521):1191-1196.
- Mindtrix — mindtrix.cn/technology (2026); Preqin asset profile (750741); VCBeat/Embodied Emergence (2026-08-27, Pre-A RMB 350M).