Mindtrix (明视脑机)
Chinese cortical visual prosthesis company (Suzhou/Beijing, founded Oct 2024), focused exclusively on visual-cortex implantation for vision restoration. The best-funded cortical visual prosthesis challenger outside the US/EU: RMB 500M (~US$70M) cumulative funding after a Pre-A round (Aug 2026). Claimed “China’s first human-validated visual restoration BCI” and the country’s first multidimensional human IIT validations (shape, colour, Chinese characters).1
Key facts
- Full legal name: Mindtrix Technology (Suzhou) Co., Ltd. (dba Mindtrix); Chinese name 明视脑机. Established 2024 (Preqin) / founded October 2024 (VCBeat).2
- Structure (dual-hub): industrialisation base in Suzhou (Jiangsu); R&D centre in Beijing; additional subsidiary in Shanghai.1
- Founder: Dr. Liu Bing — PhD in neurobiology; 10+ years of non-human primate BCI research; postdocs at leading overseas labs; interdisciplinary team (neuroscience, electronic engineering, bioengineering).1
- Funding: Angel round RMB 150M; Pre-A round RMB 350M (Aug 2026); cumulative **RMB 500M (~US70M)**. Investors per Preqin: Casstar Capital, Midas Capital, Seashell Capital. Company stage: Angel & Seed.[^2] Note: VCBeat headline "700M cumulative” conflicts with its own body text (RMB 500M) — treated as a translation error; RMB figure used.
- Target population: complete blindness from eyeball destruction or severe optic nerve damage — conditions retinal prostheses cannot address. Also exploring applications in depression and Parkinson’s disease (Preqin); revenue focus on visual restoration + motor control.1
Technology
Fully implantable design: wireless, real-time visual reconstruction system.3
- ECOG-RS 双工电极 (dual-function electrode): 128-channel high-density ECoG recording + stimulation array covering multiple cortical functional areas; flexible, biocompatible substrate; electrochemical stability for long-term high-frequency stimulation; customisable shape/function modules.
- MT-RS16 / MT-RS256 stimulators: 16- and 256-channel neural stimulators with independent channel configuration, precise current/voltage/frequency control, safety protection, multi-electrode-interface compatibility.
- Stimulation system: feedthrough packaging for large-scale stimulation; wireless data and power transmission (semi- or fully implanted systems).
- Algorithms: neurobiology-mechanism-based deep stimulation-to-perception model; dynamic, quantitatively regulated personalised electrical stimulation of visual cortex; real-time closed-loop brain-machine fusion (closed-loop feedback + visual feedback; real-time neural encoding/decoding); “dual learning” (robustness, generalisation, plug-and-play).
- Research directions: primary visual cortex topological representation & stimulation regulation; cortical visual synthetic encoding; high-throughput biocompatible neural interfaces; biomimetic visual computation; closed-loop interaction architecture; cross-species translational neuroscience (non-human primate models); computational neuromedicine simulation (virtual patients); targeted neural-circuit regulation.
Clinical status
- Investigators-initiated trials (IITs) completed in humans: perception of the Arabic numeral “7”, then the Chinese character “八” via multi-dimensional stimulation (stroke distribution, topological relationships, visual centre of gravity) — company claims progression from light spots/single symbols to complex graphic and textual information.
- Company claims: China’s only human visual cortex reconstruction database, with “shape + colour + grayscale + Chinese character writing + 100% target hit rate”; first domestic team with multidimensional human IIT validations.
- Roadmap: China’s first IIT in completely blind patients 2026; formal registrational clinical trials 2028; first-generation product launch target 2030 (likely contour recognition / obstacle avoidance).
- Confidence note: these are company/media claims (VCBeat, LinkedIn post); no peer-reviewed human results yet. Classified as preclinical-to-early-clinical.
Related pages
- cortical-visual-prosthesis-companies — company schema (this page’s context)
- cortical-visual-prosthesis — mechanism & evidence
- brain-interface — cortical/cerebral BCI category
- visual-prosthesis — retina vs cortex strategic debate
- visual-prosthesis-patents — Mindtrix patent CN121944384A (RL closed-loop cortical stimulation control, 2026)
- phosphoenix, revision-implant, cortigent — EU/US cortical rivals
References
- Mindtrix official technology page: https://www.mindtrix.cn/technology (2026). 3
- Preqin asset profile (public preview): https://www.preqin.com/data/profile/asset/mindtrix/750741. 2
- VCBeat / Embodied Emergence (2026-08-27): “Mindtrix Secures $700M Cumulative Funding…”. https://www.vcbeathealth.com/article/61849. 1
- Panda Yu (LinkedIn, Aug 2026): Mindtrix secures RMB 150M Series Angel; “China’s first human-validated visual restoration BCI” (company-side claim).