Phosphoenix raises pre-seed financing to restore vision in blind people

Press release, 22 September 2022, Amsterdam — via BioGeneration Ventures.

• Phosphoenix: medtech spin-off from the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience (NIN, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences), founded by Prof. Pieter Roelfsema, Prof. Xing Chen and Dr. Bert Monna (CEO).
• Pre-seed financing from TTT Medtech Fund (managed by Innovation Industries), FIRST Fund (managed by BioGeneration Ventures) and Innovatiefonds Noord-Holland.
• Technology: prosthesis stimulates nerve cells in parts of the brain involved in visual perception; electrodes placed in the brain via a proprietary probe; one electrode = perception of a dot of light (phosphene); multiple electrodes = recognizable patterns; final product: glasses with a camera and electrical stimulation of patterns in the brain.
• Goal: obtain preclinical data with the new probe in preparation for a first-in-human trial.
• Xing Chen: “We previously established proof-of-concept for this technology by developing a novel prosthesis and generating higher-resolution artificial images as never seen before.”
• About 40 million people globally suffer from blindness.