Recently, as part of the 2026 Shanghai Government Open Month events, reporters from the Shanghai Securities News visited Brain Intelligence Hub, Shanghai’s future industrial cluster for brain-computer interfaces, located within the New Hongqiao International Medical Center area. As China’s first dedicated future industrial cluster focusing on brain-computer interfaces, Brain Intelligence Hub was inaugurated and put into operation in June 2025. Targeting global status as an origin and premiere launch base for brain-computer interface innovation, it attracts innovative enterprises, incubates cutting-edge products and builds a full-chain service platform, serving as a core observation window for the development of Shanghai’s brain-computer interface industry.

In accordance with the Action Plan for Cultivating the Brain-Computer Interface Future Industry in Shanghai (2025–2030), Shanghai leverages Brain Intelligence Hub to foster continuous emergence of new technologies and new products, accelerate the gathering of industrial capital, and develop a future industrial ecosystem featuring deep integration of government, industry, academia, research, finance, service and end users. The city aims to blaze a distinctive “Shanghai pathway” for nurturing future industries.

Accelerated Rollout of Frontier Technologies

Expanding Diverse Application Scenarios

Brain-computer interface technologies are gradually moving from laboratory research to practical use, with expanding application scenarios including medical rehabilitation, disease diagnosis and treatment, and human-machine interaction. Brain Intelligence Hub hosts enterprises covering invasive, semi-invasive and non-invasive technical routes. These firms conduct research on key links such as signal acquisition, algorithm analysis, neural modulation and intelligent interaction, jointly driving coordinated development across the industrial chain.

In the invasive and semi-invasive segments, three products developed by Shanghai-based enterprises have entered China’s special review procedure for innovative medical devices, and one has obtained FDA Breakthrough Device designation. Key milestones include:

• BrainCo Technology secured the world’s first approval for an invasive brain-computer interface;

• Steeplechase Medical’s invasive system and Kongshanci’s TMS neuronavigation system are advancing into GCP clinical trials;

• Brain Tiger Technology has launched a fully implantable, fully wireless, fully functional brain-computer interface with built-in batteries, and has initiated FIM trials.

Lingxi Cloud has built models based on 2.1 million brain function datasets to develop precision diagnosis and treatment models for brain disorders applicable across different individuals, disease types and regions. The technology has been deployed at Sanbo Brain Hospital and Xuanwu Hospital to assist preoperative evaluation and surgical planning for intractable epilepsy and other illnesses. Bian Yawen, Chief Operating Officer of Lingxi Cloud, revealed that the company plans to build pre-trained models for certain rare brain diseases to fill gaps in diagnosis and treatment data.

In the non-invasive field, Shanghai Yuanxi Intelligent Technology focuses on non-invasive brain-controlled interaction technology. Wu Qifeng, President of the company, explained that its equipment identifies concentration and relaxation levels from electroencephalogram signals. The technology enables people with physical disabilities to operate wheelchairs and nursing beds via thought, and can also be applied in households and government premises to control air conditioners, desk lamps and other devices through mind commands.

Sustained Inflow of Capital

Initial Achievements in Industrial Incubation

As a cutting-edge hard technology track featuring high technical barriers and long development cycles, the brain-computer interface sector requires long-term capital support. Statistics show that as of June 2026, Shanghai recorded 16 financing deals in the brain-computer interface sector, accounting for nearly 60% of the national total, with financing volume reaching RMB 2.117 billion, equivalent to 38.94% of China’s aggregate amount.

In terms of industrial incubation, the Sinan Brain-Computer Intelligent Super Incubator acts as a vital hub linking scientific research outcomes with industrial applications. Following a commercialization roadmap of “medical priorities, scenario-driven development”, the incubator connects university research resources and clinical institutions, offering end-to-end services covering prototype development, technical verification, and medical device registration and market launch. It has attracted and cultivated multiple start-ups spanning clinical application, system integration, core components, datasets and algorithm software.

Gao Zhijun, Executive General Manager of the Sinan Brain-Computer Intelligent Super Incubator, stated that the platform provides professional resources and services for innovative projects to accelerate productization, registration and certification, financing, and clinical trials, speeding up the industrialization of early-stage ventures. Resident enterprise Kongshanci recently completed its Series A financing. The firm plans to invest RMB 30 million in R&D in 2026 to continuously advance fundamental underlying technologies for cognitive brain-computer interfaces. After settling in Shanghai, Lingxi Cloud closed its Series A round with a valuation exceeding RMB 1 billion, and is leveraging capital to build a multimodal brain disease database and a medical large language model.

Coordinated Development of Industrial Ecosystem

Accelerated Formation of Innovation Networks

Growth of the brain-computer interface industry relies on coordination and synergy among research institutions, industrial players and investors. To this end, Brain Intelligence Hub adopts a development framework of “one core zone + one ecological circle + one coordination network”, linking universities, hospitals, incubators, testing platforms and industry alliances to build a multi-dimensional innovation ecosystem.

At present, Brain Intelligence Hub has established a functional system comprising a brain-computer interface exhibition hall, the Sinan Brain-Computer Super Incubator, Huashan Hospital Clinical Translation Center, and Fudan University Brain-Computer Interface Innovation & Transformation Center. Among them, the Huashan Hospital Clinical Translation Center has built the iBRAIN intracranial electroencephalography database collecting over 500 clinical cases. It focuses on clinical verification and efficacy evaluation for invasive and non-invasive technologies, facilitating the translation of laboratory research into real-world medical applications.

The Brain-Computer Interface Innovation & Transformation Center works to smooth the path from university laboratories to industrial commercialization. It collaborates with multiple schools at Fudan University to cultivate interdisciplinary talents proficient in research, industry and finance. The center also takes the lead in setting up the Yangtze River Delta Branch of the Brain-Computer Interface Industry Alliance and organizing the International Neurotechnology Innovation Forum to enable resource coordination between China and overseas.

For talent development, the Innovation & Transformation Center nurtures interdisciplinary professionals and operates a future industry talent training base. It jointly runs postgraduate training camps in partnership with university faculties, undertakes special projects commissioned by education authorities to cultivate leading talents for future industries, and builds a full-chain talent development model of “reserve – practical training – incubation” via the Neurotechnology Special Competition under the Yangtze River Delta Ju Jin Innovation Competition.

Yao Junjie, Deputy General Manager of Shanghai New Hongqiao International Medical Center Construction & Development Co., Ltd., said that by the end of July 2026, Brain Intelligence Hub had registered and hosted 52 brain-computer interface enterprises covering frontier areas including brain-computer chips, brain-spinal interfaces and visual reconstruction, with an incubator occupancy rate of 80%. With deepening coordination among government, industry, academia, research, finance, service and end-user stakeholders, Shanghai is relying on Brain Intelligence Hub to enrich the upstream and downstream industrial ecosystem, marching steadily toward the goal of becoming a global origin and premiere launch base for brain-computer interface innovation.

Source: Shanghai Securities News