Neurotech progress in China is not slowing down. After a run of increasing funding, two IPO targets, and the first BCI approval, the Asian country is now adding more structure to its BCI push. In August, China outlined plans to implement more than 40 BCI standards by 2028, spanning hardware, data, safety, applications, and governance.

Capital keeps flowing. This month, Shuli Innovation announced it started IPO counselling, the third large Chinese name to pursue an IPO after Brainco and Neuracle. Meanwhile, lesser-known names like GenLight and BCI-Sonics raised several hundred million RMB. Smaller rounds have also gone into non-invasive EEG, consumer systems, and ultrasound BCI, widening the field beyond China’s best-known implantable cohort.

China Builds the Rules Around BCI

In August, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology published a draft roadmap for a national BCI standards system. Standards set common technical definitions and testing methods so companies, researchers, and regulators are working from the same rules. The roadmap calls for more than 40 BCI standards by 2028, and more than 80 by 2030.

Some of that infrastructure is already in place. A national BCI reference architecture took effect on August 1. In practical terms, it breaks a BCI into common building blocks, covering how neural signals enter the system, how data are handled and processed, and how decoded information reaches an application. It also covers safety and ethics. A second standard, on how multimodal BCI data should be formatted, has also been implemented.

Medical BCIs sit under a more specific regulatory layer. The National Medical Products Administration oversees medical devices in China. In September, it published a new industry standard for EEG datasets that are used by AI algorithms in BCI devices. It sets requirements for how those datasets are evaluated and takes effect in September 2027. 

China is not alone in building rules around BCIs. The FDA has had dedicated guidance since 2021 for implanted BCIs targeting paralysis or amputation, covering non-clinical testing and clinical study design. In Europe, medical BCIs fall under the Medical Device Regulation, with harmonised standards supporting compliance with its broader device requirements. China’s BCI-specific standardisation programme is broader in scope.

Capital Keeps Flowing Into Chinese Neurotech

Funding continues to flow into the field. In June, Neurofounders counted 34 Chinese BCI financing events in the first half of the year, with disclosed funding above RMB 4 billion. Our review identified 13 neurotech(-adjacent) rounds of at least RMB 100 million across 12 companies. Since then, several RMB 100 million-plus rounds have shown up in Chinese reporting.

Read the full piece

China's Neurotech Target IPOs After Approvals

Neuracle and BrainCo are moving toward IPOs as Chinese BCI funding accelerates, led by large rounds, policy support and divergent commercialization paths.

Some of the private funding is now feeding into public-market plans. Shuli Innovation entered STAR Market IPO counselling on September 4, the preparatory stage before a formal listing application. Neuracle is further ahead in that process, after its RMB 2.5 billion STAR Market application was accepted in June. BrainCo has taken a different route. Bloomberg reports that it confidentially filed for a Hong Kong IPO earlier this year.

September also saw GenLight announcing consecutive Series C and D rounds worth several hundred million RMB. The company is developing Epilcure, an implanted closed-loop system for epilepsy, alongside its Vivastep spinal neural interface. GenLight says the new funding will support further clinical development and commercialisation.

After that, Shanghai-based BCI-Sonics raised RMB 200 million in a Pre-A round on September 22, led by Sequoia China and Yunqi Capital. Founded in 2025, the company combines focused-ultrasound neuromodulation with neural sensing and AI decoding. It plans to use the funding for product development and clinical research.

Read the full Deep Dive

The Neurotech Funding Review: H1 2026

Neurotech startups raised $2.64B in H1 2026. Explore how tracked funding was distributed across BCI, neuromodulation, imaging, consumer tech and infrastructure.

BCI-Sonics round adds to a wider increase in funding for ultrasound neurotechnology. In Neurofounders’ H1 funding analysis, ultrasound accounted for 13% of disclosed capital. Gestala then raised another RMB 420 million in July, while smaller Chinese rounds for CereSonix and Sisheng have also added to the emerging modality.