TLDR:
Motif Neurotech, a startup founded by Rice professor Jacob Robinson, has secured $18.75 million in Series A funding from venture capital investors. The startup aims to commercialize a brain stimulator device developed by Robinson’s lab at Rice to treat treatment-resistant depression. The device, which is implanted in the skull above the brain, uses electric currents to stimulate the brain and has already been tested in pig models and human patients. Motif’s technology offers a middle-ground option between traditional treatments and invasive surgical procedures.
Rice University startup Motif Neurotech has raised $18.75m in Series A funding to support the commercialization of a brain stimulation device designed to treat treatment-resistant depression. The device, a pea-sized implant, has already been tested in pig models and human patients, and activates brain networks that can help treat depression. A third of people with major depressive disorder have treatment-resistant depression, which means they do not respond to two or more drugs, said Rice professor and Motif founder Jacob Robinson. The funding has been provided by a range of venture capital investors. Empath Ventures found its founder Brom Rector describe the technology as “step-change” in psychiatry.
