Exclusive: BrainCheck scores $15M for rapid cognitive tests
- Erin Brodwin, author ofAxios Pro: Health Tech Deals
Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
BrainCheck, a cognitive health assessment company founded by Stanford neuroscience professor David Eagleman, scored a $15 million Series B extension, CEO Kim Rodriguez tells Axios exclusively.
Why it matters: The company's tests address a pressing need as the risk of Alzheimer's disease grows.
How it works: The Austin-based company sells its cognitive assessments and corresponding care plans to health care systems and payers on a subscription basis.
- A BrainCheck-sponsored clinical trial published in 2019 in the journal JMIR Brain suggested the company offered a sensitive and specific metric to assess age-related cognitive impairment in older adults.
Context: Mild cognitive impairment is often the first condition to appear before a dementia or Alzheimer's diagnosis. Patients with those symptoms can appear at a wide variety of locations says Rodriguez, from primary care and geriatrics to the ER.
- But few providers in the locations have the necessary tools to properly and timely make a diagnosis, she adds.
By the numbers: Alzheimer's is projected to cost the U.S. $321 billion this year, including $206 billion in Medicare and Medicaid payments, per the Alzheimer's Association.
- An estimated 6 million people in the U.S. have Alzheimer's and an estimated 11 million more are providing unpaid care for the condition.
- Of 8 million expected cases of mild cognitive impairment, 7.4 million (92%) remained undiagnosed, per a 2023 study published in the journal Alzheimer's Research and Therapy.
The Series B extension was led by Next Coast Ventures, S3 Ventures and UPMC Enterprises.
- Funds will power commercialization, clinical research and additional integrations with health care systems via their electronic health record (EHR).
- UPMC Enterprises vice president Nicholas Shapiro will join BrainCheck's board.
- Rodriguez anticipates BrainCheck raising again in late 2025.
What's next: BrainCheck's next challenge is securing broad adoption as the definitive standard cognitive assessment tool, UPMC's Shapiro says.
State of play: Mental health providers and device makers have attracted significant venture backing in recent years, but fewer companies focused on cognitive assessments like BrainCheck have pulled in notable funding.
- Parkinson's data tracking company Rune Labs in January collected a $12 million Series A extension.
- Cognito Therapeutics, a medical device company using light and sound to treat neurodegenerative disease, in January raised a $35 million Series B extension.
- Dementia-focused mental health company Rippl in 2022 catapulted out of stealth with $32 million in seed funding.
Editor's note: This story has been corrected to note the fundraise was a Series B extension, not just Series B.