Gestala raises $21.6 million for ultrasound brain-computer interface

Gestala, a brain-computer interface (BCI) startup, has raised $21.6 million (CN¥150 million) in a funding round completed two months after launching. According to founder and CEO Phoenix Peng, the round was oversubscribed, with investor commitments totaling more than $58 million. Peng stated that the company’s valuation is between $100 million and $200 million. The funding round was co-led by Guosheng Capital and Dalton Venture, with participation from Tsing Song Capital, Gobi Ventures, Fourier Intelligence, Liepin, and Seas Capital. The transaction represents the largest early-stage funding in China’s BCI industry.

Gestala is the first ultrasound BCI company in China, entering a global market experiencing an investment surge in ultrasound technology. While U.S. rivals like Neuralink and Merge Labs push forward with BCI systems, Gestala is developing non-invasive ultrasound-based BCIs. Peng, who also founded the implantable BCI startup NeuroXess, stated that non-invasive ultrasound could address risks associated with brain surgery. He added that ultrasound could represent the next generation of brain-computer interface technology, allowing systems to monitor deep neural circuits and precisely stimulate or suppress neural activity without surgery using phased-array ultrasound.

The startup plans to use the capital for research and development, building a manufacturing facility in China, and expanding its team from 15 to about 35 employees by year-end. Gestala aims to complete its first-generation prototype by the end of the year. To accelerate development, the company is collaborating with major Chinese hospitals to run clinical trials at roughly 20% to 33% of the cost of comparable studies in the U.S. or Europe. It is also building an “Ultrasound Brain Bank,” a clinical dataset designed to train AI models to decode brain signals. Peng noted that both countries bring different strengths to deep-technology research, stating, “China offers large-scale clinical research capacity and efficient supply chains, while the U.S. has world-class scientific talent.”

The company is researching six to eight potential indications, which remain in the early research stage. Its lead program is chronic pain management. The startup is also studying applications for other conditions, including:

• Chronic pain
• Depression
• PTSD
• Autism
• OCD
• Stroke rehabilitation
• Alzheimer’s disease
• Essential tremor
• Parkinson’s disease

Why it matters

Gestala’s $21.6 million raise marks the largest early-stage funding in China’s BCI industry, highlighting a growing investment surge in ultrasound-based brain-computer interface technology. The funding underscores how non-invasive alternatives are attracting significant capital as developers seek to bypass the surgical risks of implantable systems.