Neurable

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Founders: Dr. Ramses Alcaide, Adam Molnar
Founding: 2015
Mission: Neurable seamlessly integrates brain-computer interfaces into everyday devices to help people better understand their health, track focus, and prevent fatigue, and open possibilities for how they control their devices. It is on a mission to unlock the human mind’s potential and change the world.
Employees: 15 & 75% Local
Workplace: In Office
Stage & Capital Raised: Series A & $20M raised
Investors: Pace Ventures, M Ventures, Innospark, Loup Ventures, Lowercase, Mithril, Metaplanet, Point Judith Capital
Key Customers: OEMs, like Master & Dynamic (M&D), and the Department of Defense (DoD)
Glassdoor Rating: N/A
Valuation (estimated): $25M – $75M (assuming they sold ~20% of the company in the $6M Series A fundraise)
^ this is a useless number. There is no tangible valuation until the business is sold or goes public. Don’t forget it!

Neurable is building state-of-the-art brain-computer interface neuroscientific technology and packaging it into wearables, beginning with headphones. Their groundbreaking research is on the precipice of reaching the mass market to produce arguably the most advanced headphones on the planet Earth – helping us better understand ourselves and the world around us.

Where did the technology from Neurable come from? Well, progress is on the other side of pain. 

Founder and CEO Dr. Ramses Alcaide’s uncle was in a trucking accident when he was eight and lost both of his legs. There weren’t great prosthetic options or technology to support the connection between his mind and body. In honor of his uncle and people like him, Ramses studied neuroscience at the University of Michigan to solve the problem of mind & body connection, completing his PhD at the university. 

During his time in Ann Arbor, Dr. Ramses Alcaide met his co-founder Adam Molnar. In 2015, they embarked upon the Neurable journey to democratize brain-computer interface technology to give everyone usable insights for the first time, at scale.

In the same way we tell stories to each other, our brainwaves tell silent stories that go largely unnoticed. Unless you’re ready to strap a $20,000 helmet built in a lab or apply some gel to your skull while doing your best Victor Frankenstein impression, what if a team could deliver wearable technology that was digestible for the mass market to help tell us more about the way we worked, focused, or when we needed a break? 

Like an Apple Watch or Eight Sleep for our brain, Neurable has been building brainwave software for almost a decade, licensed through hardware partners to change the way we work and hopefully live. 

The global wearables market is over $100B (src) and Apple generated over $40B in wearables & accessories sales in 2023 (Apple Watch + AirPods + Apple TV + Speakers) (src). This category is huge and growing as we pack more technology into smarter and smarter devices.

It’s a big vision in a big category. So where do we start? First, professionals who take breaks are more productive and focused. Neurable’s headphones, in collaboration with Master & Dynamic, help track brain data with 90% accuracy (focus estimation paper) and are due to hit the market this summer. You can pre-order them here!

The Neurable mobile app displays brainwave data to help show users when they are most focused, how they can improve or when they need to take a break through a focus score. In fact, one user who tested the app identified a mid-morning dip in focus when they drank coffee too early. Leading with quality, they’ve developed exceptional headphones that are enhanced with this first-of-its-kind technology. 

Neurable’s technology could be applied to anything that touches your head, such as earbuds or eyeglasses – making everyday wearable technology 3change the way we think and perform through a new set of vitals. Brainwave data could help us treat or diagnose depression, Alzheimer’s disease, and other silent diseases that have previously gone undetected. The brain can offer us insights into burnout that leads to angst or depression. The team plans to explore AR/VR gameplay opportunities too.

Neurable is also working on partnerships with the Department of Defense to better understand traumatic brain injuries. They’ve conducted studies with truck drivers to learn more about fatigue on the road, and are working to develop more OEM partnerships in the future. 

From a GTM perspective, Neurable has a B2B GTM motion focused on licensing their technology through proprietary partnerships. For instance, their most recent deal with M&D helps to further democratize the technology, putting it in the hands of the everyday consumer. Their focus is on the United States and Canada but partnerships will quickly take them abroad to EMEA & Asia. They most recently won a significant $2M contract with the DoD’s xTechPrime program and are partnering with Healthspan Digital, a Canadian longevity-focused health tech company.

Neurable is backed by Pace Ventures, M Ventures, Innospark, Loup Ventures, Lowercase, Mithril, Metaplanet, & Point Judith Capital. The team is staying intentionally small until they begin deploying their first product partnership and aim to grow the team on the Growth & Product sides of the business in the second half of the year. 

Operators to Know:

My investigative powers continue to need work so apologies to the Neurable team I know I missed many up & coming operators internally

Key Roles To Be Hired:

  • More roles coming soon!

If I were interviewing here are some questions I’d ask:

  • What are the key milestones before Neurable headsets are sold in the mass market?
  • What are the biggest technical challenges to differentiate in this industry?
  • What is the long term vision for the company?
  • What are the most important roles you’ll be looking to add in 2024 // teams that need the most help?

We’re optimizing for readability here so to learn more about Neurable you’ll have to D.Y.O.R. I’m excited to watch this team bring more operators into the next generation using brain waves. All forward thinking productivity conscious operators applaud your efforts. See you around town!

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