Phantom Neuro Raises $6M in Expanded Seed Funding for Company Growth and Development of Advanced Platform for Patient Capability Restoration

New Investor Time BioVentures Leads Round, With Risk & Return (R²) and Existing Backers

AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Phantom Neuro, the first-of-its-kind neurotech startup that delivers a low power, high accuracy system for lifelike control of robotic orthopedic technologies, today announced a $6 million funding round led by new investor Time BioVentures. The round included participation from another new investor, Risk & Return (R²), an innovative venture fund focused on "capitalism for good". Support from returning investors LionBird Ventures, Draper Associates & Breakout Ventures now brings the company's total funding to $9.5M. With the financing, co-founder of Time BioVentures, D.A. Wallach, will join the company's board. The company also announced the addition of two key hires: Aurel Bouvier, PhD, Vice President of Implantable Systems and Erik Lloyd, Senior Neuroengineer.

Launched just six months ago, Phantom Neuro aims to dramatically enhance the lives of amputees and other patients with function deficits. The company's solution combines low-risk implantable sensors, AI, and enabling software to offer unparalleled control of orthopedic technologies, such as prosthetic limbs and exoskeletons.

"The field of advanced robotics has enormous potential to augment patients' daily lives, and yet we lack practical and effective commercially available devices to control these systems outside of the lab. Phantom Neuro is filling this void by creating an elegant link between biology and prosthetics that has the potential to revolutionize the standard of care for patients," says D.A. Wallach, General Partner of Time BioVentures. "Connor Glass, Phantom Neuro's founder, brings to this challenge formidable talents as a physician, inventor, and company builder. We believe he and his growing team have what it takes to deliver real solutions to patients with urgency and creativity."

Today over two million Americans live with limb loss, a number that is expected to nearly double by 2050. Over 185,000 amputations are conducted in the U.S. yearly due to trauma, increasing age, diabetes, and vascular disease; estimates of hospital charges to amputation patients in the United States total $10 billion annually. Illuminating new prosthetic technologies exist, yet modern device abandonment rates are still as high as 50%+ due to difficulty in operation, weight, and inconvenience. Phantom Neuro's answer to these obstacles is superior control of existing and next-generation orthopedic technologies. With improved patient outcomes through superior control, the incentives align for enhanced innovation in the robotic orthopedic space. Unique to Phantom's tech is also its promise of scalability - the platform has the safety and simplicity required to grow into a platform for lifelike control of virtually any wirelessly compatible device.

"We're privileged today to announce our second round of funding. I believe our rapid progress demonstrates the importance of our mission and the strength of our team. I'm thrilled to have the support of like-minded investors such as Time BioVentures and Risk & Return helping us hit our targets and work towards human trials," remarked Dr. Connor Glass, Founder and CEO of Phantom Neuro and primary inventor of Phantom's technology. "With their and returning investors' steadfast backing and advice, not to mention our growing team of experienced engineers, we're excited to achieve our next milestones."

The startup has been on an exhilarating trajectory since launch, fulfilling strategic steps leading them closer to human trials. Most recently the company announced a partnership with Blackrock Neurotech and the appointment of Dr. Geoffrey Ling, the current CEO of On Demand Pharmaceuticals and previously the Founding Director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Biological Technologies Office, to the board.

About Phantom Neuro
Phantom is a neurotechnology company, spun out of a lab at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, that is enabling lifelike control of robotic orthopedic technologies like prosthetic limbs and exoskeletons. You can find out more at www.phantomneuro.com

About Time BioVentures
Time BioVentures is a life sciences and healthcare investment firm based in Southern California. www.TimeBioVentures.com 

CONTACT
Shannon Wilsey, Public Relations | Phantom Neuro
[email protected]

SOURCE Phantom Neuro Inc.