Rehabilitation thanks to artificial intelligence
Thanks to its novel digital neurological rehabilitation solutions, MindMaze is now worth more than a billion dollars and has become the first Swiss 'unicorn'. The Swiss pioneers for digital therapeutic solutions have just announced another financing round of $105 million to accelerate their global commercial growth plans.
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For some years now, Switzerland has been setting new standards in VR healthcare technology. The Lausanne-based company MindMaze has developed a system for accelerated motor rehabilitation after a brain injury or stroke. The technology, developed at EPFL in Lausanne, has been seen as an international benchmark since 2012.
From research paper to unicorn status
MindMaze’s journey towards developing digital therapeutics started with a research paper: in 2007, neuroscientist and electronics engineer Tej Tadi explored how virtual reality helps modulate our sense of self. The paper led to the creation of a virtual-reality-based neuro-rehabilitation prototype, which was developed at EPFL and supported patients’ home-based rehabilitation. This prototype laid the groundwork for MindMaze, which was founded in 2012. Only four years later in 2016, MindMaze achieved a financing round of $100 million, turning it into the first Swiss company with ‘unicorn’ status.
MindMaze has always had one mission and that's to understand the brain. To decode it and to connect it to the world. It's not about building brain-computer interfaces, but building human-machine interfaces.
VR technology to improve patient rehabilitation
The Swiss-based company started with MindMotion, a virtual reality platform that combines neural sensors, cameras and synthetic images. It allows patients in hospitals to complete a series of exercises, see their movements performed by an on-screen avatar, and then correct those movements. Performance is then displayed as a score, as in a video game. This game-like tool is also available in a portable version for rehab clinics or rehabilitation at home, and has already been used by more than 10,000 patients and over 75 hospitals and clinics.
Watch the video to learn how patients benefit from this Swiss technology:
Bringing neuroscience to new sectors
But the idea of Mindmaze is not limited to the healthcare sector. From F1 teams to fashion houses and electronics firms, the MindMaze R&D lab partners with leading global brands to create new innovative products that bring neuroscience expertise to new audiences. The range of applications is wide: safety and performance in transportation, enhanced training regimes in sports, fully immersive gaming, and a universal solution for brain health.
The team led by MindMaze founder Tej Tadi has just secured another $105 million in financing to accelerate its global commercial growth plans and strengthen ongoing R&D. The financing was led by Concord Health Partners, a US-based healthcare private equity firm. With the new funding, MindMaze plans to ramp up its commercial activities in the United States.