BrainCo — Non-Invasive Consumer EEG · fobi

BrainCo

Offers EEG-based brain-sensing headbands for education, focus training, prosthetic control, and wellness applications. Spun out of Harvard Innovation Lab. Strong presence in China and U.S. education sector. Products include FocusCalm headband and prosthetic hand controlled by EEG. In January 2026, BrainCo (Qiangnao Technology) raised ~CNY 2 billion (~$286M) co-led by IDG Capital and Walden International — the largest BCI raise outside the US — and filed for a Hong Kong IPO at a reported ~$1.3B valuation (still private/pre-IPO).

One of the largest non-invasive BCI companies by deployment, especially in education markets, with hundreds of thousands of devices shipped globally.

brainco.tech Non-Invasive Consumer EEG

United Statesprivate

At a glance

Total raised

$291.5M

last round series b+

Headcount

51-200

approximate · public range

Headquarters

Somerville

United States

Founded

2015

11 years active

Status

Private

Non-Invasive Consumer EEG

Latest valuation

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AI bull / bear

Bull case

BrainCo has already achieved what most consumer BCI companies cannot claim: real-world scale. With hundreds of thousands of devices shipped across education markets in China and the U.S., it has iterated on hardware, user psychology, and classroom integration in ways competitors haven't. The FocusCalm headband gives it a tangible wellness product, while the EEG-controlled prosthetic hand opens a medical-adjacent channel that commands higher willingness to pay. Being spun out of the Harvard Innovation Lab lends credibility that attracts school district partnerships and institutional buyers. In China, where government education spending on "smart classrooms" is rising, BrainCo is positioned as a legitimate infrastructure provider rather than a gadget maker. If it can extend its education beachhead into corporate wellness training or therapeutic ADHD tools, it compounds a distribution advantage that late movers will struggle to replicate without an installed base of its size.

Bear case

BrainCo has never disclosed its total funding, which often signals that investors lack conviction or that dilution has been severe. Without a transparent capital base, it is impossible to assess burn rate or runway — a critical concern for a hardware company with high BOM costs and long education sales cycles. The consumer EEG category has repeatedly failed to deliver on its promise; no headband has produced clinically validated, repeatable results for focus or attention that generalizes outside demos. School district adoption in the U.S. faces growing skepticism around data privacy, student neurodata rights, and the risk of labeling children based on unproven metrics. Meanwhile, cheaper alternatives from Muse, Neurable, and even Apple (with future AirPods EEG patents) threaten to commoditize the low-end. If the prosthetic hand remains a niche science-fair product rather than a reimbursed medical device, BrainCo ends up trapped between hardware margins and unproven efficacy claims.

Generated by deepseek-v4-flash · June 2, 2026Refreshes quarterly · see disclosures