Nudge
Nudge is a Neuromodulation & Stimulation company founded in 2024 and based in San Francisco, United States.
Nudge was founded in 2024 and is based in San Francisco; its co-founder and chief executive is Fred Ehrsam, who co-founded Coinbase and the investment firm Paradigm. It builds whole-brain interfaces based on focused ultrasound, which can reach deep brain structures without surgery. Its initial system, Nudge Zero, unveiled in April 2025, is a high-channel-count ultrasound phased array built into a helmet that works inside an MRI scanner, which images the ultrasound focus so the team can steer stimulation to millimeter-sized regions. The company runs feasibility studies of deep-brain ultrasound in chronic pain and substance use disorder, and its near-term goal is to show the approach is safe and effective for addiction, chronic pain and anxiety. It is also developing a home device it aims to make as easy to use as headphones. On July 22, 2025 it announced a $100 million Series A led by Thrive Capital and Greenoaks to scale development.
Nudge pursues a high-resolution brain interface without surgery, using focused ultrasound to reach deep structures that EEG headbands cannot sense and that electrode systems reach through surgery. Its $100 million Series A in July 2025, led by Thrive Capital and Greenoaks, is paying for hiring across hardware, machine learning, neuroscience and clinical operations. It competes with Merge Labs, which also pursues ultrasound-based brain interfaces, and runs Nudge Zero on human participants in research studies.
At a glance
Total raised
Undisclosed
Headcount
11-50
Headquarters
San Francisco
United StatesFounded
2024
Status
Private
Subsector
Brain-Computer Interfaces, ranked
Top 25 Brain-Computer Interfaces companies →Funding history
Total raised
—
Rounds tracked
1
Latest stage
Series A
| Date | Stage | Amount | Valuation | Lead investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 22, 2025 | Series A | $100M | — | Thrive Capital, Greenoaks |
In the news
Nudge · last 30 days