Neurotechnology startup Phantom Neuro, Austin, Texas, announced a $3.26 million funding round from international and US-based investors. Phantom Neuro is creating a system to enable lifelike control of robotic orthopedic technologies, such as prosthetic limbs and exoskeletons, with low-risk implantable sensors, artificial intelligence, and enabling software to provide control of existing and next-generation devices.
“In allowing patients greater control of these lifelike extensions of their person, we are providing those we treat with the ability to return to the activities and lifestyles that they know and love,” said Connor Glass, MD, founder and CEO of Phantom Neuro and the primary inventor of its technology.
After completing his medical degree, Glass began a research fellowship at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine where he studied advanced microsurgery treatments for function loss and neuropathic pain. He later shifted focus to the gap between technological advancements and the reality of expected outcomes in the general population.
LionBird Ventures, which led the funding round, will install Robert Lord to the Phantom Neuro board and Ed Michael as a board observer.
“When LionBird was first introduced to the Phantom Neuro team, they had been hard at work on their technology for more than two years,” said Lord. “What started as an invention out of Johns Hopkins to bridge the gap between available technology and limb-injury patients’ expected outcomes has turned into a promising neurotechnology startup; as investors, we are eager for this opportunity to support an all-star team and help reset healthcare’s relationship with technology by scaling Phantom Neuro’s sophisticated platform to ultimately serve deserving patient populations.”
