AI Healthtech start-up MindAffect raises €1.1 million to transform hearing diagnostics

AI-Powered healthtech start-up MindAffect raises €1.1 million to transform hearing diagnostics  

Ede, The Netherlands – MindAffect, an NLC Health Ventures-backed start-up, has secured  €1.1 million Series A funding to complete the development of the “Aurora”, an advanced brain response-based hearing diagnostic tool.

Over 1.6 billion people face significant challenges with standard diagnostic tests that require active responses. Traditional hearing tests, for example, require subjects to respond to sounds, a method that can be both challenging and inaccurate for individuals who are unable to communicate effectively, such as infants, young children and adults with disabilities. Currently, to measure their hearing without their active participation, these individuals would need to be either asleep or under anaesthesia—options that are far from ideal.

MindAffect’s technology addresses these challenges by utilizing a headband equipped with electrodes that capture the brain’s automatic response to sound, bypassing the need for any verbal or physical feedback from the patient.

“Hearing loss profoundly impacts every facet of life, from straining everyday communications to increasing the risk of social isolation and cognitive decline. For children, this means risks of poor educational and social development; for the elderly, increased isolation and a greater risk of early dementia; and for the disabled, fewer opportunities for social inclusion”, Jennifer Goodall, CEO of MindAffect, commenting on the broader implications of this innovation.

To expedite the development of the “Aurora”, the funding round attracted both existing and new investors, including Barco Limpo, Wasteland Investments and the NLC Health Impact Fund, alongside private investors.

“We are excited to continue to support MindAffect as they prepare to launch Aurora. Their ability to provide effective, non-invasive hearing diagnostics can drastically reduce the global burden of untreated hearing loss, which affects millions of lives globally. As such, we are looking forward to working with the MindAffect team in the coming years as we aim to advance health for all” said Lars Olthof, Investment Manager at NLC.

As MindAffect anticipates launching the Aurora next year, the company is also expanding its technology’s application into other domains. MindAffect is currently developing a combined hearing and vision test for young children and a glaucoma monitoring test for elderly patients, utilizing the same advanced brain-computer interface technology.

About MindAffect

MindAffect spun out from Radboud University’s Donders Institute. Here, Professor Peter Desain and his team achieved groundbreaking advancements in Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) technology. Leveraging this advanced BCI technology along with artificial intelligence, MindAffect has developed innovative patented solutions that significantly enhance diagnostic processes, especially in the fields of auditory and visual assessments.

MindAffect’s mission is to close the significant treatment gap in auditory and visual impairments, which includes over 1.6 billion individuals globally. By providing an accessible, accurate, and patient-friendly objective diagnostic tool, MindAffect is set to make substantial societal impacts by enhancing quality of life and enabling better educational and social integration for those affected by hearing and vision impairments.

For more information, please visit: www.mindaffect.nl

About NLC Health Impact FundThe NLC Health Impact Fund is the latest and largest fund of NLC to date, established to drive investments in early-stage innovations in healthcare. The fund will deploy capital towards ventures of varied maturity levels, providing initial and follow-on funding. With the NLC Health Impact Fund, NLC provides investors with the opportunity to access a diversified portfolio of impactful healthtech ventures capturing the high return potential in the early stage. NLC is currently fundraising for the 2nd close of the Health Impact fund.