Paris-based early-stage VC Newfund has closed a €60m fund dedicated to brain technologies in a bid to tackle a small but fast-growing market.
The firm will back European founders building technologies that can improve the treatment of brain diseases, from boosting pharmaceutical research to providing better care pathways.
It is one of the only funds investing exclusively in brain technologies in Europe, but partner Anne-Sophie Saint-Martin says the sector is growing fast.
“It’s the next big thing,” says Saint-Martin. “There’s a clear market opportunity where science and technology have reached a similar level of maturity.”
While brain research remains one of the most complex branches of science, new tools like AI and advanced imagery are enabling scientists in the field to unlock better insights from huge volumes of data, she says, opening new opportunities.
The fund will back up to 25 startups across Europe in fields ranging from neurology to psychiatry, focusing on seed rounds with cheques of $1m-3m. It is Newfund’s first specialised fund after raising several generalist funds, the latest of which closed in 2024 at €70m.
LPs include family offices like French firm Aurae, and individuals such as Benjamin Blasco, the cofounder of French wellbeing app Petit Bambou.
From Europe to the US
According to Newfund’s data, startups building brain technologies raised €4.2bn globally in 2025, with 85% of funding secured by US startups.
There are also more firms with funds specialising in the sector in the US, such as Satori Capital.
Newfund will focus on European founders. “We’re convinced that European neuroscience is exceptional,” says Saint-Martin. “There’s an ecosystem around brain science that is developing in Europe [...] the academic side of things is exploding.”
“So we wanted to give European entrepreneurs a chance to take a piece of the pie.”
The firm’s objective is to help founders in Europe expand to the US, where growth opportunities are greater, particularly because there are more potential acquirers for startups in the field, says Saint-Martin.
“In healthtech, M&A is very active at the moment,” she says. “And acquirers will be looking for companies that have been approved by the FDA [US Food and Drug Administration] and have a first community of American patients.”
“Going to the US is a condition for our investment.”
Newfund has already backed nine companies with the new fund, of which eight are commercialising in the US and two have received FDA approval. They include Finnish startup Soihtu Dtx, which builds video game therapeutics to treat depression, and French company Diagnoly, an AI assistant that helps detect fetal abnormalities during ultrasound examinations.
