Hard tech pioneer "Ladder Medical," a company focusing on minimally invasive implantable brain-machine interfaces (BMI), has announced the completion of a 500 million yuan strategic financing round led by Alibaba and followed by investment from Guotou Chuanghe.
Yiou reported on March 13 that Shanghai Ladder Medical Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Ladder Medical" or "the Company") announced the completion of a 500 million yuan strategic financing round, led by Alibaba (阿里巴巴) and followed by investment from Guotou Chuanghe. Existing shareholders Tencent (腾讯), Yuanlai Capital, Ober Capital, Yuanhe Originpoint, Qiming Venture Capital, Eli Lilly Asia Ventures, Source Code Capital, and Shanghai Guotou Xian also continued to participate, with Qifeng Capital serving as the exclusive financial advisor.
In the previous round of financing, Source Code Capital and Shanghai Guotou Xian Dao were the co-lead investors. It's worth mentioning that Ladder Medical has raised over 1.1 billion yuan in cumulative financing within the past year, and it is also the first company in this field invested by Alibaba (阿里巴巴) and Tencent (腾讯).
Shanghai StarirMed Technology Co., Ltd. (上海阶梯医疗科技有限公司) was founded in 2021 and is a hard technology pioneer company focusing on the field of minimally invasive implantable brain-computer interfaces (BMI). With strong original R&D capabilities, Ladder Medical has mastered multiple globally leading technologies, including electrodes, systems, algorithms, and surgical robots.
StarirMed (阶梯医疗) has independently developed ultra-flexible electrodes as thin as 1/100th of a human hair and the world's smallest wireless brain-computer implant. In 2025, the company became the first in China to complete a prospective clinical trial for invasive brain-computer interfaces, with its product entering the National Medical Products Administration's innovative "green channel." The company has comprehensively established two business directions: "brain control" and "neuromodulation," providing innovative therapies for patients with movement disorders and neurological diseases. Ladder Medical's long-term goal is to achieve brain-computer intelligence integration, "to become a ladder for human progress and evolution."
Full acceleration: Launch large-scale registered clinical trials for brain-computer interface products and diversify product pipeline within the year
With the strong injection of this round of financing, Ladder Medical has shown strong explosive power in technological breakthroughs and clinical advancement. Following the successful completion of 3 brain-computer interface clinical trials last year, Ladder Medical's clinical process has continued to accelerate: in early 2026, relying on the company's independently developed surgical robot, Ladder Medical has successfully completed the clinical implantation of the planned 256-channel wireless high-throughput invasive brain-computer interface system (WRS02), and has obtained effective verification of brain-controlled interaction functions. This is not only a technological leap for StarirMed (阶梯医疗), but also the first 256-channel invasive brain-computer interface clinical trial in China.Marking a revolutionary step forward for our country in the field of high-performance invasive brain-computer interfaces, this system is also currently the only invasive brain-computer interface product in China that has been approved to enter the "Green Channel" for innovative medical devices by the National Medical Products Administration (国家药监局).
Building on this successful experience, Ladder Medical is preparing for more extensive clinical deployment. The company plans to initiate large-scale, multi-center registered clinical trials in mid-2026, with the goal of enrolling approximately 40 patients and completing implant surgeries within the same year. By the end of 2026, Ladder Medical's total number of clinical implants is expected to approach or even surpass Neuralink (Neuralink), which currently has about 21 clinical trial cases. This marks Chinese brain-computer interface enterprises making a sprint toward the position of global leaders in commercialization and clinical implementation.
While accelerating the clinical implementation of "brain-controlled" products, StarirMed (阶梯医疗) is actively expanding its product portfolio in the field of neuromodulation.
Leveraging its globally leading ultra-flexible microelectrode technology, which matches or even surpasses Neuralink in core metrics such as micro-size and flexibility, Ladder Medical has successfully developed a closed-loop ultra-low-deep brain neural stimulation system (deep brain stimulation system). This system not only won the first prize (first place) in the 2025 National Disruptive Technology Innovation Competition Brain-Computer System Championship, but has also completed 4 clinical research implant surgeries, achieving regulatory function verification. It plans to initiate clinical trials in 2027, providing disruptive treatment options for patients with Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, and other conditions, further highlighting the company's comprehensive strategic value in the global brain-computer interface field.
Internet and tech giants enter the game: positioning the next-generation human-computer interaction entry-level interface
The rapid development of the brain-computer interface industry is inseparable from the collision and integration of underlying hardcore technologies.
Li Xue, founder of Ladder Medical, expressed gratitude for the steadfast support from long-term shareholders who have been with the company since its early days, as well as for the continuous investment from Tencent as a core industrial shareholder. She also welcomed the participation of Alibaba and SDIC Innovation Fund in this round of financing. The deep involvement of major internet and technology companies marks a significant milestone: "Brain-computer interface is not just a cutting-edge medical technology, but the ultimate fusion of life sciences and information technology. The deep expertise of these major companies in multimodal large models, computing infrastructure, smart hardware, and ecosystem deployment can be deeply integrated with Ladder Medical's globally leading advantages in underlying hardware barriers and clinical translation experience. This powerful collaboration between both parties will jointly build a new generation of intelligent brain-computer interface systems and a rich ecosystem of cutting-edge applications. This not only supports medical innovation but also represents an early strategic configuration for the next generation of human-computer interaction capabilities."
Meanwhile, closely following the guidance of the national "15th Five-Year Plan" for key future industries, the significant investment from the "national team" capital of SDIC Innovation Fund not only provides solid strategic endorsement for the company's development but also marks that Ladder Medical has fully become a core innovative force under the national brain-computer interface strategic layout.