· Markets & Investing · 6 min read
China's $350M Brain-Interface IPO: Who's First?
Boruikang filed for a $350M STAR Market IPO days after its sponsorship review; BrainCo quietly filed in HK. China's BCI pioneers race to be first listed.
Two days. That’s all it took for Boruikang to go from sponsorship completion to filing its IPO prospectus.
On June 9, Citic Securities submitted the final sponsorship report. On June 11, the Shanghai Stock Exchange accepted Boruikang’s application. The speed reflects a calculated urgency: the brain-computer interface (BCI) sector is heating up globally, and China’s first BCI listing is up for grabs.
Not far behind, BrainCo—the non-invasive BCI leader and one of only two companies worldwide (alongside Neuralink) to have raised over $500 million—filed confidentially for a Hong Kong IPO in January. The race is on between two very different paths to a public debut.
Two Horses, One Brain-Interface Track
Boruikang, founded in 2011 by researchers from Tsinghua University’s Neuroengineering Lab, has become China’s front-runner in invasive BCI hardware. Its core pitch: a surgical implant that helps paralyzed patients regain hand movement. In March 2025, China’s NMPA approved its hand-function compensation system—the world’s first invasive BCI medical device to enter clinical use.
BrainCo, incubated at Harvard Innovation Lab in 2015, has taken a different route. Its non-invasive smart prosthetics (the BrainCo Hand, Light Ling leg) and neuro-training systems already target mass-market rehabilitation. The company talks about helping 100 million people with physical disabilities within a decade.
Both have attracted serious capital. Boruikang’s backers include Sequoia China, Baidu Ventures, and Shanghai Pudong Venture Capital. BrainCo’s most recent round—around 2 billion RMB (about $286 million)—drew in Lens Technology and Will Semiconductor alongside IDG and Walden International.
By the Numbers: Boruikang vs. BrainCo
| Metric | Boruikang | BrainCo |
|---|---|---|
| Core technology | Invasive & non-invasive, with global-first invasive device | Non-invasive, with mass-market smart prosthetics |
| IPO market | STAR Market (Shanghai) | HKEX (confidential filing) |
| Planned IPO size | 2.5 billion RMB (~$357M) | Undisclosed (media: several hundred million USD) |
| 2025 revenue | 108 million RMB ($15.4M) | Not disclosed (likely modest, pre-revenue on some products) |
| 2025 net loss | 230 million RMB ($33M) | Not disclosed |
| Accumulated losses | 467 million RMB ($66.7M) | N/A |
| Total funding | Multiple rounds (amount not aggregated) | ~$500M, including recent $286M |
| Key approval | NMPA Class III innovative medical device (March 2025) | CE mark, FDA breakthrough device designation for prosthetic hand |
| Commercial reach | 500+ hospitals, 300+ research institutes; EEG market share #1 in China (2025) | Consumer prosthetics, training systems in multiple markets |
Sources: 36Kr deep-dive, Boruikang prospectus, BrainCo public disclosures, CLS
The Invasive Wager
Boruikang’s prospectus reveals a company betting the future on surgical implants. Of the 2.5 billion RMB IPO proceeds, 1.54 billion will go directly to BCI R&D, another 410 million to industrialization. That’s a 77% tech commitment.
Yet the financials are stark. Despite capturing China’s largest EEG device market share, revenue shrank from 75.2 million RMB in 2023 to 66.0 million in 2024 before recovering to 108 million in 2025. Meanwhile, net losses ballooned from 48.8 million to 230.5 million over the same period. Unallocated profits sit at -467 million.
The company attributes this to the high cost of clinical trials and the long pre-revenue phase of invasive devices. But on the STAR Market, which prizes hard-tech depth over immediate profitability, that loss profile may actually be a signal of serious science—similar to how biomedical investors once viewed Moderna.
Non-Invasive’s Scale Promise
BrainCo is playing a different game. It has avoided the capital-intensity of implantables, instead building a product portfolio that spans consumer rehabilitation, education, and AI solutions. Its recent $286 million funding round brought in strategic manufacturing partners, suggesting a drive toward production scale.
The Hong Kong filing is confidential, so financials are hidden. But if BrainCo can show a path to mass-market revenue—even if it’s still unprofitable—it could resonate with HKEX investors accustomed to medtech stories built on device sales rather than frontier breakthroughs.
One hint: after the January filing, the company told media it aims to help 100 million physically disabled individuals in five to ten years. That’s an audacious scale-up, and it implies a belief that its prosthetic line is ready for volume.
What the IPO Dash Reveals
This race is about more than two companies. It’s a proxy for China’s ambition to lead the next wave of neurotechnology, and for the capital markets’ willingness to fund it.
Regulatory green lights are accelerating. NMPA’s approval of Boruikang’s invasive device was a major policy signal. In the U.S., Neuralink’s human trials have grabbed headlines, but China now has a comparable medical device in clinical practice. That closes a perceived gap and could attract more public investment into the sector.
The STAR Market vs. HKEX divergence matters. Boruikang chose Shanghai’s tech board, which permits pre-revenue biotech listings and offers explicit government backing. BrainCo chose Hong Kong—perhaps a strategic move for global visibility and, crucially, a legal framework more amenable to VIE structures or international partnerships. Which door opens first could shape where future Chinese deep-tech companies choose to list.
Losses are a feature, not a bug—for now. The sector’s pioneers are burning cash because the science is expensive and the clinical endpoints are distant. Boruikang’s $33 million annual loss may test investor patience, but its approved device and #1 EEG market share offer tangible proof of traction. BrainCo’s $500 million in total funding suggests venture investors are willing to wait, but public markets will eventually demand a revenue narrative.
The Neuralink shadow is real, but not dominant. Elon Musk’s company has defined the popular BCI conversation, yet China’s players are advancing their own regulatory and clinical pathways. Boruikang’s NMPA nod, for instance, covers spinal cord injury—a different indication than Neuralink’s initial focus. The competition is less direct than it seems, but public market reception will inevitably benchmark these companies against Neuralink’s private valuation (reportedly over $5 billion).
What to Watch
- Boruikang’s STAR Market review timeline: A fast-track approval would signal Beijing’s support for neurotech. Any additional R&D milestones or NMPA clearances (e.g., for its NEO platform’s other indications) during the review could sway valuations.
- BrainCo’s public filing: When the HKEX application moves from confidential to public, details on revenue, losses, and customer adoption will clarify whether the non-invasive model is commercially viable. Watch for revenue contribution from its Revo1/Revo2 prosthetic hands and attention-training systems.
- Neuralink’s progress and narrative shifts: New FDA trial results or Musk’s public statements can instantly reprice the entire sector. Chinese BCI stocks, when listed, will be highly correlated with Neuralink sentiment until they establish independent revenue drivers.
- Cross-border comparisons in prosthetic volumes: BrainCo’s claim of helping millions will be tested against competitor Össur (Iceland) and Ottobock (Germany). Concrete shipment data—when available—will separate ambition from reality.
