The archive · Health & Care · Product decision · 2017-2025
CoMind's non-invasive brain-monitoring bet: $102.5M to replace drilled probes with light
EF-built London healthtech bets photonics can read brain pressure through the skull, replacing invasive ICU probes; $102.5M raised, FDA submission targeted.
CoMind
What the business is
A London healthtech startup developing light-based, non-invasive sensors that measure cerebral blood flow and intracranial pressure through the skull, plus an AI analytics layer for predictive insights.
Starting capital：$102.5M raised to date: $60M Series A led by Plural (October 2025) with Angelini Ventures, LocalGlobe, Octopus Ventures, Crane, Backed VC and Entrepreneurs First.
How it started
James Dacombe founded CoMind in 2017 as a teenager, frustrated by how slowly hospitals adopted safe, accessible brain monitoring for people with severe brain injuries. The company was built through Entrepreneurs First and spent eight years developing a proprietary photonics system: ultra-sensitive optical sensors that use finely tuned light to read cerebral blood flow and pressure through the surface of the skull, with the company claiming accuracy on par with traditional intracranial probes.
What happened
In October 2025 CoMind announced $102.5M in total funding, including a $60M Series A led by Plural with participation from Angelini Ventures, LocalGlobe, Octopus Ventures, Crane, Backed VC and Entrepreneurs First. The money is aimed at pushing the technology toward hospitals and ICUs in the US and beyond: plans call for an FDA submission within two years to open the US ICU market, while an AI analytics layer is being built to turn sensor data into predictive insights so clinicians can spot complications earlier.
How it ended up
Still running: in clinical and regulatory development toward FDA submission; no commercial product yet.
Background
CoMind is a London healthtech startup founded in 2017 by James Dacombe, who started the company as a teenager after watching how slowly hospitals adopted safe, accessible brain monitoring for people with severe brain injuries. Built through Entrepreneurs First, it has spent eight years developing a non-invasive alternative to the standard approach, which requires drilling a hole in the skull to place an intracranial pressure probe.
The technology is a proprietary photonics system: ultra-sensitive optical sensors that use finely tuned light waves to read cerebral blood flow and pressure through the surface of the skull. The company says the accuracy is on par with traditional intracranial probes - without the risks, costs or complications of drilling - and that existing non-invasive methods rely on indirect signals that fall short of that precision.
In October 2025 CoMind announced $102.5 million in total funding, including a $60 million Series A led by Plural with Angelini Ventures, LocalGlobe, Octopus Ventures, Crane, Backed VC and Entrepreneurs First participating. The capital is aimed at pushing the technology toward hospitals and intensive care units in the US and beyond, with an FDA submission planned within two years to open the US ICU market.
Alongside the sensor, CoMind is building an AI analytics layer to turn the data into predictive insights, letting clinicians spot complications earlier and personalize care. The long bet is that brain monitoring becomes as routine as a pulse check - replacing a painful, high-risk procedure with a light-based measurement.
What has to be true
- The wedge is need versus practice: about 3 million Americans a year suffer traumatic brain injuries, yet only a fraction get intracranial pressure testing because it requires drilling into the skull.
- The company deliberately claims accuracy on par with invasive probes - that parity is what would move hospitals from a drilled procedure to a light-based one.
- The investor set is the bet's second signal: Plural led the Series A, and Entrepreneurs First, which built the company, stayed in the round.
- The AI analytics layer turns a measurement device into an early-warning system, which is how a monitoring tool becomes a platform rather than a commodity.
What can be applied
When a standard of care is skipped because it's invasive, making the measurement safe and simple reopens the market - yet the road runs through clinical validation and regulators, not virality.
Aftermath
As of September 2026 CoMind is still in development: the photonics platform is not yet commercially available, and the company is working toward an FDA submission within two years while building its AI analytics layer. Its stated target is the US ICU market, which TechFundingNews describes as worth billions annually. The bet remains unproven - regulatory clearance and hospital adoption are the open questions - but the company has raised $102.5M to run that road.
Sources
- Non-drill brain monitoring startup CoMind pulls in $102.5M to make brain tracking as simple as a pulse check
- CoMind raises $60.0M in Series A
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