Neurobots Targets Asian Market, Starting with South Korea’s 16 Million Stroke Patients
Every year, 16 million stroke patients occur worldwide. As the elderly population increases in South Korea, the number of patients requiring rehabilitation therapy is also on the rise. Stroke is a disease that causes inconvenience in daily life due to various sequelae after onset, and timely rehabilitation therapy is important for returning to a normal lifestyle.
Neurobots is a neuroengineering startup with neurorehabilitation and brain function solutions and has developed solutions that use neurofeedback to treat psychological problems such as depression and anxiety. Neurobots’ “Exobots” helps rehabilitation therapy for movement disorders and injuries caused by neurological damage, such as stroke, with BCI (Brain Computer Interface) solutions.
Based in Brazil, Neurobots is targeting the Korean market, following Canada, France, Spain, Portugal, and others, with the goal of expanding into the Asian market, planning to launch a business for 105,000 domestic stroke patients annually.
Selected as an excellent startup team of “K-Startup Grand Challenge 2022” by NIPA, Neurobots is participating in Bigbang Angels’ follow-up program and is attracting funding for approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and investment for global expansion.
What problems are you trying to solve?
Neurobots is a Brazilian neurotechnology startup working to solve problems in neurorehabilitation and brain performance solutions.
Our main solution is Exobots, which uses Brain-Computer Interface technology to provide rehabilitation to people who have suffered a stroke, which affects 16 million people a year and is the number one cause of disability worldwide.
Stroke is the number one cause of movement disorders worldwide. Every year, 16 million people suffer a stroke. Fortunately, 75% of stroke victims survive, but 70% are unable to return to work. And with an aging population, the number of stroke victims is increasing dramatically.
We can bring these people back into the community using a therapy based on a brain-computer interface. It’s nine times more effective than conventional therapy.
How are you trying to solve this problem?
Our main solution is Exobots, which uses brain-computer interface technology to provide hand rehabilitation to people who have suffered a stroke. We also have solutions using neurofeedback technology for psychological issues such as depression and anxiety.
What are some of the competitive advantages that Neurobots has over its competitors?
There are several solutions for robotic device therapy, but they are less effective than brain-computer interfaces (BCIs). A meta-analysis published in 2018 found that robotic therapy had an effectiveness ratio of 0.35, while our core technology, the brain-computer interface (BCI), had an effectiveness ratio of 0.79.
When it comes to BCI solutions, we do have a competitor, Austria-based Recoverix, but it’s an electrical stimulator instead of a robotic glove, it’s not associated with daily activities, and it’s a very expensive solution. Recoverix has been on the market for more than 5 years and is being delivered in less than 40 rehabilitation clinics in the world, while Neurobots is being delivered to 262 rehabilitation clinics in Brazil alone in 24 months.
What is your product?
Exobots are brain-controlled exoskeletons that enable neurorehabilitation. Basically, we have a robotic glove (a glove with automated mechanics) that is controlled by the brain. How it works is, we ask the patient to imagine their hand moving – this is called ‘Motor imagery’/’motor learning’. This training promotes brain activation in the motor-cortex, the area of the brain previously responsible for actual movement. This signal is captured via an EEG-electroencephalogram, and once the motor learning pattern is identified, the exoskeleton moves the patient’s hand.
Linking brain activity patterns and movements in real-time gives rise to neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity is the ability of the brain to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections to replace damaged nerves.
Our protocol is based on a course of 10 treatments that can be repeated over a two-week period. In our clinical trials, patients more than a year post-stroke showed an average of 30% improvement in two weeks. In another study with patients less than six months post-stroke, we saw results that were nine times more effective than standard care.
Our solution is currently being used in 262 clinics in every state in Brazil for 24 months.
What is the market size your products targeting? Who are key target customers?
Stroke is a disease that affects 16 million people worldwide every year. Fortunately, 75% of those people survive, but 70% never return to work, and with an aging population, this number is at its worst. In South Korea alone, an estimated 105,000 Koreans suffer a new stroke every year.
Rehabilitation hospitals and clinics are our target audience, and patients are at the core of our business model: each patient receives at least 10 treatments using our protocol.
In addition, we have already achieved good rehabilitation outcomes for diseases such as spinal cord injury, cerebral palsy, head trauma, and post-COVID-19 peripheral lesions, and we plan to expand the spectrum of diseases that cause movement disorders that can be rehabilitated with exobots.
Why did you enter the Korean market?
Our company has received interest and demand for our products from various countries, including Canada, France, Spain, Portugal, and others. As we plan to expand our business internationally in 2023, we see this as a valuable opportunity for our company to enter the Asian market, starting with Korea.
What is your business model?
Based on our research of the Korean market, we have decided to adopt a sales business model for exobot onboarding. We will offer the solution for purchase at around $25,000, and the annual license fee for the software will be covered (approximately $300).
This is different from the approach we use in Brazil, where clinics pay $800 for implementation training and rent the equipment, paying $10 per treatment session where the equipment is applied. We believe that this sales model will be more appropriate for the Korean market.
Can you tell me about some of the significant milestones that Neurobots have achieved?
In October 2022, we established our corporation in Korea and obtained D10 and D8 visas to conduct business. To protect our intellectual property, we registered design and trademark applications in Korea, and we have signed a total of 10 LOIs/MOUs/NDAs. After holding meetings with various institutions such as the National Rehabilitation Institute, Sinchon Severance Rehabilitation Hospital, Seoul Asan Medical Center, Samsung Medical Center, and several graduate researchers, we have confirmed the demand for domestic introduction.
To promote our products, we participated in the K-Hospital Fair 2022 and 2022 AIoT Fair exhibitions, which allowed us to gain a presence in the healthcare medical device field. Our efforts were recognized when we were selected as one of the top 10 winners of the K-Startup Grand Challenge, the only biohealth startup among them, which verified our potential to settle in Korea.
Currently, we have signed an MOU with a distributor to introduce our medical devices in Korea, and we are in the process of finalizing a contract.
What’s Your team’s competitive advantages?
Our company currently consists of 22 people.
To introduce the main people in the company, Julio Dantas is the co-founder and CEO. Previously, he researched and worked in the field of electromechanics for about 9 years, and has enhanced his leadership, management, and fundraising skills by taking on the role of CEO at Neurobots.
Victor Hazin is a co-founder and scientific advisor. He is a biomedical engineer at BCI and is responsible for the scientific side of Neurobots. Jose Menezes is the CTO, is a programmer and holds a PhD in artificial intelligence. He was first hired in 2017 and became a partner and CTO of the company.
Ubirakitan Maciel is a CINO, holds a master’s degree in neuroscience, and is responsible for developing and creating new products. Marcela Moreira is a physiotherapist and has a PhD in neurorehabilitation. At Neurobots, she works on the idealization and validation of new solutions and leads the implementation training of new customers.
Finally, Angelica Muniz is the leader of the hardware team and is an expert in biosensor electronics who has been working with Neurobots since 2018.
What do you need the most to enter the Korean market?
As a medical device company, we understand that we need to obtain approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Administration in order to enter the Korean market. This process can be quite time-consuming and expensive, but we are currently in the midst of it and also seeking investment for global expansion.
We are hopeful that our efforts will attract interest from Korean investors and lead to fruitful meetings.
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