A handful of startups are attempting to merge the human brain and computer technology. Backed by deep-pocketed visionaries like Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Bryan Johnson, this technology could revolutionize the future of the human race in the next century.
Investors looking for long-term, more conservative growth in the publicly traded AI space may want to own companies like NVIDIA (NVDA), which are developing promising technologies around deep learning.
Investors looking for an earlier stage name with big potential upside should look at NeuroOne Medical (NMTC). NMTC just announced an incredible advisory board addition in the AI space, is developing technology from the Mayo Clinic, and is conservatively valued. NMTC also has 2 upcoming FDA clearances upcoming that could turn them into a commercial company next year. Although these are on the medical side of the business, this will be the company's first major catalyst event even as the AI business will be a longer-term component of the story.
NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / October 1, 2018 / In January of 2017, a new breed of medical startup made history with the first test of a memory-enhancing algorithm plugged directly into a patient's brain - it's been called a "neuroprosthesis" and a cadre of high-profile visionaries are investing millions in the future of human intelligence.
The man behind this technology, in particular, is a tech luminary. Bryan Johnson sold Braintree to PayPal in 2013 for $800 million, and he's since been pouring time and money into his new brain hacking startup, called Kernel. In August 2016, Johnson announced he would pledge $100 million of his fortune to create Kernel with ambitious plans to figure out how to enhance human memory and intelligence through electrodes implanted in the brain.
Johnson isn't the only polymath at work in this bioelectronics space. Both Elon Musk and Facebook's (FB) Mark Zuckerberg are exploring brain-hacking technology; Musk's Tesla (TSLA) side-project is called Neuralink, focused on implanting electrodes into the brain to create a wireless brain-computer interface for augmenting our brain power. It may seem far-fetched now, but Musk has said repeatedly over the years that he believes humans will need this "neural lace" in order to compete with artificial intelligence in the future.
NeuroOne Medical Technologies (NMTC) appears to have joined this tech race with the recent appointment of another mover and shaker in this space and the creation of an advisory board focused on AI applications for its own proprietary, implantable electrode technology: former NIH-er Dr. Kip Ludwig will lead an advisory board, comprised of six additional members, focused on the eventual use of NeuroOne's electrode technology in artificial intelligence and bioelectronics applications.
NeuroOne's tech comes out of the Mayo Clinic, which also owns 10% of the company, and their first applications are in medical diagnostics with a potential U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval late this year or early in 2019.
But with this recent advisory board appointment, NeuroOne is sending a clear message: that the company is prepared for more than just medical applications, already expected to be a >$100 million market opportunity.
The common thread among these upstarts is the growing investment in the ability to link the human brain and computers. It's already being done, on a more primitive level, with prostheses.
Some prosthetics today allow amputees to control their arm or leg movement with just their thoughts, while others have sensors in the fingertips that help the user control their grip. Researchers recently demonstrated the ability for an "e-dermis” to transmit pain back to the wearer of the prosthetic.
The same advancements are happening for patients with vision loss as well, with devices likes Second Sight Medical Products' (EYES) Argus II restoring some sight capabilities to the blind or visually impaired.
Using deep brain stimulation, researchers have slowed and even reversed cognitive decline in Alzheimer's patients, and this same technology is used to reduce seizure frequency in some epilepsy patients.
This isn't a calculable market today, but these visionaries are betting that in the coming decades merging humans and computer, in one form or another, will be big business.
But There Are Hurdles To Overcome
In truth, the technology is mostly limited by our understanding of the brain and our ability to interface with it. The brain has nearly 100 billion neurons, so pinpointing how or what a mass of neurons - let alone one or two - does is still extremely difficult with today's technology. That's part of the appeal for NeuroOne, says Dr. Ludwig in NeuroOne's recent announcement: "early pre-clinical experience has shown that NeuroOne's electrode technology has advanced resolution as compared to certain currently commercially available technologies. The full promise of those data can only be realized by leveraging state of the art advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning to identify new diagnostic and therapeutic targets." Ludwig leads the Bioelectronic Medicines Laboratory at the University of Wisconsin and was the Program Director for Neural Engineering at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) before.
All this means that NeuroOne's technology may have far greater application than the medical diagnostic and treatment potential that the company is pursuing today, and the addition of Dr. Ludwig in the form of a new advisory board says the company is committed to pursuing this potential advancement. With lighter, flexible and more detailed electrodes like that at NeuroOne, the company has a major potential offering for companies LIKE Kernel and Neuralink.
Remarkably, Bryan Johnson acknowledges that Kernel will probably someday use someone else's hardware for their own brain hacking applications, which bodes well for companies like NeuroOne with institutionally backed technology. The Mayo Clinic is known as a medical pioneer, and their involvement suggests this could be a key breakthrough as the company's first electrode approaches a possible FDA clearance in the next year.
Money is pouring into this emerging space, and NeuroOne's commitment makes this an intriguing bet on the future of humanity. With an FDA application planned for the coming months, this is one startup that bears watching.
About One Equity Stocks
One Equity Stocks is a provider of research on publicly traded emerging growth companies. Our team is comprised of financial professionals that strive to find the companies and management teams that will outperform the market and deliver investment returns to our subscribers. We are not a licensed broker-dealer and do not publish investment advice and remind readers that investing involves considerable risk. One Equity Stocks encourages all readers to carefully review the SEC filings of any issuers we cover and consult with an investment professional before making any investment decisions. One Equity Stocks is a for-profit business and is usually compensated for coverage of issuers we cover as well as other advisory work we perform. In the case of NMTC, we are reimbursed for actual costs we incur and anticipate receiving up to 250,000 shares of restricted stock from NMTC for Business Development, Capital Markets, and Research Services. Please contact us at info@investorclick.net for additional information or to subscribe to our intelligence service.
