By: 4 July 2024
Launch of SCI Ventures

A pioneering venture philanthropy fund dedicated to accelerating the development of groundbreaking treatments for spinal cord injury.

Charity Spinal Research have recently announced the launch of SCI Ventures. This initiative, reported in the Financial Times, represents a historic collaboration among leading SCI foundations from the US, UK, and EU, including Spinal Research. SCI Ventures has an initial commitment of $27 million (£21m) and aims to raise $40 million (£31m) by year-end.

SCI Ventures will focus on seed and Series A financing rounds, with plans to support up to 20 companies. The fund has already begun building a portfolio of innovative investments, including:

  • ONWARD® Medical: Provides targeted spinal cord stimulation to restore movement and functions, in combination with brain-computer interface (BCI) technology for thought-driven movement.
  • AXONIS Therapeutics: Advances drug discoveries for neuron revival and neuromodulation.
  • Sania Therapeutics: Develops gene therapies to selectively target dysfunctional neural circuits, starting with spasticity.
  • AUGMENTAL: Innovates the MouthPad^, an in-mouth interface for hands-free human-computer interaction.

Spinal Research Chief Vision Officer, Harvey Sihota, expressed his enthusiasm for this groundbreaking initiative, saying: “We’re incredibly proud to have co-founded this new venture model. We’ve arrived at a stage where meaningful first-generation treatments for SCI are moving along the pipeline toward the clinic. We hope that by supporting the early-stage companies developing these treatments with both capital and access to our network of experts, we will ultimately accelerate delivery.”

SCI Ventures represents a significant step forward in our goal to restore function and independence to those affected by spinal cord injuries. By leveraging the combined expertise and resources of leading foundations and scientists, we are moving closer to making paralysis a thing of the past.

For more information about SCI Ventures and its groundbreaking work, please visit SCI Ventures