CIONIC Secures $12.5 Million Series A Funding

CIONIC is $12.5 million richer, thanks to a Series A financing round led by BlueRun Ventures, with participation from Caffeinated Capital, EPIC Ventures, JobsOhio Growth Capital Fund, and LDV Capital.

Th funding follows the Cionic Neural Sleeve’s U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance earlier this year and fuels the manufacturing and delivery of the company’s mobility technology to those living with multiple sclerosis, stroke, cerebral palsy, and other mobility impairments. The Neural Sleeve is the first product to combine movement analysis and augmentation into a wearable, with a sleek, comfortable design that can be worn anywhere and operated by a smartphone. In multi-site research trials, 94% of participants demonstrated improved mobility when wearing the Neural Sleeve. In a later study to determine the efficacy of the Neural Sleeve over time, the company collected patient-reported outcomes in addition to kinematic data. In addition to improvements in mobility, the number of users experiencing moderate to severe pain was reduced by 60%, and the number of users experiencing moderate to severe anxiety or depression was reduced by 75%. The company launched and sold out of the early adopter Founder’s Program after announcing FDA clearance, and recently opened the Explorer Program, a high-touch early adopter program that will deliver in February of 2023. 
 
“We are on the precipice of a global mobility crisis, as twenty percent of the world’s population is projected to have a movement disability by 2050. It’s time to bring technological innovation to this growing problem. Forward-looking investors realize that we need to take action today, and we are proud to be backed by a group of investors who recognize the need for better solutions and have joined us in our mission to redefine human mobility,” CIONIC Founder/CEO Jeremiah Robison said.

Motivated by his own daughter’s journey with cerebral palsy, Robison founded CIONIC in 2018, driven by the conviction that the same advances in sensing and machine learning powering technology like self-driving cars could be used to accelerate assistive technology and enable freer, more independent movement.

The Cionic Neural Sleeve analyzes, predicts, and augments a person’s movement. It uses a dense array of sensors to measure how the body is positioned and how individual muscles fire during movement, predicts intended movement by measuring the electrical signal from the brain, and then algorithms analyze this data in real time to determine optimal muscle activation patterns. The Neural Sleeve then delivers Functional Electrical Stimulation to sequence proper muscle firing for natural movement. It is an adaptive system that provides real-time augmentation and adjustment of the wearer’s movement, updating each time they take a step.
 
To date, the company has raised $23 million to build a platform for human augmentation. The Cionic Neural Sleeve is the first product to ship on this platform. The Series A financing will accelerate research trials and commercialization of additional indications, driving a robust product pipeline across the spectrum of human mobility. CIONIC is scaling up its team in key functions such as R&D, engineering, operations, marketing, and customer service to support the next stage of growth. Early investors include technology industry luminaries Max Levchin and Kevin Hartz.

John Malloy, general partner and co-founder of BlueRun Ventures, has joined CIONIC’s Board of Directors. “There are more than 35 million individuals with mobility challenges in the United States alone. I’m privileged to have known Jeremiah and the team for many years and have seen the passion, innovation, and excellence they have brought to market in the Cionic Neural Sleeve. The team has a bold vision and the ability to execute it, and we are thrilled to continue to help drive this vision forward and revolutionize human mobility as we know it today,” Malloy said.
 
According to the National Institute on Aging, mobility “is critical for functioning well and living independently.” When individuals lose the capacity for mobility, it invariably leads to overall health declines. “Adults who lose their mobility are less likely to remain living at home; have higher rates of disease, disability, hospitalization, and death; and have poorer quality of life,” added the NIA. Thirty-five million Americans have mobility challenges today, and by 2050 it is projected to impact 20% of the world’s population.

CIONIC is committed to changing the lives of people with mobility differences by helping them move more independently. CIONIC builds bionic clothing that can analyze and augment human movement, enabling the body to move with more freedom and control than with crutches, walkers, or wheelchairs. CIONIC thoughtfully combines the diagnostic power of a gait lab with the therapeutic power of Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) into a lightweight, durable garment that can be worn anywhere and work everywhere.