Sonomind to Advance its Neuromodulation Ultrasound Device With €3M Investment

Sonomind has secured a €3 million ($3.53 million) investment, including €2 million ($2.35 million) in seed capital from Critical Path Ventures and €1 million through the French government’s France 2030 initiative. The government support materialized as non-dilutive funding awarded through Bpifrance Deeptech development aid.

money will enable Sonomind to accelerate the development of its personalized therapy platform based on personalized, low-intensity ultrasound. The company plans to begin clinical trials within the next few months to evaluate its technology in treating drug-resistant depression. 
 
“This funding demonstrates the continued confidence of our investors in Sonomind’s vision, technology, and our capacity to bring new therapeutic solutions to psychiatry and neurology. We are truly grateful for their ongoing support,” physicist and Sonomind Co-Founder/President Jeremy Bercoff said. “This brings us one step closer to our mission of providing an effective treatment for the millions of people living with depression—transforming a lifelong struggle into a renewed chance at life. Our ambition is to enable rapid, precise and side-effect-free treatment.”
 
Sonomind’s ultrasound-based, non-invasive neuromodulation technology has shown encouraging initial results in a first clinical feasibility study conducted to evaluate this technology on a small patient group with severe depression. These initial results have been published in the Brain Stimulation Journal, where treatment was given over five consecutive days. Excellent tolerance and an average reduction of more than 60% in depression severity on the protocol’s fifth day were reported, and without any serious adverse events.
 
Depression affects 330 million people worldwide, according to the World Health Organization, and remains the leading cause of disability. Approximately 30% to 50% of cases of depression are classified as resistant to medication. 
 
Sonomind’s innovation is based on more than 25 years of research at the Institute of Physics for Medicine (a joint research unit involving Inserm, ESPCI Paris – PSL, and CNRS), led by company co-founders Professors Mickael Tanter and Jean-François Aubry. The ultrasound waves are delivered through an acoustic lens that is custom designed for each patient. Sonomind’s innovation allows ultrasound waves to pass through the skull, compensating for skull thickness variations and enabling the device to accurately target deep brain structures to treat neuropsychiatric disorders.
 
“Sonomind is developing a truly groundbreaking innovation in psychiatry, backed by two decades of research at prestigious academic institutions and driven by an exceptional team of ultrasound and medtech specialists,” Critical Path Ventures President Nicolas Foessel stated. “This approach was instrumental in our choice to support Sonomind. Mental health remains one of the world’s most pressing public health concerns, representing a market valued at $500 billion, where treatment resistance continues to be a significant challenge.” 
 
Legal advisers for the investments were Loïc-Emmanuel Pellegrino and Margaux Lesaine at Nova (for Sonomind); and Antonin Cubertafond and Lisa Olhagaray from AGN Avocats (for Critical Path Ventures)

Since 2022, Critical Path Ventures has been investing in innovative scientific research projects, providing financial support to startups created by researcher-entrepreneurs from the seed stage onwards.
Critical Path Ventures selects an average six projects annually, often on a co-investment basis and mainly in physics, medicine, biotechnology, and robotics, promoting industrial development and job retention in France.
 
Founded last year, Sonomind is a medical device company striving to tackle drug-resistant depression and other neurological and psychiatric disorders with its ultrasound-based, non-invasive neuromodulation technology. Sonomind’s innovation precisely targets the deep brain regions involved in depression in a non-invasive and entirely safe manner. The Paris-based company has 12 employees and has already raised €3 million since its creation; its suppoerts include Bpifrance, Agoranov, Wilco, Parisanté Campus, and the Île-de-France Region.