Brain-computer interface (BCI) company "Step Medical" has recently declared the successful closure of a strategic funding round, raising RMB 500 million. This round was spearheaded by tech giant Alibaba, with SDIC Venture Capital also joining as a co-investor. This latest injection of capital brings Step Medical's total financing for the past year to an impressive RMB 1.1 billion.

In December 2025, Step Medical unveiled its second-generation high-throughput wireless invasive brain-computer interface system. This cutting-edge system boosts the number of electrode channels to 256 and broadens its application scenarios to encompass "language reconstruction," marking a significant leap forward in BCI technology.

Early in 2026, Step Medical achieved a clinical milestone by successfully completing clinical implantation using its in-house developed surgical robot. This accomplishment not only validated the effectiveness of the brain-controlled interaction functions but also set the stage for the company to embark on multi-center registered clinical trials within the same year.

Furthermore, in 2025, the National Healthcare Security Administration took a proactive step by designating multiple brain-computer interface services as standalone billing items. This move is expected to pave the way for wider adoption and reimbursement of BCI technologies in the healthcare sector.

Looking ahead, the founder of Step Medical envisions a bright future for BCI technology. He predicts that the clinical value of brain-computer interfaces will be substantiated within the next three to five years. Moreover, he anticipates that the consumer healthcare attributes of BCIs will gradually come to the forefront within the next five to ten years, heralding a new era of personalized and technologically advanced healthcare solutions.