Europe is strong in neuroscience research, but it has not yet turned this strength into commercial success. HEKA, the only European fund focused on BrainTech, was set up to change that. Its portfolio companies are already working in US hospitals and clinics.
Newfund has closed the HEKA fund at €60 million. The fund started in June 2023 with €20 million and reached its goal after three years, despite difficult fundraising.
This is the first European fund focused solely on BrainTech, covering areas such as AI diagnostics, digital therapies, advanced imaging, neurology, psychiatry, and cognitive tools. It plans to support around 25 startups and is classified as an Article 9 SFDR impact fund.
Investors include about 100 family offices and entrepreneurs from Newfund’s network, as well as founders who have benefited from earlier Newfund funds. François Véron, Managing Partner at Newfund, said that every founder who made returns with the firm since 2020 has reinvested in HEKA.
The market problem and the fund’s thesis
HEKA was created to solve a key problem: Europe has excellent neuroscience research from places like INSERM, the Rothschild Foundation, Bordeaux University Hospital, and Inria, but often struggles to turn this research into large-scale businesses. Much of the value ends up in the US, where there is more funding, better reimbursement, and higher exit values.
Newfund’s data shows that BrainTech raised $4.2 billion worldwide in 2025, with $3.6 billion going to the US. The firm also reports $2.8 billion raised in the first quarter of 2026. These numbers are Newfund’s own estimates and have not been independently verified.
HEKA’s strategy is to connect Europe and the US by investing in European science and helping companies reach US markets, get FDA approval, and find American customers. The fund uses Newfund’s US resources, including 50 American portfolio companies, a Palo Alto office, and a network built over 20 years by partner Henri Deshays.
“We invest in projects where scientific rigour and commercial ambition reinforce each other. HEKA is an ecosystem being built around the best European BrainTech entrepreneurs, whom we support step by step in their US expansion,” says Anne-Sophie Saint-Martin, Partner at Newfund, in charge of the HEKA fund’s investment strategy.
Since it launched, the fund has supported nine companies working in diagnostics, therapeutics, and infrastructure. Some highlights include progress in imaging and medical AI, with companies such as Raidium, Diagnoly, Reev, and Inside Therapeutics.
Three of the fund’s companies have joined Stanford’s StartX accelerator, showing recognition from the US market. Eight out of nine are already doing business in the United States.
What comes next
Now that the fund has closed, Newfund will keep investing to fill the rest of the portfolio and reach 25 companies. The firm will also help current portfolio companies with new funding rounds and expanding in the US.
The long-term goal is to set a European standard for BrainTech investment before the US becomes the clear leader.
