Every year, around three million Americans suffer traumatic brain injuries (TBIs). Yet only 5% undergo intracranial pressure tests, mainly because the current approach requires drilling a hole into the skull. That’s the painful, high-risk gap that London-based startup CoMind wants to close.
Founded in 2017 by James Dacombe, who is now 25, CoMind has spent the past eight years developing a light-based, non-invasive alternative to traditional brain monitoring. Dacombe started the company as a teenager, driven by frustration over the slow adoption of safe and accessible monitoring tools for people with severe brain injuries.
Today, CoMind raised a total of $102.5 million to push that technology toward hospitals and intensive care units in the U.S. and beyond. Its latest $60 million Series A round was led by Plural, with participation from Angelini Ventures, LocalGlobe, Octopus Ventures, Crane, Backed VC, and Entrepreneurs First.
At the heart of CoMind’s breakthrough is a proprietary photonics system, essentially a series of ultra-sensitive optical sensors that can read cerebral blood flow and pressure through the surface of the skull. The sensors use finely tuned light waves to collect data that would require invasive probes.
The result, according to the company, is accuracy on par with traditional intracranial probes, without the risks, costs, or complications. Existing non-invasive methods from Kernel, Emotiv, and BrainScope often rely on indirect signals and fall short in precision, a shortcoming CoMind believes its photonics platform can solve.
Looking ahead, CoMind plans to submit its device for FDA approval within the next two years, a move that could open access to the U.S. ICU market, worth billions annually. In parallel, the company is building an AI analytics layer designed to turn its sensor data into predictive insights, allowing doctors to spot complications early and personalise care.
