Swedish neurotechnology startup BRYM has successfully secured €650,000 in a pre-seed funding round to advance its cognitive performance platform. The investment was led by Singapore-based family office Lotus One Investment and global early-stage venture capital firm Antler. This capital injection is earmarked for the development and manufacturing of the company's proprietary wearable EEG technology to combat declining attention spans.
Tackling the Global 'Focus Crisis'
BRYM is positioning its technology as a direct response to what it calls a global 'focus crisis' driven by the modern attention economy. The company highlights that human error accounts for approximately 80% of mistakes in manufacturing, while low engagement costs the world economy nearly $10 trillion in lost productivity. This societal challenge forms the core problem that BRYM's innovative platform aims to solve by improving sustained attention.
A Digital Gym for the Brain
The company has developed a platform described as a digital 'gym for the brain', which combines commercial EEG technology with gamified neurofeedback. This system is designed to transform focus into a measurable and trainable skill for users. Early pilot programs in the demanding automotive manufacturing sector have already yielded impressive results, demonstrating a 46% reduction in operator errors.
Strategic Investment in Proprietary Hardware
The new funding will be instrumental in designing, developing, and manufacturing BRYM's own state-of-the-art EEG headband. This strategic move addresses a significant bottleneck in the neurotechnology industry, which is currently hampered by expensive and often inaccessible hardware. By creating its own affordable device, BRYM intends to make its cognitive training solution universally accessible to a much wider market.
Expanding Market Reach and Business Model
With its own hardware, BRYM plans to transition towards a more scalable, subscription-based business model, facilitating wider enterprise deployments across Europe. While manufacturing has been the initial focus, the company has ambitious plans for expansion into diverse new sectors. These target markets include education, professional sports, and corporate workplace wellbeing programs.
A Philosophy of Human Enhancement
Co-founder and CEO Charlie Ohlén emphasized that the company's philosophy is to enhance human performance rather than replace it with technology. He noted that declining attention spans present a growing challenge for businesses globally, impacting both productivity and mental resilience. BRYM's approach is founded on the belief that focus is a skill that can be trained and improved.
According to Ohlén, treating focus as a trainable skill has a direct and positive impact on an individual's mental fortitude and a company's bottom line. The new funding empowers BRYM to bring its proven technology to a broader audience through its own accessible hardware. This vertical integration is key to the company's mission of making brain training simple, measurable, and effective.
This €650,000 pre-seed funding round marks a pivotal moment for BRYM, enabling its evolution from a software-focused startup to an integrated neurotech company with proprietary hardware. This strategic investment not only validates its early success in industrial settings but also equips it to scale its operations across Europe. By making cognitive training more accessible, BRYM is well-positioned to address the widespread challenges of the attention economy in multiple sectors.