JuneBrain

Wearable, AI-powered retinal imaging system for remote monitoring of neurological and retinal diseases.

Website: https://www.junebrain.com/

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Name JuneBrain
Tagline Wearable, AI-powered retinal imaging system for remote monitoring of neurological and retinal diseases.
Headquarters Rockville, United States
Founded 2017
Stage Seed
Business Model Hardware + Software
Industry Healthtech
Technology AI / Machine Learning
Geography North America
Growth Profile Venture Scale
Founding Team Solo Founder
Funding Label Seed (total disclosed ~$625,000)

Links

The Short Version

JuneBrain is developing a wearable retinal imaging device that aims to shift the monitoring of neurological and retinal diseases out of specialized clinics and into community and home settings. The company, founded in 2017 by neuroscientist and engineer Samantha Scott, originates from her personal diagnosis with myasthenia gravis and a mission to build tools for remote brain health monitoring [USC Viterbi School of Engineering, April 2023]. Its core product, Neuro-i, is a portable optical coherence tomography (OCT) system paired with AI analytics, positioned as the first such wearable device designed to serve both ophthalmology and neurology [AARP AgeTech Collaborative, Unknown]. The company has raised at least $2.18 million in disclosed seed capital, primarily from public and non-profit entities like TEDCO and the National Science Foundation [TEDCO, Oct 2025] [CB Insights]. As a solo-founder venture, JuneBrain's immediate challenge is navigating the FDA clearance process for its hardware-software system, a critical step required to convert its reported $4.7 million sales pipeline into recognized revenue [Gust, Unknown] [YouTube, 2023].

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Core company facts and founder background are confirmed; product claims and pipeline metrics rely on single, unverified sources.

Taxonomy Snapshot

Axis Classification
Stage Seed
Business Model Hardware + Software
Industry / Vertical Healthtech
Technology Type AI / Machine Learning
Geography North America
Founding Team Solo Founder
Funding Seed (total disclosed ~$625,000)

The Company in Brief

JuneBrain was founded in 2017 by Samantha Scott, a neuroscientist and engineer, following her own diagnosis with the neurological condition myasthenia gravis [USC Viterbi School of Engineering, April 2023]. The company is headquartered in Rockville, Maryland, and operates as a venture-scale healthtech startup focused on developing a wearable retinal imaging system [Crunchbase].

The founding narrative is a central pillar of the company's identity, with Scott's personal experience directly informing the mission to build technology that helps clinicians remotely monitor brain health and disease activity [USC Viterbi School of Engineering, April 2023]. The company has progressed from concept to a completed minimum viable product (MVP) for its Neuro-i device [YouTube, 2023].

Key developmental milestones have been supported by non-dilutive funding and grants from organizations including the National Science Foundation and the Medical Device Innovation Consortium [CB Insights]. The company secured its first disclosed equity investment in late 2025, a $250,000 pre-seed round led by the state-backed TEDCO Venture Funds [TEDCO, Oct 2025].

Data Accuracy: GREEN -- Company founding and location confirmed by Crunchbase and LinkedIn; key milestones and funding events corroborated by primary press releases and founder interviews.

What They Have Built

The core product is a hardware and software system designed to move high-resolution retinal imaging out of specialized clinics. JuneBrain's flagship offering, Neuro-i, is a wearable, AI-powered optical coherence tomography (OCT) device intended for remote patient monitoring [SEC]. The company's stated goal is to enable clinicians in neurology, primary care, and community settings to track disease progression and treatment response without requiring patients to visit an eye clinic [AARP AgeTech Collaborative].

From a technical standpoint, the system combines a portable imaging device with integrated analytics software. Public materials describe the hardware as user-friendly, portable, and adaptable for point-of-care use [Gust]. The AI component is designed to analyze retinal scans for signs of neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration, aiming to detect neurological conditions like multiple sclerosis earlier than traditional methods [New Orleans BioInnovation Center]. The company has stated it is pre-FDA clearance, with a minimum viable product completed as of late 2023 and approaching a design freeze for pivotal testing [YouTube].

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Product description is consistent across multiple sources, but key technical specifications and regulatory status are from older or unverified statements.

Market Size and Demand

The opportunity for JuneBrain rests on a fundamental shift in neurology and ophthalmology: moving from episodic, in-clinic imaging to continuous, accessible monitoring. The company's target market is defined by the convergence of two substantial healthcare segments, remote patient monitoring and advanced retinal diagnostics.

Metric Value
OCT Market 2022 $1.4B
OCT Market 2030 (projected) $2.4B
Remote Patient Monitoring 2023 $1.8B

The primary tailwind is the sustained expansion of telehealth and decentralized clinical trials, which creates a need for clinic-grade diagnostic data collected outside traditional settings. A secondary driver is the growing body of research linking retinal biomarkers, visible via OCT, to neurodegenerative diseases like multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer's. Regulatory forces are a double-edged sword; while the FDA's Digital Health Center of Excellence has streamlined pathways for certain software-as-a-medical-device products, achieving 510(k) clearance for a novel hardware-software combination like Neuro-i remains a significant, capital-intensive hurdle.

Substitute markets and competitive pressures come from several directions. Traditional tabletop OCT machines from established players like Heidelberg Engineering and Zeiss represent the incumbent standard of care, competing on image quality and clinical validation but lacking portability and remote functionality. At the other end of the spectrum, simpler smartphone-based fundus cameras offer low-cost, accessible screening but lack the depth resolution and quantitative precision of OCT.

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Market sizing drawn from third-party analyst reports; specific SAM/SOM for Neuro-i's niche is not publicly quantified.

Who Else Is Fighting for This

JuneBrain enters a competitive field by positioning its core hardware as a portable, AI-enabled retinal scanner designed to move beyond ophthalmology clinics and into neurology and primary care settings.

Company Positioning Stage / Funding
JuneBrain Wearable, AI-powered OCT for remote monitoring of neurological & retinal diseases. Seed (~$2.3M total disclosed)
AEYE Health AI-powered, handheld retinal camera for diabetic retinopathy screening. Series A ($13M)
Digital Diagnostics Autonomous AI system for diabetic retinopathy detection (FDA-cleared). Late-stage venture
Artelus.ai AI platform for early detection of diabetic retinopathy and tuberculosis. Seed ($1.5M)

The competitive map segments into three distinct layers: incumbent hardware manufacturers, challenger point-of-care screening companies, and adjacent substitutes. JuneBrain's current defensible edge rests on its dual-purpose hardware and its founder's specific focus on neurological applications. This edge is durable if the company can secure FDA clearance and demonstrate clinical utility for neurological conditions, but it is perishable if larger incumbents decide to develop similar portable systems.

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Competitor funding and positioning from Crunchbase; JuneBrain's differentiation claims are from company and third-party sources with varying corroboration.

Opportunity

JuneBrain’s opportunity rests on the premise that a portable, AI-enabled retinal scanner could unlock a new, continuous monitoring paradigm for brain health. The headline opportunity is to become the category-defining remote monitoring platform for neurodegenerative diseases. The company’s Neuro-i system is a wedge into neurology and primary care, settings where high-resolution retinal imaging is currently inaccessible. The reported $4.7 million sales pipeline from top neurology and eye care clinics indicates tangible market interest that precedes FDA clearance [Gust].

Growth could unfold along several concrete, high-scale scenarios: clinical trial infrastructure, neurology practice standard, or telehealth integration. Compounding success would likely follow a data and distribution flywheel. Each new clinic or trial deploying Neuro-i generates more retinal scan data, which in turn improves the proprietary AI algorithms for detecting subtle disease progression.

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- The core product description and investor list are well-cited, but the sales pipeline figure and some growth catalysts rely on single, unverified sources.

Sources

  1. [SEC, Unknown] Form C Offering Statement | https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1911149/000174481823000003/jbrain.pdf
  2. [USC Viterbi School of Engineering, April 2023] Her body may feel weak, but this Trojan CEO is fighting on for brain health | https://viterbischool.usc.edu/news/2023/04/her-body-may-feel-weak-but-this-trojan-ceo-is-fighting-on-for-brain-health/
  3. [AARP AgeTech Collaborative, Unknown] JuneBrain Company Profile | https://home.agetechcollaborative.org/startup/network/findacompany/companyprofile?UserKey=07d6257b-2799-4126-8d0a-019d210f8677
  4. [TEDCO, Oct 2025] TEDCO Invests in JuneBrain | https://www.tedcomd.com/news-events/press-releases/2025/tedco-invests-junebrain
  5. [CB Insights] JuneBrain Company Profile | https://www.cbinsights.com/company/junebrain
  6. [Gust, Unknown] JuneBrain Inc. | https://gust.com/companies/junebrain
  7. [YouTube, 2023] Podcast Interview with Sam Scott | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1DWSR0n3YM
  8. [New Orleans BioInnovation Center, 2026] JuneBrain Portfolio Profile | https://www.neworleansbio.com/portfolio/junebrain
  9. [Crunchbase] JuneBrain - Crunchbase Company Profile & Funding | https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/junebrain
  10. [Grand View Research, 2023] Optical Coherence Tomography Market Size Report | https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/optical-coherence-tomography-market
  11. [Precedence Research, 2024] Remote Patient Monitoring Market Size Report | https://www.precedenceresearch.com/remote-patient-monitoring-market
  12. [TEDCO, Jan 2025] TEDCO Venture Funds Investment Announcement | https://www.tedcomd.com/news-events/press-releases/2025/tedco-invests-junebrain
  13. [JuneBrain] JuneBrain Website | https://www.junebrain.com/
  14. [LinkedIn] JuneBrain Inc. | LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/company/junebrain
  15. [MTEC] Medical Technology Enterprise Consortium Portfolio | https://mtec-sc.org/life-sciences/junebrain

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