Neubond
Advanced wearable technology for recovering mobility after stroke and neuro-injury.
Website: https://neubond.co.uk/
Cover Block
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Name | Neubond |
| Tagline | Advanced wearable technology for recovering mobility after stroke and neuro-injury |
| Headquarters | London, United Kingdom |
| Stage | Pre-Seed |
| Business Model | B2C |
| Industry | Healthtech |
| Technology Type | Hardware (wearable medical device) |
| Geography | Western Europe |
| Growth Profile | Venture Scale |
| Founding Team | Co-Founders (2): Patrick Sagastegui Alva, Jumpei Kashiwakura |
| Funding Label | Pre-seed |
| Total Disclosed | $250,000 grant round [Leads on Trees] |
Links
- Website: https://neubond.co.uk/
- LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/company/neubond
- Crunchbase: https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/neubond
The Short Version
Neubond is an Imperial College London spinout building wearable hardware aimed at helping stroke and neuro-injury survivors rebuild motor function at home, a category where clinician shortages and an ageing population are widening the gap between need and access [Imperial College London] [LinkedIn]. The company was co-founded by Patrick Sagastegui Alva, who completed a PhD in Bioengineering at Imperial College London with published work on wearable haptic devices for proprioceptive encoding, and Jumpei Kashiwakura, previously a Senior Engineer at Toyota Motor Corporation [LinkedIn] [Crunchbase] [Archive ouverte HAL]. The team initially worked on prosthetics before pivoting to stroke rehabilitation, with the current product positioned as a home therapy device that visualises muscle engagement and provides physical feedback to reinforce nerve-to-muscle signalling [Neubond] [Russell Group]. Neubond has disclosed a $250,000 grant round and lists Horizon Europe as a non-dilutive backer, with accelerator support from Innovate UK ICURe and Imperial Venture Catalyst, and won the Health & Wellbeing track at Imperial's 2024 Venture Catalyst Challenge [Leads on Trees] [Imperial College London]. The business model is consumer-oriented (B2C) but, like most home medtech, the realistic path to revenue runs through clinical evidence, regulatory clearance, and reimbursement intermediaries. Over the next 12 to 18 months, the read-throughs that matter are the launch of a monitoring-only first version, progress toward clinical trials and regulatory submission, and whether the company converts grant capital into a priced equity round with a named institutional lead [Imperial College London] [NIHR Imperial Biomedical Research Centre].
Data Accuracy: GREEN -- Confirmed by Imperial College London, Crunchbase, LinkedIn, and Leads on Trees.
Taxonomy Snapshot
| Axis | Value |
|---|---|
| Stage | Pre-Seed |
| Business Model | B2C |
| Industry / Vertical | Healthtech / Neurorehabilitation |
| Technology Type | Hardware (wearable) |
| Geography | Western Europe (UK) |
| Growth Profile | Venture Scale |
| Founding Team | Co-Founders (2) |
| Funding | Pre-seed, $250,000 disclosed grant |
The Company in Brief
Neubond is a London-based Imperial College spinout that began as a prosthetics-focused research effort and reoriented toward stroke rehabilitation after the founders concluded the addressable need and clinical pathway were stronger in neurorehab. According to the company's own framing, Neubond "was born from a shared passion for using technology to impact healthcare in revolutionary ways" and started "with advancements in prosthetics" before applying the same neural-interface and feedback work to stroke recovery [Neubond]. CTO and co-founder Jumpei Kashiwakura has publicly described the pivot in talks at Imperial's HybridNeuro Summer School, framing it as a search for product-market fit [LinkedIn].
The company's milestones to date are largely academic and grant-driven rather than commercial. Neubond was a finalist and category winner in the Health & Wellbeing track of Imperial's 2024 Venture Catalyst Challenge [Imperial College London], received support through the Innovate UK ICURe programme and Imperial Venture Catalyst, and disclosed a $250,000 grant round in 2024 covering early product development and pre-clinical work [Leads on Trees]. The NIHR Imperial Biomedical Research Centre has reported that the company is "currently fundraising to support clinical trials and seek regulatory approval for its home therapy device" [NIHR Imperial Biomedical Research Centre].
Data Accuracy: GREEN -- Confirmed by Imperial College London, Neubond, and Leads on Trees.
What They Have Built
Neubond's product is a wearable device intended for at-home stroke rehabilitation, designed to be worn during daily activities rather than confined to clinic-based therapy sessions. Crunchbase describes the system as one that "creates wearable devices for stroke mobility rehabilitation, offering autonomous assistance and therapy during daily activities" [Crunchbase]. According to the Russell Group write-up of the Imperial spinout, the home therapy device "helps reinforce the connection between nerves and muscles by providing a physical feedback," which is consistent with the founders' published research on haptic encoding of proprioception [Russell Group] [Archive ouverte HAL].
A notable detail in the Imperial College London coverage is the regulatory sequencing: the company plans to first release a version that "monitors movement intention and guides rehabilitation by helping patients visualise which muscles they are using" before introducing an actuating or assistive variant [Imperial College London]. That ordering is a deliberate risk-management choice, since a monitoring-and-feedback device generally faces a lighter regulatory pathway than an active therapeutic device. It also lets Neubond gather usage and outcomes data ahead of a more involved submission.
The technical foundations draw directly on Patrick Sagastegui Alva's bioengineering research at Imperial, including co-authored work on a wearable multichannel haptic device for encoding proprioception in the upper limb [Archive ouverte HAL].
Data Accuracy: GREEN -- Confirmed by Imperial College London, Russell Group, Crunchbase, and Archive ouverte HAL.
Market Research and Opportunity
Stroke rehabilitation sits at the intersection of two structural pressures that the cited research keeps surfacing: a growing elderly population and a shortage of rehabilitation clinicians, both of which limit how much one-to-one therapy any given survivor actually receives [LinkedIn]. Neubond's own positioning leans on this gap: the company states that "with a growing elderly population and shortages in rehabilitation clinicians, accessibility to care remains a critical issue" [LinkedIn].
Imperial College London's coverage frames the device as targeting stroke survivors who currently rely on intermittent clinic visits, and quotes patient reaction including "It's given me hope" in the GMA News write-up of an early demonstration [Imperial College London] [GMA News Online]. NIHR's Biomedical Research Centre, a credible clinical translation host, has independently profiled the technology as offering "new hope for stroke survivors seeking to regain mobility" [NIHR Imperial Biomedical Research Centre].
Adjacent and substitute markets matter for how a product like Neubond's gets adopted. The most direct substitutes are conventional in-clinic physiotherapy, tele-rehabilitation video platforms, and functional electrical stimulation (FES) devices already on the market for stroke survivors. Adjacent categories include consumer wearables repurposed for rehabilitation tracking and exoskeleton-style assistive hardware. The regulatory environment in the United Kingdom and European Union is a defining force: a monitoring-only device sits in a different conformity class than an active therapeutic, and Neubond's stated decision to release the monitoring version first is a direct response to this gradient [Imperial College London].
| Demand signal | Source |
|---|---|
| Growing elderly population and clinician shortages cited as the access gap Neubond targets | [LinkedIn] |
| NIHR Imperial BRC profile validating the clinical relevance of the device | [NIHR Imperial Biomedical Research Centre] |
| Imperial College London coverage of patient response to the prototype | [Imperial College London] [GMA News Online] |
Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Demand-side qualitative signals are well-cited, but no sized TAM/SAM figures are available from named third-party reports in the captured material.
Who Else Is Fighting for This
The stroke neurorehabilitation hardware category is populated by three loose clusters. The first is functional electrical stimulation (FES) devices, which actively stimulate muscles and have established clinical evidence and, in some geographies, reimbursement pathways. The second is robotic and exoskeleton-style assistive hardware, typically clinic-deployed and capital-intensive, used during supervised therapy. The third, and the cluster Neubond most directly inhabits, is at-home wearable systems that combine sensing, feedback, and software-guided therapy designed to be used outside the clinic. Tele-rehabilitation software platforms (camera and app-based) sit adjacent and compete for the same clinician attention and patient time, even though they do not contact the body.
Neubond's defensible edge today, on the cited evidence, rests on three pillars. The first is academic provenance: the company is an Imperial College London spinout with founders whose published research directly underpins the device's haptic feedback approach [Archive ouverte HAL] [Russell Group]. The second is non-dilutive validation: support from Innovate UK ICURe, Imperial Venture Catalyst, Horizon Europe, and the NIHR Imperial Biomedical Research Centre is the kind of stack that opens doors to NHS clinical sites [NIHR Imperial Biomedical Research Centre] [Imperial College London]. The third is the regulatory sequencing already discussed: starting with a monitoring-only version is a faster route to first market presence than launching an active therapeutic [Imperial College London].
Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Category structure is well understood, but no named competitors are present in captured sources.
Opportunity
If Neubond executes against its current plan, the prize is a defensible position as a clinically validated, at-home neurorehabilitation wearable in a market where the structural mismatch between stroke survivor numbers and clinician capacity keeps widening [LinkedIn].
| Scenario | What happens | Catalyst | Why it's plausible |
|---|---|---|---|
| NHS Pathway Anchor | Monitoring device cleared and adopted in two to four NHS stroke rehabilitation pathways, generating outcomes data | Published clinical study via NIHR Imperial BRC and a named NHS trust pilot | NIHR BRC affiliation already in place [NIHR Imperial Biomedical Research Centre] |
| EU Translational Expansion | Horizon Europe support converted into multi-country pilots and CE-marked launch across selected EU markets | Horizon Europe milestone delivery and CE submission for the monitoring variant | Horizon Europe is a confirmed backer [Leads on Trees]; Imperial spinout status supports cross-border credibility [Russell Group] |
| Strategic Acquisition | Acquired by an established rehabilitation hardware or medical device company seeking a home-care wearable line | A larger incumbent moves to add at-home monitoring to its stroke portfolio after Neubond's first clinical evidence | Stroke rehab consolidation is consistent with the broader medical-device M&A pattern; Neubond's IP and clinical relationships are the kind of asset such buyers acquire [Russell Group] |
Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Scenarios are grounded in cited affiliations and confirmed funding; sized outcome figures are deliberately omitted because no named third-party comparable was captured.
Sources
- [Neubond] Neubond: Revolutionising Neuro-Rehabilitation | https://neubond.co.uk/
- [Neubond] Neubond: Our Mission and Vision | https://neubond.co.uk/about-neubond-technology
- [Imperial College London] Wearable device for restoring movement aims to deliver hope to stroke patients | https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/267033/wearable-device-restoring-movement-aims-deliver/
- [Imperial College London] Innovators of the future to compete in Venture Catalyst Challenge final | https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/252553/innovators-future-compete-venture-catalyst-challenge/
- [LinkedIn] neubond company page | https://uk.linkedin.com/company/neubond
- [LinkedIn] Jumpei Kashiwakura profile | https://www.linkedin.com/in/jumpei-kashiwakura/
- [LinkedIn] Patrick Sagastegui Alva profile | https://www.linkedin.com/in/psagastegui/
- [Crunchbase] Neubond company profile | https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/neubond
- [Crunchbase] Neubond tech details | https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/neubond/tech_details
- [Crunchbase] Jumpei Kashiwakura person profile | https://www.crunchbase.com/person/jumpei-kashiwakura
- [Leads on Trees] Pioneering Personalized Rehabilitation: Neubond Secures $250,000 Funding in Grant Round for Stroke Patient Devices | https://www.leadsontrees.com/news/pioneering-personalized-rehabilitation-neubond-secures-250,000-funding-in-grant-round-for-stroke-patient-devices
- [Mirage News] Wearable Device Brings Hope to Stroke Patients | https://www.miragenews.com/wearable-device-brings-hope-to-stroke-patients-1510254/
- [GMA News Online] It's given me hope: Stroke patient amazed by new rehab device | https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/scitech/technology/923097/it-s-given-me-hope-stroke-patient-amazed-by-new-rehab-device/story/
- [NIHR Imperial Biomedical Research Centre] Wearable Tech Offers New Hope for Stroke Survivors Seeking to Regain Mobility | https://imperialbrc.nihr.ac.uk/2025/08/15/11208/
- [Russell Group] Imperial spinout develops new stroke rehabilitation technology | https://www.russellgroup.ac.uk/impact/imperial-spinout-develops-new-stroke-rehabilitation-technology
Articles about Neubond
- Neubond Is Building a Wearable That Coaches Stroke Survivors Through Their Own Living Rooms — The Imperial College spinout has £720,000 in grant funding and a plan to start with a monitoring-only device before chasing regulatory clearance.