Science fiction is becoming reality, and the trillion-dollar track is quietly launching. This article thoroughly discusses investment opportunities in brain-computer interfaces!

On July 28, tech growth stocks suffered a "Black Tuesday," with the Shenzhen Component Index falling 4.52% and the ChiNext Index dropping over 7%. Amid low sentiment, a branch of the healthcare sector successfully broke out: Brain-Computer Interface (BCI). The related index continued to rise by 2% against the market trend after surging 5.85% the previous day. Aipeng Medical hit two consecutive 20% limit-ups intraday, Chuangxin Medical achieved 3 limit-ups in 4 days, and Sanbo Brain Hospital rose 4%.

In terms of news, there have been continuous important breakthroughs domestically and internationally. US BCI company ScienceCorp. was approved to sell retinal chips in the EU, marking the first large-scale rollout of a US BCI enterprise to patients; domestic research teams achieved synchronized brainwave collection from thousands of people across regions for the first time, and the "15th Five-Year Plan" policy explicitly strengthens BCI research.

Is the commercialization year of BCI coming? To seize investment opportunities, read on to understand BCI opportunities in one article.

I. What is Brain-Computer Interface? Controlling machines with "thought"

In short: Enabling direct communication between the brain and machines.

Specifically, what BCI does is build a "bridge" between the brain and external devices, i.e., collecting brain signals → decoding them into commands → sending them to external devices for execution.

A complete BCI system usually contains five stages: EEG signal acquisition → information decoding and processing → signal output/execution → external device → feedback. Example process: When you think about the action of "raising your hand," the system collects the corresponding EEG signal, decodes it, and drives a robotic arm to raise.

II. From Sci-Fi to Reality, BCI Welcomes a Historic Inflection Point in Industrialization

In 2025, a patient in China who had been paralyzed due to spinal cord injury for 13 years successfully controlled a computer cursor using "mind power" through an implanted BCI system. In 2026, the world's first invasive BCI medical device certificate was approved in Shanghai. BCI is moving from the laboratory into reality.

From an industrial investment perspective, as a foundational revolutionary technology connecting biological intelligence and AI, BCI may be at a critical leap period from laboratory to commercial implementation.

Policy side: The "15th Five-Year Plan" lists it as one of six future industries, gradually opening medical insurance payment channels to solve core commercialization pain points; Technology side: Competition between China and the US accelerates, Neuralink plans mass production in 2026, and the first domestic invasive clinical success has been achieved; Capital side: Global financing exceeds 1,000 deals, totaling nearly $10 billion, with significant resonance between primary and secondary markets.

All in all, the industry is shedding concept speculation and entering a stage of substantive commercial realization.

III. Industry Chain Breakdown: Upstream looks at Technology, Midstream looks at Licenses, Downstream looks at Market

1. Upstream: Electrodes and Chips (the "Chokehold" Stage)

The upstream is the technological high ground of the BCI industry chain and also the stage with the most concentrated value. There are only two core elements: electrodes and chips.

Electrodes ("Ears"): They are the "tentacles" that capture brain signals. According to the degree of invasiveness, they are divided into two major categories: invasive and non-invasive. The former is directly implanted into the cerebral cortex, providing precise signals but carrying high risks; the latter can be worn on the head, offering safety and convenience but with limited signal accuracy, making it the mainstay of the consumer market.

Chips ("Translators"): Responsible for amplifying, denoising, and converting weak brain signals into digital signals. BCI chips are developing towards high throughput, low power consumption, and miniaturization. Currently, high-end chips are mainly imported, while domestic companies are accelerating their catch-up efforts.

2. Midstream: System Integration and Algorithms (EEG Signals → Control Commands)

The midstream is the key hub of industrialization. What the midstream does is integrate hardware such as electrodes and chips from the upstream into a usable BCI system.

There are three core capabilities: 1) Hardware system integration: Assembling complete EEG acquisition equipment; 2) Signal processing and algorithms: Denoising, amplifying, and decoding brainwaves to "translate" weak brain signals into recognizable commands; 3) Software platform development: Building control platforms to achieve linkage between the brain and external devices.

There are four technical routes: Fully invasive, semi-invasive minimally invasive, vascular interventional, and non-invasive. Their core differences focus on implantation method, trauma level, signal quality, and commercialization pace.

3. Downstream: Application Scenarios (Medical Rehabilitation → Consumer Life)

The downstream is the value realization stage of BCI and also the fastest-growing market.

Medical Health (Basic Foundation): The current largest and most mature application scenario. Stroke rehabilitation, Parkinson's diagnosis, depression treatment, early screening for Alzheimer's disease... these are all areas where BCI can be applied.

Consumer Applications (New Growth): Rapidly expanding. Sleep monitoring headbands, emotion recognition, smart home control, educational assistance... Non-invasive technology, leveraging its safety and convenience advantages, is moving from medical to civilian use, holding the greatest imaginative space.

Future development will likely evolve in three stages: from "neuro-rehabilitation" to "cognitive enhancement" to "brain-computer fusion." Extensions combining medical care with consumer and technology fields suggest extremely broad future prospects.

IV. Current Status of Technical Paths: Non-Invasive Dominates Short-Term Realization, Invasive Attacks Ultimate Barriers

As mentioned above, BCI is divided into four technical routes based on signal acquisition methods. Currently, non-invasive lands fastest in rehabilitation and consumer fields due to high safety and low cost, accounting for approximately 78% of the market share, serving as the core for short-term cash flow realization; semi-invasive accounts for 15%, striking a balance between performance and safety; invasive, although only accounting for 7%, has extremely high signal accuracy and is the key to solving severe paralysis and other medical challenges, representing the ultimate imaginative space and high valuation premium of the technology.

V. Market Size: Global Market Enters High-Growth Channel, Targeting Hundreds of Billions of Dollars

The global BCI market is in an acceleration phase driven by both medical and consumer sectors. The global scale was approximately $2.6 billion in 2024, expected to climb to $7.63 billion by 2029, maintaining a long-cycle CAGR at a high level of 15%-25%. If scaled applications occur in the pan-consumer field in the long term, it is expected to break through the $300 billion ceiling by 2040.

Leveraging massive clinical demand and policy financial support, the Chinese market's growth rate significantly leads globally. The Chinese market size reached 3.2 billion yuan in 2024, expected to break the 10 billion yuan mark by 2029. China's share of the global market continues to rise, forming an industry landscape led by dual cores of China and the US.

VI. Investment Strategy: Focus on High-Barrier "Water Sellers" and Scenario Enablers

Investment attention in the industry chain focuses on three main lines: First, the "water sellers" guarding the throat of the industry chain, focusing on hard tech enterprises mastering core electrodes, dedicated chips, and CDMO contract manufacturing capabilities; Second, medical device leaders with channel and scenario advantages, who can most quickly translate technology into report profits, achieving "BCI+" empowerment; Third, mapping and participating targets of unicorns in the primary market.

For ordinary investors, participating via ETFs and other index funds is a more efficient and convenient path. Currently, there are no pure "BCI Index" or index fund products in the A-share market. Investors can pay attention to indices somewhat related to BCI, such as: CSE Healthcare Index, Stock Connect Healthcare Theme Index, and relevant ETF products like Healthcare ETF Huabao (512170), Stock Connect Healthcare ETF Huabao (159137).

Healthcare ETF (512170): The largest scale * pharmaceutical and healthcare ETF in the entire market, focusing on medical devices (including BCI) + healthcare services, balancing AI healthcare concepts. Off-exchange feeder fund: 012323.

Stock Connect Healthcare ETF Huabao (159137): Heavily weighted in the innovative drug industry chain, balancing AI healthcare, medical devices (including BCI) niche leaders, with underlying assets being Hong Kong stocks, featuring T+0 trading. Off-exchange feeder fund: 026922.

Data Sources: Digital Financial Center of China Galaxy Securities, public market information, Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges, CSI Index Company, etc. Some images were created by AI software. As of June 30, 2026. Huabao Healthcare ETF has a scale of 25.623 billion yuan, ranking first among all pharmaceutical and healthcare ETFs in the entire market.

Institutional Views: Galaxy Securities 20260726 "One Chart to Understand the BCI Industry Chain", Everbright Securities 20260720 "Cross-Market Weekly Report on Pharmaceutical and Biological Industry: Policy, Clinical, and Technology Densely Drive, BCI Commercialization Inflection Point Approaches".

Note: The ETF funds mentioned in this article do not charge sales service fees. Fund fee rates are detailed in each fund's legal documents.

Risk Warning: The index constituent stocks in this article are for display purposes only. Individual stock descriptions do not constitute any form of investment advice, nor do they represent the holdings or trading trends of any fund under the manager. The composition of the target index constituents is adjusted in a timely manner according to the compilation rules of that index. The risk level assessed by the fund manager for the Stock Connect Healthcare ETF Huabao and the Healthcare ETF Huabao Feeder Fund is R4-Medium-High Risk, suitable for aggressive (C4) and above investors. The risk level of the Healthcare ETF Huabao is R3-Medium Risk, suitable for balanced (C3) and above investors. Any information appearing in this article (including but not limited to individual stocks, comments, predictions, charts, indicators, theories, any form of expression, etc.) is for reference only. Investors must be responsible for any investment behavior decided autonomously. Additionally, any viewpoints, analyses, and predictions in this article do not constitute any form of investment advice to readers, nor do we bear any responsibility for direct or indirect losses caused by the use of the content in this article. Fund investment involves risks, past performance of funds does not indicate their future performance, and the performance of other funds managed by the fund manager does not guarantee the performance of the fund. Fund investment requires caution.