Brainhero and the EIC Accelerator: Bankrupt After the Grant

Brainhero, a Vienna company registered in 2018 as MyMind GmbH, made a portable EEG headset and games for neurofeedback, a therapy in which children learn to change their brain activity by watching it control a video game. Its EIC project promised "the first medically certified home-based EEG neurofeedback product with personalized therapy for children with ASD and ADHD", with setup cut from 15 minutes to 2 and hardware costs cut tenfold, according to CORDIS.

The European Innovation Council granted €2,479,700 towards a €3.54 million project from April 2023 to April 2025. The only published report, from the first period, describes a renewed ISO 13485 certificate, an expanded software kit, a game-building platform and a randomised triple-blind trial called MUsicAUT. On 30 August 2025, four months after the project ended, the Austrian company register recorded the opening of insolvency proceedings and an insolvency administrator, according to North Data. The creditor association KSV1870 lists it as an insolvency case.

Where Brainhero Stands Now

Brainhero is in insolvency. Its website returned a server error when checked for this article. A company named Brainhero Lab GmbH is listed by the creditor associations KSV1870 and AKV as in liquidation and insolvent. The company's last filed annual accounts, for 2024, were published two days before the insolvency, North Data shows. What happens to its patent, app and trial data has not been announced.

The Technology: Games Controlled by Brain Waves

A child wears a portable EEG headset at home while the brain's electrical signals control a video game, with training regimens designed to ease symptoms such as problems with focus, motor activity and frustration management. Therapists could personalise the training to each child's brain profile. Brainhero said home training gave ten times more practice than a weekly clinic session. The first-period report says the company was also exploring augmented and virtual reality versions.

What the EIC Project Promised, and What CORDIS Shows

The project was to validate the product clinically and prepare it for scale. The first-period report documents certification work, software development and the start of symptom analysis, in which it says 100% of patients reported certain improvements; these are patient-reported survey results, not trial outcomes. No results from the MUsicAUT trial, no class IIa certification and no final report have been published. CORDIS lists the project as closed.

1. Quality certificationDeliveredISO 13485 renewed.
2. Software platformDeliveredSDK, Gameshop prototype.
3. Clinical trial resultsUnverifiedNone published.
4. Company survivalFailedInsolvent, August 2025.

The Money

Brainhero's accounts are filed with the Austrian company register but are available only through paid services, so its revenue and losses are not public. Its share capital rose from €35,000 at registration to €67,687 in 2022. The award was grant only; no EIC Fund investment was announced.

What Cannot Be Checked

Why Europe Should Care

Brainhero argued that home therapy spares families travel and scheduling problems and lets children train in a familiar environment. The EIC backed a certified home device. The company did not survive long enough to show whether it works at scale, and taxpayers have no final account of the project.

The Verdict

Brainhero's insolvency administrator and the EIC have not been asked for comment for this article. It is based entirely on public records and published statements, linked throughout.