Mendea
We are a UK startup building non-invasive ultrasound brain stimulation technology.
We are hiring ambitious engineers to shape the frontiers of human potential. If that's you, let's talk.
About US
We're creating a low-intensity focussed ultrasound device for wearable neuromodulation.
In time, we aim to deliver safe and customised brain stimulation for a range of applications.
These include clinical settings, therapeutic use, and neuromodulation for healthy people.
Meet mendea
We are currently a team of four, based between Imperial College, offices in London, and Oxford.
Our Team
Alastair Monty
CEO
Before co-founding Mendea, Alastair was a private equity M&A lawyer in the City of London and a corporate legal consultant.
His clients included health-tech startups, multinational corporations, and high net worth individuals.
Alastair has advised on complex cross-border transactions, licencing for IP and commercial software, contract drafting and negotiation, and data privacy.
Dr Chris Butler, FRCP
Head of Neuroscience
Dr Butler is Clinical Reader in Global Brain Health at Imperial College London, where he leads the Global Brain Health research group. He is also a practising neurologist in the Imperial Memory Service at Charing Cross Hospital in London, and is Past President of the British Neuropsychiatry Association.
Chris trained in medicine at the universities of Cambridge and Edinburgh and completed specialist training in cognitive neurology in San Francisco and Oxford.
His primary research aims to improve the diagnosis and clinical outcomes of people with cognitive disorders, including those living in disadvantaged communities in the UK and in low- and middle-income countries.
Dr Robin Cleveland
Head of Engineering
Dr Cleveland is Professor of Engineering Science at Magdalen College, Oxford.
Robin completed his PhD in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, on the propagation of sonic booms from aircraft. He was awarded the F.V. Hunt Fellowship of the Acoustical Society of America, a two year post-doctoral fellowship which he completed at the University of Washington in Seattle researching shock waves for biomedical applications. Robin taught and researched sound waves as Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Boston University, before joining Oxford University in 2011.
Dr Stephen Hicks
CSO and acting CTO
Dr Hicks is a three-time company founder, with deep experince in deep tech venture building and medical device development. Stephen has successfully navigated novel complex hardware products through regulatory pathways to revenue generation.
Dr Hick completed his PhD in neuroscience, and spent 10 years leading a research laboratory at the Nuffield Centre of Clinical Neurosciences at the University of Oxford. In this role he lead the development of diagnostic and therapeutic devices for a range of neurological and sensory conditions.
Research
Mendea's work draws on our own team's research, and the growing body of ultrasound neuromodulation research around the world.
Our team's work in ultrasound
Selected publications:
Visual Acuity: Ultrasound can be used to enhance visual reaction speed and accuracy, demonstrating stimulation of higher-order cortex and cognitive function (link to 2022 paper).
Auditory Confound: The auditory confound commonly encountered with ultrasound neuromodulation research can be masked (link to 2020 paper).
Paradigm Review: A review of ultrasound neuromodulation results, mechanisms and safety (link to 2019 paper).
Affiliations:
Drs Butler and Cleveland are members of ITRUSST, the consortium for International Transcranial Ultrasonic Stimulation Safety and Standards.
Research we're interested in
We're excited by the growing body of research showing the range of ultrasound's potential applications. These include:
Join us.
If you'd like to stay updated on our work, let us know using this form.If you're interested in collaborating, or otherwise supporting our vision, here's the place to tell us too.Click below to see jobs at Mendea.
Build the future of neuromodulation.
Our immediate hiring focus is electrical engineering.We anticipate hiring soon (c.early 2025) for roles in computational neuroscience, electrical engineering, software engineering, and hardware design. If we meet early milestones these roles will follow promptly, so reach out now using our contact page if you're interested.
Open roles:
Electrical Engineer - PROTOTYPING INTERN
Position published: August 2024
About us
Mendea is an embryonic neurotechnology startup based in the UK.
Our mission is to build a safe and effective means to improve brain function for as many people as possible, using non-invasive ultrasound stimulation technology.
We aim to dramatically improve outcomes for a range of neurological disorders, from depression to addiction. In time, we aim to help anyone improve their cognitive state, through consistent elevation of mental wellbeing and performance.
We recently received backing from Zinc VC, a London venture capital firm supporting radical technological solutions created by mission-led startups.
Zinc are backing our vision to build a versatile, platform technology to improve brain health for as many people as possible.
We joined Zinc's incubator programme in Summer 2024. Our first steps are to expand our team, build prototypes, and validate our long-term roadmap.
What you'll do
Work with our engineering lead, Dr Robin Cleveland, to build a prototype ultrasound neuromodulation headset.
This will be a simple device that incorporates one or two ultrasound transducers into a wearable headset.
Our first device is intended to enhance visual reaction speed, and will be tested when ready on competitive gamers, at Imperial College in London.
Prototyping work is inherently broad in scope, so your tasks will include everything from circuit design to manual hardware fabrication and device testing.
Your Skills and Experience
Qualification: Completed or currently pursuing a Master's or PhD in a relevant field, such as electrical engineering, biomedical engineering, or neuroscience.
Experience in design, prototyping, testing, and evaluation of electronic systems.
Familiarity with brain stimulation techniques (non-invasive preferred) or very strong desire to learn. Experience with ultrasound neuromodulation is ideal, but not a requirement.
At minimum you must have a strong knowledge of electronic circuit design, and examples of your own hardware work which you'd love to show us.
Ideally you will also have one or more of the following:
Experience with EEG devices.
Competency in programming languages, ideally C++ or Python.
Experience in reverse engineering off-the-shelf hardware, e.g. gaming headsets, consumer neurotech devices, VR headsets, or other devices.
Regulatory and hardware documentation experience, including compliance and QMS (e.g. UK MDRs, FDA, ISOs, and hardware design).
More about you
Very strong interest or experience in neurotechnology.
Hugely excited by working on tech to improve mental health, and to push the frontier possibilities of neuromodulation.
Love solving technical challenges in electronics and/or hardware.
Very fast learner, excited by working one-on-one with leading academics in ultrasound neuromodulation and clinical neuroscience.
Enjoy working at speed, and with relatively little oversight.
Proactive and opinionated.
Love attention to detail.
Strong communication, teamwork, and project management abilities.
Keen interest in startups: you may see yourself as a future founder, or member of a founding startup team.
While we ultimately aim to deploy neuromodulation across a wide range of uses in medicine, therapy and beyond, our first device is for competitive and serious gamers. So, if you love gaming (especially FPS and/or first-person multiplayer games) this role is a unique blend of neurotechnology and e-sports that may particularly appeal to you.
Position details
Location: All work will be in-person in London, England. You might occasionally visit our engineering lead in Oxford if required. Reasonable transportation costs for these visits will be paid by the company.
Duration: This role's estimated duration is 2-6 months. Exact duration can be discussed based on your availability and project needs.
Start Date: This position is available as of August 2024, and will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis.
Compensation: Compensation will be consistent with comparable positions in the UK.
How to apply
Send an email attaching a copy of your CV / Resume to: [email protected]
Include the following points in your email to us. Note, applications which do not include this will not be considered:
In no more than 4 sentences, tell us why you're interested in this role.
In 1 sentence, tell us what you predict the single most valuable use of BCIs will be, in 30 years' time.
Tell us about 3 challenging technical problems you have solved. For each of these, what exactly was the problem and how did you solve it? Be as succinct as possible, while providing enough information to convey your problem solving ability.
Application Process
If we decide to proceed your application we will reach out to arrange a video call with our CEO, followed by a further interview, ideally in person, with our lead engineer either in Oxford or in London.
Founding neurotechnology engineer
Position published: August 2024
About us
Mendea is an embryonic neurotechnology startup based in the UK.
Our mission is to build a safe and effective means to improve brain function for as many people as possible, using non-invasive ultrasound stimulation technology.
We aim to dramatically improve outcomes for a range of neurological disorders, from depression to addiction. In time, we aim to help anyone improve their cognitive state, through consistent elevation of mental wellbeing and performance.
We recently received backing from Zinc VC, a London venture capital firm supporting radical technological solutions created by mission-led startups.
Zinc are backing our vision to build a versatile, platform technology to improve brain health for as many people as possible.
We joined Zinc's incubator programme in Summer 2024. Our first steps are to expand our team, build prototypes, and validate our long-term roadmap.
The Opportunity
We're seeking a visionary Founding Engineer to help build a cutting-edge neurotechnology company from the ground up.
As a founding engineer, you will join a team of 3 other co-founders to play a leading role in building the company from its earliest stages.
Our first goal is to build a prototype neuromodulation device, translating our team's published science. We're looking for someone who's excited to work hands-on to build the prototype, and ultimately to lead the engineering team.
What you'll do
Work closely with our head engineer to go from prototype to MVP as fast as possible. This will be a simple device that incorporates one or two ultrasound transducers into a wearable headset. Beyond this, you will:
Lead the engineering aspects of technology and hardware development at Mendea
Design and test device electronic architecture
Assist in development of ultrasound stimulation protocols
Contribute to intellectual property development and patent applications
Create and maintain documentation including specifications, schematics, and design justification
Collaborate with interdisciplinary teams to combine electrical, software and neuroscience components
Engage with external partners such as manufacturers and regulatory bodies
Expand the engineering team by sourcing, interviewing and closing new members
Help lay the foundations of the engineering team from a technical and cultural standpoint
Evangelise the team, the product and the company
What we're looking for - essentials
Master's or PhD in a relevant field such as electrical engineering, biomedical engineering, or neuroscience
5+ years of industry experience in electrical engineering, preferably in medical devices, wearables, or neurotechnology
Proven track record of bringing complex, innovative products to market
Expertise in circuit design, especially low-power, high-precision systems
Strong background in embedded systems design and firmware development
Experience developing FDA/MDR Class II or III medical devices
What we're looking for - ideal experience
Proficiency in signal processing techniques
Experience mentoring junior engineers and building an engineering team
Competency in programming languages, ideally C++ or Python
Knowledge of QMS and relevant standards including ISO 13485 and IEC 60601
Experience with ultrasound technology is highly desirable but not essential
About you
Ready to commit full-time as soon as possible to a zero-to-one role. You'll be joining an embryonic company to build it from the ground up by skill, sweat and persistence
Extremely ambitious, energised by solving technical challenges for a vision you believe in
Thrive in conditions that demand speed and collaboration under pressure
Able to wear multiple hats as a founding team member
Value ownership and accountability for your work
Highly resilient and determined
Excellent communication skills
Instinctively take initiative when faced with ambiguity or resource constraints
Passionate about pushing the boundaries of neurotechnology
What we're offering
Join a passionate, mission-led team which includes experts from Oxford University and Imperial college, who are world leaders in the neuroscience and engineering of neuromodulation.
Take a leading role in not just engineering but the future direction and strategy of the company. If the role works out, we'd love the candidate to become CTO or at minimum VPE.
Founding equity, and a monthly stipend until we pitch at investment committee (Q4 2024)
Access to Zinc VC's extensive support and network. This includes executive coaching, access to networks of investors and fellows (e.g. experts from Meta, Google, etc), and support from a designated venture partner.
Access to a central London office, with meeting and workspace alongside other impact-driven startups. Office facilities include a gym, bike storage, changing facilities, and roof terrace.
Shape the global frontiers of neurotechnology and make a lasting impact on human potential.
Work on the most exciting areas at the intersection of neuroscience and engineering. Areas we're excited to work on include:
Radical improvements to existing treatments for neurological conditions including depression and addiction
Closed-loop brain stimulation
Offline neuromodulation effects
Complementing ultrasound with other neuromodulation technologies (e.g. priming / spatial focality with TMS)
How to apply:
Send a CV / Resume and cover letter to: [email protected]
If we decide to proceed your application we will reach out to arrange a video call with our CEO, followed by a further interview, ideally in person, with our lead engineer either in Oxford or in London.
July 2024PRIVACY POLICYThis privacy policy sets out how Mendea Technologies Limited uses and protects your personal data. It gives you information about how Mendea Technologies collects and uses your personal data through your use of this website, including any data you may provide when you submit your details for us to contact you in the form provided.1. Important information and who we are
Mendea Technologies Limited is the controller and responsible for your personal data (collectively referred to as "Mendea", "we", "us" or "our" in this privacy policy).
If you have any questions about this privacy policy, including any requests to exercise your legal rights (paragraph 9), please contact the us using the information set out in the contact details section (paragraph 10).
This website is not intended for children and we do not knowingly collect data relating to children.2. The types of personal data we collect about you
Personal data means any information about an individual from which that person can be identified.
We may collect, use, store and transfer different kinds of personal data about you which we have grouped together as follows:
• Identity Data includes first name, last name, username or similar identifier, title, date of birth and gender.
• Contact Data includes billing address, delivery address, email address and telephone numbers.
• Technical Data includes internet protocol (IP) address, your login data, browser type and version, time zone setting and location, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform, device ID and other technology on the devices you use to access this website.
• Usage Data includes information about how you interact with and use our website, products and services.
• Marketing and Communications Data includes your preferences in receiving marketing from us and our third parties and your communication preferences.
We also collect, use and share aggregated data such as statistical or demographic data which is not personal data as it does not directly (or indirectly) reveal your identity. For example, we may aggregate individuals' Usage Data to calculate the percentage of users accessing a specific website feature in order to analyse general trends in how users are interacting with our website to help improve the website and our service offering.
3. How is your personal data collected?
We use different methods to collect data from and about you including through:
• Your interactions with us. You may give us your personal data by filling in online forms or by corresponding with us by post, phone, email or otherwise. This includes personal data you provide when you:
• apply for our products or services;
• subscribe to our service or publications;
• request marketing to be sent to you;
• enter a competition, promotion or survey; or
• give us feedback or contact us.
• Automated technologies or interactions. As you interact with our website, we will automatically collect Technical Data about your equipment, browsing actions and patterns. We collect this personal data by using cookies and other similar technologies. We may also receive Technical Data about you if you visit other websites employing our cookies.
• Third parties or publicly available sources. We will receive personal data about you from various third parties and public sources as set out below:
• Technical Data is collected from the following parties:
• analytics providers such as Google;
• advertising networks; and
• search information providers.
• Contact, Financial and Transaction Data is collected from providers of technical, payment and delivery services.
• Identity and Contact Data is collected from data brokers or aggregators.
• Identity and Contact Data is collected from publicly available sources such as Companies House in the UK.
4. How we use your personal data
Legal basis
The law requires us to have a legal basis for collecting and using your personal data. We rely on one or more of the following legal bases:
• Performance of a contract with you: Where we need to perform the contract we are about to enter into or have entered into with you.
• Legitimate interests: We may use your personal data where it is necessary to conduct our business and pursue our legitimate interests, for example to prevent fraud and enable us to give you the best and most secure customer experience. We make sure we consider and balance any potential impact on you and your rights (both positive and negative) before we process your personal data for our legitimate interests. We do not use your personal data for activities where our interests are overridden by the impact on you (unless we have your consent or are otherwise required or permitted to by law).
• Legal obligation: We may use your personal data where it is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation that we are subject to.
• Consent: Where possible, we aim to rely on consent only where we have obtained your active agreement to use your personal data for a specified purpose, for example if you subscribe to an email newsletter or submit your details through the website to request information about our business.
Purposes for which we will use your personal data
We have set out below, in a table format, a description of all the ways we plan to use the various categories of your personal data, and which of the legal bases we rely on to do so. We have also identified what our legitimate interests are where appropriate.
| Purpose or Use | Data Type | Legal Basis |
|---|---|---|
| To send you periodic updates and other communications regarding our business. | Identity, Contact | Consent, having obtained your prior consent to communicate in this way with you. |
| To manage our relationship with you which will include: (a) Notifying you about changes to our terms or privacy policy (b) Dealing with your requests, complaints and queries. | Identity, Contact, Profile, Marketing | Performance of our contract with you; compliance with legal obligations; legitimate interests, for example to keep our records updated and manage communications or complaints appropriately. |
| To administer and protect our business and this website (including troubleshooting, data analysis, testing, system maintenance, support, reporting and hosting of data). | Identity, Contact, Technical | Legitimate interests, including running of the business, provision of administrative and IT services, network security, prevention of fraud, and company reorganisation; and compliance with legal obligations. |
| To use data analytics to improve our website, products/services, customer relationships and experiences and to measure the effectiveness of our communications and marketing. | Technical, Usage | Legitimate interests, for example to understand types of customers, keep the website updated, and develop the business. |
| To send you relevant marketing communications and make personalised suggestions and recommendations to you about goods or services that may be of interest to you based on your Profile Data. | Identity, Contact, Technical, Usage, Profile, Marketing | Consent, having obtained your prior consent to receiving direct marketing communications. |
Direct marketing
You will receive marketing communications from us if you have requested information from us or purchased goods or services from us and you have not opted out of receiving the marketing.
Third-party marketing
We will get your express consent before we share your personal data with any third party for their own direct marketing purposes.
Opting out of marketing
You can ask us to stop sending you marketing communications at any time by contacting us using the email address in paragraph 10.
If you opt out of receiving marketing communications, you will still receive service-related communications that are essential for administrative or customer service purposes for example relating to a product/service warranty registration, appointment reminders, updates to our Terms and Conditions, and checking that your contact details are correct.
Cookies
Cookies are small text files, that are stored on your computer and allow a website to recognise your computer again in future. This allows for information to be gathered about how the website is used, and we use this to improve our website and your experience of it. This may include showing you advertisements based on previous visits to the website from your computer. We may do this through third parties, and we may also use available data analytics systems to improve your experience of the advertising content we show you.
5. Disclosures of your personal data
We may share your personal data where necessary with third parties to whom we may choose to sell, transfer or merge parts of our business or our assets. Alternatively, we may seek to acquire other businesses or merge with them. If a change happens to our business, then the new owners may use your personal data in the same way as set out in this privacy policy.
We require all third parties to respect the security of your personal data and to treat it in accordance with the law.6. International transfers
We may transfer your personal data to service providers that carry out certain functions on our behalf. This may involve transferring personal data outside the UK to countries which have laws that do not provide the same level of data protection as the UK law.
Whenever we transfer your personal data out of the UK to service providers, we ensure a similar degree of protection is afforded to it by ensuring that your personal data is transferred only to countries that have been deemed by the UK to provide an adequate level of protection for personal data.7. Data security
We have put in place appropriate security measures to prevent your personal data from being accidentally lost, used or accessed in an unauthorised way, altered or disclosed. In addition, we limit access to your personal data to those employees, agents, contractors and other third parties who have a business need to know. They will only process your personal data on our instructions and they are subject to a duty of confidentiality.
We have put in place procedures to deal with any suspected personal data breach and will notify you and any applicable regulator of a breach where we are legally required to do so.8. Data retention
We will only retain your personal data for as long as reasonably necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, regulatory, tax, accounting or reporting requirements. We may retain your personal data for a longer period in the event of a complaint or if we reasonably believe there is a prospect of litigation in respect to our relationship with you.
To determine the appropriate retention period for personal data, we consider the amount, nature and sensitivity of the personal data, the potential risk of harm from unauthorised use or disclosure of your personal data, the purposes for which we process your personal data and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means, and the applicable legal, regulatory, tax, accounting or other requirements.
By law we have to keep basic information about our customers (including Contact, Identity, Financial and Transaction Data) for six years after they cease being customers for tax purposes.
In some circumstances you can ask us to delete your data: see paragraph 9 below for further information.
In some circumstances we will anonymise your personal data (so that it can no longer be associated with you) for research or statistical purposes, in which case we may use this information indefinitely without further notice to you.
9. Your legal rights
You have a number of rights under data protection laws, which include (but are not limited to) those set out below.
You have the right to:
• Request access to your personal data (commonly known as a "subject access request"). This enables you to receive a copy of the personal data we hold about you and to check that we are lawfully processing it.
• Request correction of the personal data that we hold about you. This enables you to have any incomplete or inaccurate data we hold about you corrected, though we may need to verify the accuracy of the new data you provide to us.
• Request erasure of your personal data in certain circumstances. This enables you to ask us to delete or remove personal data where there is no good reason for us continuing to process it. You also have the right to ask us to delete or remove your personal data where you have successfully exercised your right to object to processing (see below), where we may have processed your information unlawfully or where we are required to erase your personal data to comply with local law. Note, however, that we may not always be able to comply with your request of erasure for specific legal reasons which will be notified to you, if applicable, at the time of your request.
• Object to processing of your personal data where we are relying on a legitimate interest (or those of a third party) as the legal basis for that particular use of your data (including carrying out profiling based on our legitimate interests). In some cases, we may demonstrate that we have compelling legitimate grounds to process your information which override your right to object.
• Withdraw consent at any time where we are relying on consent to process your personal data (see the table in section 4 for details of when we rely on your consent as the legal basis for using your data). However, this will not affect the lawfulness of any processing carried out before you withdraw your consent. If you withdraw your consent, we may not be able to provide certain products or services to you. We will advise you if this is the case at the time you withdraw your consent.
If you wish to exercise any of the rights set out above, see Contact details (paragraph 10).10. Contact details
If you have any questions about this privacy policy or about the use of your personal data or you want to exercise your privacy rights, please contact us:
• Email address: [email protected]11. Complaints
You have the right to make a complaint at any time to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK regulator for data protection issues (www.ico.org.uk). We would, however, appreciate the chance to deal with your concerns before you approach the ICO so please contact us in the first instance.12. Changes to the privacy policy and your duty to inform us of changes
We keep our privacy policy under regular review.
It is important that the personal data we hold about you is accurate and current. Please keep us informed if your personal data changes during your relationship with us, for example a new address or email address.13. Third-party links
This website may include links to third-party websites, plug-ins and applications. Clicking on those links or enabling those connections may allow third parties to collect or share data about you. We do not control these third-party websites and are not responsible for their privacy statements. When you leave our website, we encourage you to read the privacy policy of every website you visit.