Episode 13: Jordan DeKraker Talks Seed Funding, Brain AI and Epilepsy

21 Sept

How can academic brain-imaging research become a practical clinical tool for people with drug-resistant epilepsy? In this episode of The Business of Neurotech, Adam Fraser is joined by Jordan DeKraker, co-founder and CEO of BrainScores and a postdoctoral researcher at the Montreal Neurological Institute, to discuss how he went from hippocampal mapping to building an AI-enabled neuroimaging company. In their conversation, Jordan talks about how his personal experience with epilepsy sharpened the company’s focus, what it takes to package open-source science into trustworthy software and why clinicians still need to stay in the loop. They also discuss early-stage funding, regulatory and market-entry decisions, interoperability, explainable AI and the wider role of precision imaging across neurotech. Tune in for a look at the business decisions behind bringing brain AI from the lab into clinical care with Jordan DeKraker.

Key Points From This Episode:

[01:21] Jordan’s path from hippocampal research to founding BrainScores.
[05:08] Find out what HippUnfold revealed and why its potential matters.
[07:25] Hear how Jordan’s epilepsy experience shaped the company’s first focus.
[12:05] Meet the co-founders and see how their skills support the company’s vision.
[13:43] Examine BrainScores’ non-dilutive funding and ambitions for venture capital.
[15:19] Understand the software as a medical device model and its go-to-market plan.
[17:46] Learn how BrainScores is testing the market and the role of feedback from clinicians.
[19:53] Uncover what the company hopes to achieve with its open-source platform.
[23:17] Understand why clinicians must remain accountable within an AI-assisted workflow.
[25:33] Whether healthcare AI should augment expertise rather than replace it.
[27:24] The model interoperability needed to integrate various data sources and tools.
[31:21] Compare funding, capital and opportunities between Canada and the US.
[34:45] Explore BrainScores’ roadmap beyond epilepsy into age-related cognitive decline.
[36:29] He shares his view on the future of BCI and transcranial stimulation.
[38:10] Where to follow Jordan’s research and the latest work from BrainScores.