Charco

Charco Neurotech is a Cambridge-based medical device company building wearable therapeutics for people with Parkinson's disease. Its lead product, CUE1, is a small device worn on the chest that delivers focused vibrotactile stimulation and rhythmic cueing to help reduce Parkinson's symptoms including slowness, stiffness and freezing of gait.

CUE1 attaches to the sternum with a medical adhesive and is paired with a Bluetooth app that lets users tune vibration patterns, log symptoms and track movement. The therapy is non-invasive and is used alongside medication rather than replacing it. The device is named after the 19th-century French neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot, who first observed that Parkinson's symptoms eased after rhythmic stimulation.

Charco was founded in 2019 by Lucy Jung and Dr Floyd Pierres. It has raised over £14m from investors including Amadeus Capital Partners and the Imperial College Innovation Fund, has thousands of users across the UK and a waiting list spanning 120 countries, and has partnerships with Addenbrooke's Hospital and Queen Mary University of London for clinical research.