Modulight Biotherapeutics has raised $12.2 million in a Seed funding round to advance its optogenetic platform for neurological disorders. The round was led by Jibe Ventures and LocalGlobe, with participation from Nexus Neurotech Ventures, RedSeed VC, Secret Chord Ventures, Fresh Fund, Saras Capital, SilverArc Capital, and Sha’ar Mivnim. The funding will support preclinical development, IND-enabling studies, manufacturing, and regulatory interactions with the FDA.

“This funding marks a significant milestone for Modulight Biotherapeutics as we advance our mission to develop light-based therapeutics for the treatments of severe neurological diseases,” said Yotam Eldar, md, CEO of Modulight Biotherapeutics. “We welcome our partners and investors, underscoring their collective confidence in Modulight’s vision, strategy and innovative solution. The financial round will allow us to enhance the preclinical development of our optogenetic switch for the treatment of trigeminal pain and initiate IND-enabling studies, manufacturing and discussions with the FDA.”

Modulight’s approach uses optogenetics to precisely modulate neuronal activity in specific circuits, addressing dysfunctional networks that underlie disorders such as severe chronic pain, epilepsy, and movement disorders including Parkinson’s disease and essential tremor. Unlike conventional therapies, which can affect broad brain regions indiscriminately, Modulight’s platform targets only the neurons driving the disease, sparing surrounding healthy tissue.

“The brain is extraordinarily complex and we cannot continue to treat it nonspecifically. This investment validates our unique approach to performing precise circuit-based neuromodulation of the neural pathways underlying different neurological conditions. We’ve already seen very promising efficacy in multiple animal models of neurological disorders including pain, epilepsy, and movement disorders such as Parkinson’s disease and essential tremor. We believe our proprietary technology and therapeutic pipeline have the potential to transform the treatment of neurological disorders,” added Eldar.

The company’s proprietary eOPN3 opsin underpins its therapeutic platform. eOPN3 is a hypersensitive, biostable inhibitory protein that enables pathway-specific neuromodulation at presynaptic terminals. Preclinical studies show high efficacy across models of pain, epilepsy, and movement disorders. Initial clinical focus is on trigeminal pain, a severe, often drug-resistant facial pain condition, where eOPN3 can be delivered directly into the trigeminal ganglion through a minimally invasive outpatient procedure.

John Propst, principal at Nexus Neurotech Ventures, said: “At Nexus, we invest in breakthrough technologies at the intersection of neuroscience and engineering that have the potential to transform patient care. Modulight’s optogenetic neuromodulation platform represents a fundamentally new way to target neural circuits with cell-type and pathway-level precision—something long sought but until now technically out of reach. We’re proud to support this exceptional team as they pioneer a new therapeutic modality in brain health.”

The funding round positions Modulight to accelerate its preclinical programme and move towards clinical evaluation of its optogenetic therapies, aiming to deliver targeted, non-invasive treatments for patients with severe neurological disorders.