Over the past two years, BrainPatch has come some way from when we first spoke. For starters, they featured on Startups Magazines’ top 10 startups of 2023, whilst continually developing their technology, and making quite the brain-buzz around the startups scene.

Now, we’ve re-met with Vysokov, who was excited to share what the company has been up to over the past two years.

What's new at Brainpatch?

It’s been a busy couple of years for the BrainPatch team, primarily expanding on what they set out with when they last featured in the magazine. Funding, production, and fine-tuning have been the beating heart of the operations over the past two years.

“Raising funds has been a big part of the last two years for us. We’ve seen a lot of angels, a boost from existing investors, and a big partnership with Big Sky, a VC group based in the US. This support has been tremendous in allowing us to achieve what we are setting out to do,” says Vysokov.

“Beyond this, achieving the right certifications has been a long – but thankfully successful – process. This means that we have gone from a concept to a reality, we have a certified product that’s being sold in different markets, with European certification just around the corner,” he continues.

“We’ve also been expanding our production capabilities and have a wonderful partnership with UK-based manufacturers Garner Osbourne. The quality of their assembly and the customer service have been absolutely amazing, and it has put us at the stage where we are ready to scale up the business.”

Looking back as CEO

Being the CEO of your own startup isn’t just sunshine and rainbows, this is something that Vysokov has been more than aware of since the initial feature.

“It’s been hard [as a founder and CEO], we have had to sort a lot of things to make the company healthier and more sustainable. We’ve needed to make the core team smaller, and outsource as much as we can, which is never an easy process – but as the stakes get higher, so does the difficulty.
“But, thankfully, we have managed to push through it all. Now we are all on the same page, and in a much better position to break even and continue on the pathway to scaling up in a sustainable manner.”

The highs and lows

Whilst BrainPatch is lining itself up for exciting times ahead, the path this stage has come with its fair share of challenges. Vysokov was open in discussing these challenges, and how they have impacted the past two years.

“Of course, there are many, many challenges that come along the way with any startup. For us, the biggest has been with the certification process and then the navigating the chip shortages in previous years.

“Certification is essential for us to actually be able to sell our product in certain markets, it’s been a tricky process but we’re really starting to see the ball rolling now. First, we achieved it in Kazakhstan where it sells under two brands, then the US, and we will have EU certification any day now.

“The chip shortages were another tough one, given that we are a hardware-based startup, it really affected our operations. We had to try to source from anywhere we could to get the supply we needed, but it was one of those almost inescapable things that hits almost everyone in the same way. I pray that we don’t end up in that situation again,” he reflects.

On the flip, there has been plenty to be excited about at BrainPatch. For Vysokov, the greatest achievement is seeing the impact his company’s product is having on people’s lives.

“For me, it’s just all about the impact and how it is helping our customers. More and more we hear feedback like ‘this is best sleep I’ve had in years’ or ‘it’s really helped me to relax and wind down’ and it’s just so encouraging.

“It’s also been great to witness the growing enthusiasm towards the product. Seeing it being adopted by clients, customers, and continually invested in, has been a real treat,” he enthuses.

The next step

BrainPatch is at a pivotal moment in its journey, on the cusp of scaling operations into something bigger and better than ever before. Breaking even, scaling up, achieving certifications/patents, these are the days that every startups waits eagerly for, and Vysokov and the team are no different.

“The next steps are to finish what we’ve started. First of all, finish the fundraising round, then we can start the process of scaling the manufacturing amongst other areas of the business. We’ve started to get larger and larger orders from retailers, so getting those fulfilled is vital. From there it’s just scale, scale, scale!

“Once that’s done then we should be at a stage where we’re ready to licence it to some really big players which opens up even more avenues to expand the technology, our IT portfolio, and so much more!” he concludes.

This article originally appeared in the March/April 2025 issue of Startups Magazine. Click here to subscribe