Neroes is a startup with a mission to enhance global mental ability and elevate human consciousness while improving mental health. They have developed an innovative brain training platform that uses an EEG headset and software to improve cognitive abilities and emotional well-being through a gamified experience. Neroes aims to change the way we think about mental health and performance and has successfully developed a comfortable and effective EEG headset that stands out from competitors in the market. By providing individuals with the tools to improve their mental abilities and well-being, Neroes is making a positive impact on the world. The company enables mental ability training through a state-of-the-art computer game that is played using only the brain. Neroes provides a headset that reads brain waves and a software platform that responds to the state of mind of the user. The goal of the game is to drive a spaceship up, and a calm and focused state of mind is necessary to reach the next level. The training is challenging because each level is more complicated than the one before, and Neroes has adaptive algorithms that adjust each training to each person and session to maximize brain performance. The user is always playing against their best self. Through this innovative mental training, companies can improve the performance of their people while improving their well-being, increasing productivity, and talent retention. Before partnering with 3DWAYS, Neroes was a startup with a limited reach in Portugal and a goal to expand to Brazil by opening headquarters there in 2023. Although they had not yet entered the market with actual clients, they had already established a partnership with Unicorn, an electronics partner that develops and manufactures EEG sensors. The pre-seed startup Founded by Pedro Pestana and Hugo Ferreira in 2018 was valued at 6M€ as of 2023 and is now raising its Seed round.

Neroes uses neurofeedback technology to access specific brainwaves related to stress and anxiety with the help of an EEG scan and leveraging advanced algorithms. The platform translates the evaluated data into an intuitive visual and auditory game flow which tells the user whether a desired state of mind (the goal) is indeed being achieved. This way, using a gamified experience, the mental performance training is achieved faster and with higher engagement, allowing everyone to experience a better life and better performance. The main targets are professional athletes and the research shows that Neroes users experience 4% performance improvement, 21,7% faster decision making, 9,4% higher self-confidence, reduced injury impact, amongst many others. For this reason, and because the initial market validation has shown exceptional results, the team was ready to move on with a scalable solution. The challenge was that off-the-shelf EEG headsets (sensors that convert brain signals into electrical signals that can be measured and used to train the brain) are very hard to position on the head for a correct sensor placement, they are very uncomfortable, not visually apealling and too big. The goal was to design a device that effortlessly positions the sensors for most head sizes, that has a sports like or super hero design and that is comfortable to use during training. An electronics system was identified to be fully functional and compatible with Neroes’ software system but this product’s design and function didn’t fit the market’s needs. It was time to incorporate these components into a product that would not only outperform its competitors but create an intrinsic desire for people to use and be proud of using it.