Pharaoh Neuro raises $20M Series A oversubscribed — names former Medtronic exec CEO, Duke professor CMO — Neurapheresis closed-loop CSF management

Summary

Pharaoh Neuro announced on February 18, 2026 the closing of an oversubscribed $20 million Series A financing and the appointments of Amaza Reitmeier (former Medtronic executive) as CEO and Nandan Lad MD PhD (Professor of Neurosurgery and Vice Chair for Innovation at Duke University and inventor of the core technology) as CMO. The round was led by Arboretum Ventures with Hatteras Venture Partners, the Laerdal Million Lives Fund, and IAG Capital Partners. Proceeds fund development and regulatory clearance of Neurapheresis — a closed-loop CSF management platform that circulates and filters a patient's own autologous CSF without introducing replacement fluids — and support the US reintroduction of MindsEye, the world's first expandable cranial access port (originally FDA-cleared in 2020 by Minnetronix Medical). The PILLAR-XT clinical trial previously demonstrated Neurapheresis safety and feasibility. More than 30,000 US patients annually require CSF management for subarachnoid hemorrhage, hydrocephalus, and acute brain injuries.