Mental illness represents the largest and fastest growing unmet medical market with an estimated 1.5 billion people suffering from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year. Annually, neurodegenerative diseases and disorders generate more healthcare related costs and lost income than any other therapeutic arena: an estimated $1.0 trillion worldwide and $250 billion in the U.S. As population growth continues and people live longer these numbers will soar much higher.

Translating basic research into actual cures for mental illness will require an order of magnitude more capital than is currently being invested by governments, private enterprise and foundations. With the annual direct and indirect cost of mental illness approaching $250B in the US, the $1.4B NIMH budget remains a drop in the bucket when compared to the size of the problem. Even the estimated $30B annually invested by pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to develop new treatments for mental illness is inadequate with respect to size of the global mental health care crisis.

To dramatically increase the amount of financial capital available to neuroscience researchers and emerging companies, neuroscience must become an industry that can attract global capital: the neurotechnology industry.

The neurotechnology industry faces unique investment, research, and regulatory issues currently hidden by the fragmented coverage of relevant sectors including: biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, biopharmaceuticals, and medical devices. The lack of a focused industry analysis results in reduced valuations for companies, incomplete investment scrutiny, and a cloudy view of the competitive dynamics in this rapidly expanding and highly profitable industry.

Just as nano-scale science evolved into the nanotechnology industry over the past five years – becoming the focus of over 50 venture funds while simultaneously engaging global equity markets through tracking indexes (e.g. Merrill Lynch Nanotech Index) – defining the neurotechnology industry will increase the potential for successful exit strategies available to neurotechnology companies and investors. With the public markets pulling for the latest translation of research into successful treatments, the pool of capital that neurotechnology venture funds will have at their disposal will increase dramatically.

Think about it this way: if there was a simple way to invest in mental health wouldn't you want 10% of your retirement portfolio focused on neurotech ventures who are creating the next generation of tools for neurodegenerative diseases and mental disorders. If so, what companies would you include?