Texas-based neurotech startup Paradromics on Wednesday announced a strategic partnership with Saudi Arabia's NEOM and said it will establish a Brain-Computer Interface Center of Excellence in the region. NEOM is a developing area within northwest Saudi Arabia that's touted as "a hub for innovation," according to its website.

The area's strategic investment arm, the NEOM Investment Fund, led the partnership. Paradromics declined to disclose the investment amount. Paradromics is building a brain-computer interface, or a BCI, which is a system that deciphers brain signals and translates them into commands for external technologies.

The company will work with NEOM to "advance the development of BCI-based therapies" and set up the "premier center for BCI-based healthcare" in the Middle East and North Africa, it said in a release.

Paradromics is one of several companies racing to commercialize BCIs, including Elon Musk's startup Neuralink. Earlier this month, Neuralink announced it has implanted three human patients with its technology, according to a blog post. Precision Neuroscience and Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates-backed Synchron have also implanted their systems in humans.

None of these companies have secured the FDA's final stamp of approval.

Read the full story at MSN