Elon Musk’s brain computer interface startup Neuralink announced in a blog post on Monday that they raised $650 million in a Series E funding round. Key investors include ARK Invest, DFJ Growth, Founders Fund, G42, Human Capital, Lightspeed, QIA, Sequoia Capital, Thrive Capital, Valor Equity Partners, and Vy Capital.
The company said the funding would bring the technology to more people, “restoring independence for those with unmet medical needs and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible with brain interfaces.”
Neuralink is building a brain-computer interface, or BCI, which is a system that translates brain signals into commands for external technologies. The company’s first system, called Telepathy, involves 64 “threads” that are inserted directly into the brain. The threads are thinner than a human hair and record neural signals through 1,024 electrodes, according to Neuralink’s website. The initial aim of the technology is to help patients with severe paralysis restore some independence.
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Neuralink claims that since the company’s Series D funding round in August 2023, it has made significant progress. The blog post mentioned several achievements, including enabling five individuals with severe paralysis to control digital and physical devices with their thoughts, and launching clinical trials at leading institutions for neurosurgical care spanning three countries and two continents including Barrow Neurological Institute, The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis at the University of Miami, University Health Network (Toronto Western Hospital), and Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi.
The company also claimed it paved the way for applying Neuralink technology to use cases beyond digital device control by launching the CONVOY trial and securing FDA Breakthrough Device Designation for both innovative vision and speech restoration programs. It also stated it was progressing towards a whole-brain interface by investing heavily in expanding the number of neurons and brain regions that our device interfaces with, to unlock new dimensions of human potential.
Neuralink states the latest funding would help accelerate efforts to expand patient access and innovate future devices that deepen the connection between biological and artificial intelligence.
Semafor reported last week that this latest deal values Neuralink at around $9 billion pre-money.
Meanwhile, Neuralink’s rival Precision Neuroscience recently announced that a core component of its brain implant system, has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Like Neuralink, Precision is building a brain-computer interface (BCI) to be initially used to help patients with severe paralysis restore functions such as speech and movement, according to its website. While only part of the brain implant system was cleared, it is still an important milestone for the four-year-old company as it marks the first full regulatory clearance granted to a company developing a wireless BCI.
Precision also revealed that this would be followed by an expansion of its clinical research program with the company having tested its device in 37 patients to date through clinical study partnerships with leading research institutions including Mount Sinai Health System, the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, West Virginia University’s Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
Interestingly, Precision was co-founded by Benjamin Rapoport, who also helped co-found Neuralink in 2017, and left the company the following year. Other prominent companies working in the neuro space include Synchron, which is backed by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.