Neuralink, the brainchild of tech visionary Elon Musk, has garnered a fresh infusion of $43 million in venture capital, as disclosed in a recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
This additional funding, reported in a filing released this week, expands upon a previous round led by Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund. The initial amount of $280 million has now surged to $323 million, attracting investment from thirty-two backers, as indicated in the filing.
While Neuralink has not disclosed its current valuation, earlier reports from June estimated the company’s worth at approximately $5 billion, following private stock transactions.
Established in 2016, Neuralink has made substantial strides in developing implantable chips capable of interpreting brain activity. Their innovative approach involves a sewing machine-like device adept at implanting ultra-thin threads into the brain. These threads are then linked to a specially designed chip housing electrodes, enabling the extraction of information from clusters of neurons.
Although brain-signal-reading implants are not a new concept, Neuralink’s pioneering contribution revolves around their wireless functionality and enhanced capacity for implanted electrodes.
After facing prior rejection, Neuralink received FDA approval for human clinical trials in May. Under an investigational device exemption by the FDA, the company initiated recruitment for its maiden human trials, marking a significant milestone in its quest to revolutionize brain-computer interface technology.
