Having recently secured FDA approval for its first in-human clinical trial, Elon Musk’s brain-implant company Neuralink has raised $280 million in a Series D funding round.
“We’re extremely excited about this next chapter at Neuralink,” the company posted on X, the social media platform owned by Musk, formerly known as Twitter.
The round was led by Founders Fund, the San Francisco based venture capital firm founded by Peter Thiel. The valuation at which the funding was raised was not disclosed.
“Excited to support Neuralink’s next chapter of helping human patients in need,” Scott Nolan, partner at Founders Fund posted on X. “The team has been working for seven years to make this possible, pulling off technical breakthroughs that feel like science fiction. The chance to work with world-class teams accelerating a positive future is why I’m an investor, and even in that category Neuralink is special.”
In May this year, the US FDA finally permitted Neuralink to use its brain implant and surgical robot in patient studies, having initially rejected the company’s trial application over safety concerns. It is hoped that Neuralink’s technology will ultimately help treat paralysis and a range of degenerative diseases in humans – allowing patients to regain independence by controlling computers and mobile devices using their brain.
Neuralink’s “neural lace” technology involves a robot surgically inserting a microchip inside specific areas of the brain. Once the microchip is implanted, it captures and interprets the electrical signals emitted in the brain, transmitting the data via Bluetooth.
Musk has previously claimed that the implantation procedure will not require general anaesthesia and will take less than an hour, comparing it to getting Lasik vision surgery, with patients going home the same day.
