Elon Musk’s brain tech startup Neuralink has closed a $650 million funding round.
The Series E round was backed by several investors, including ARK Invest, Founders Fund, Human Capital, Lightspeed, Sequoia Capital, and Thrive Capital.
Neuralink said the capital injection will be used to accelerate its efforts to “expand access to patients and innovate future devices that deepen the connection between biological and artificial intelligence.”
The startup added that it is currently hiring engineers and operators in all disciplines and is seeking patients for current or future clinical trials.
“This funding helps restoring independence for those with unmet medical needs and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible with brain interfaces,” it said in a statement.
Since its foundation in 2016, Neuralink has raised a total of $1.24 billion over seven funding rounds, according to its website.
In 2023, the startup raised $323 million in a D funding round led by Founders Fund round that helped it progress toward making brain interfaces.
Neuralink’s flagship product, Telepathy, uses ultra-thin flexible wires embedded directly in the brain to capture neural signals and transmit them wirelessly to external devices.
According to Neuralink’s website, the wires are thinner than a human hair and record neural signals through 1,024 electrodes.
Over the past two years, the company has initiated clinical trials at leading neurosurgical care institutions in three countries and two continents, including the Barrow Neurological Institute, the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis at the University of Miami, the University Health Network (Toronto Western Hospital), and the Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi.
The initial goal of the technology is to help patients with severe paralysis regain some independence.
As of Monday, five patients have been implanted with Neuralink’s technology and are able to “control digital and physical devices with thought,” the statement said.
The first patient on whom a Neuralink device was implanted in the brain, Noland Arbaugh, was paralysed in a driving accident, and had the device implanted in January 2024.
