Neuralink Corp., Elon Musk’s brain chip company, raised US$650 million ($835.3 million) in a Series E funding round.
At least 11 investment firms, including ARK Investment Management, Founders Fund and Sequoia Capital, participated in the round, according to a statement released Monday. Since the previous funding round in August 2023, the company said it has enrolled five patients with severe paralysis and announced a clinical trial in Abu Dhabi on May 14.
Neuralink is one of a growing number of ventures developing brain-computer interfaces, with the near-term goal of helping paralysed people interact more fully with the world through electronic devices. Last month, rival Paradromics Inc. tested its brain implant in its first patient.
Eventually, Musk hopes that brain implants will allow people to communicate telepathically and achieve “symbiosis with artificial intelligence,” he said at the device’s first demonstration in 2019.
Neuralink was recently valued at US$9 billion, according to Pitchbook.
Musk’s brain chip firm said the new funding will be used to expand patient access and “innovate future devices that deepen the connection between biological and artificial intelligence.”
See also: Investors may turn to SingPost’s properties following special dividend from FMH sale
Neuralink did not respond immediately to a request for additional comment.
