Elon Musk’s brain-computer interface company said it has raised about R2.9 billion in new venture capital.
Neuralink, a futuristic brain-computer interface company founded by Elon Musk, said it has raised US$205 million (approximately R2.9 billion) in new venture capital, which is by far the largest of all companies in the field.
In a blog post on Thursday, Neuralink said that Dubai-based venture capital firm Vy Capital led the latest round of financing. A document submitted two years ago shows that Neuralink raised US$51 million in the previous round of financing.
This funding will help Musk’s Neuralink in Austin, Texas, develop its quadriplegic brain implants, which can also help patients with other neurological diseases in time. The announcement stated that the technology could provide patients with “digital freedom” by allowing patients to interact with computers and mobile phones “in a high-bandwidth and natural way.”
Neuralink’s next important step will be the human clinical trial of its device, which has so far been demonstrated on pigs and a monkey who can play table tennis.
Robert Nelson, the co-founder of Arch Venture Partners, participated in this round of financing. He said: “This is a bet about the encounter between CoolTech and Elon.” “A very difficult but very big vision.”
Neuralink has not announced human trials, but one of its competitors, Synchron, announced an early trial of its brain-computer interface this week.
Seven months later, 2021 has become a record year for brain-computer interface funding. A few days ago, Paradromics said it had raised $20 million. Excluding that round of financing and the latest Neuralink financing, the brain-computer interface company has raised $132.8 million this year. According to data from PitchBook, all in all, including the latest round of financing, 2021 is already twice the US$97 million raised for the entire year last year.
Neuralink was first registered as a California company in 2016, although Musk did not discuss the company publicly until the following year.
Vy Capital was founded by Alexander Tamas, a former partner of DST, an investment company founded by billionaire Yuri Milner. Other investors in the Neuralink round include Alphabet Inc.’s GV, Founders Fund and Craft Ventures.
