Neuralink Corp., a brain chip startup co-founded by Elon Musk, has raised $280 million in new funding.

San Francisco-based Neuralink disclosed the investment this morning. It stated that the lead investor in the round was Founders Fund, a venture capital firm affiliated with Peter Thiel. The startup is believed to have raised more than $640 million in total funding since launch.

Neuralink didn’t disclose the valuation at which it raised its latest round. Last month, five sources told Reuters that “privately executed stock trades” had valued the startup at $5 billion. That’s more than double the $2 billion Neuralink was reportedly worth in 2020. 

Today’s investment comes not long after Neuralink received permission from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to begin clinical trials of its brain chip. According to Reuters, medical equipment makers usually carry out at least two rounds of clinical trials before seeking authorization to commercially sell a new device. Neuralink may be planning to use its newly raised capital to finance this stage of its product development effort.

The path to securing FDA approval for clinical trials wasn’t without challenges.

In 2019, Musk stated that the startup was hoping to secure the authorization by the end of 2020. In 2022, he said that the startup was “aspirationally” aiming to receive a greenlight for clinical trials later that year. The FDA reportedly rejected the startup’s first approval request over concerns about the safety of its brain chip.

In late 2022, reports emerged that the U.S. Department of Agriculture had opened a probe into Neuralink over possible animal welfare violations. Later, Reuters cited sources as saying that the panel in charge of overseeing Neuralink’s animal research included “company insiders who may stand to benefit financially as the firm reaches development goals.” In response to the latter report, several lawmakers asked regulators to investigate the panel.

Neuralink is developing a chip that collects signals from the user’s brain with the help of tiny electrodes. After collecting the signals, the chip sends them to electronic devices such as smartphones via a wireless Bluetooth connection. 

Earlier this year, executives stated that the startup’s initial goal is to help paralyzed people communicate. Musk has said that Neuralink is also aiming to restore sight to the blind as well as “restore full-body functionality” for people with spinal cord injuries.

Neuralink plans to eventually make brain chips with 16,000 electrodes. That’s significantly more than the number included in other companies’ proposed devices. According to the company, the first version of its chip will include 1,024 electrodes. 

Photo: NASA/Wikimedia Commons