Neuralink, Elon Musk’s brain-computer interface start-up company, completed a new round of financing of 280 million US dollars financing, led by “Silicon Valley Venture Capital Godfather” Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund led the round. The company received approval from U.S. regulators to conduct its first human clinical trial a few months ago.
Neuralink is a company dedicated to developing chips and devices that can be connected to the human brain. Its goal is to allow humans to control electronic devices through thought and treat diseases related to the nervous system. The company did not disclose the valuation of the round. The company was valued at about $5 billion in a private stock deal, Reuters reported in June.
Neuralink published a post on Elon Musk-owned social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter), saying that “we are very excited about the next chapter of Neuralink.” Employees at the company said last year that the company was rushing to conduct animal experiments, resulting in unnecessary animal deaths as Elon Musk pressured employees to get approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as soon as possible. The data generated from these animal experiments is intended to support the company’s application for human clinical trials.
