Neuralink, the futuristic brain-computer interface company founded by Elon Musk, said it has raised $205 million in fresh venture backing, by far the biggest haul of any company in its field.<\/p>\n
In a blog post on Thursday, Neuralink said Dubai-based venture firm Vy Capital had led the latest funding round. It comes two years after filings showed Neuralink was raising $51 million in a previous round.<\/p>\n
The funds will help Musk\u2019s Austin, Texas-based Neuralink work on its brain implant for quadriplegics, a device which in time could also assist other people with neurological disorders.<\/p>\n
The technology could help provide patients \u201cdigital freedom\u201d by allowing them to interact with computers and phones \u201cin a high bandwidth and natutralistic way,\u201d according to the announcement.<\/p>\n
The next big step for Neuralink will be clinical trials in humans of its device, which so far has been shown off in pigs and a Pong-playing monkey.<\/p>\n
“It is a bet on cool tech meets Elon,” said Robert Nelson, the co-founder of Arch Venture Partners who took part in the round. “A very hard but very big vision.”<\/p>\n
Neuralink has yet to announce human trials, although one of its rivals, Synchron, announced early trials for its own brain-computer interface just this week.<\/p>\n
Seven months in, 2021 has already become a record year in brain-computer interface funding. A few days ago, Paradromics said it had raised $20 million. Excluding that round and the latest Neuralink funding, brain-computer interface companies had raised $132.8 million this year.<\/p>\n
All told, including the latest funding rounds, 2021 has already tripled the $97 million raised in all of last year, according to PitchBook data.<\/p>\n
Neuralink first registered as a California company in 2016, although Musk didn\u2019t discuss the company publicly until the following year.<\/p>\n
Vy Capital was founded by Alexander Tamas, a former partner at DST, the investment firm founded by billionaire Yuri Milner. Other investors in the Neuralink round include Alphabet Inc.’s GV, Founders Fund and Craft Ventures.<\/p>\n