Musk's brain implant startup Neuralink raises additional $43 mn

San Francisco, Nov 26 (IANS) Elon Musk-owned brain-computer interface company Neuralink has raised an additional $43 million in venture capital, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The filing showed that the company raised its previous tranche, led by Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, from $280 million to $323 million in early August, reports TechCrunch.

Thirty-two investors participated in the round, as per the filing.

Neuralink has not recently disclosed its valuation. However, reports said in June that the company was valued at around $5 billion following privately executed stock trades.

Neuralink, which was founded in 2016, has developed a sewing machine-like device capable of implanting ultra-thin threads inside the brain. The threads connect to a custom-designed chip with electrodes that can read data from groups of neurons.

In September, Neuralink said that it is recruiting its first test subjects for human trials to help those with paralysis control devices.

The company said it has received approval from the reviewing independent institutional review board and the first hospital site to begin recruitment for our first-in-human clinical trial.

“The PRIME Study (short for Precise Robotically Implanted Brain-Computer Interface) aims to evaluate the safety of our implant (N1) and surgical robot (R1) and assess the initial functionality of our wireless brain-computer interface for enabling people with paralysis to control external devices with their thoughts,” the company said in a statement.