In a deal worth $600 million, Elon Musk's brain implant business Neuralink is valued at $9 billion prior to the new funding.
Based on privately completed stock deals, the startup was expected to be worth $5 billion in 2023.
The Founders Fund, led by Peter Thiel, had already raised $280 million for the company.
Neuralink is currently evaluating an implant designed to assist those with spinal cord injury. With the use of the device, the first patient was able to use his brain to move a cursor on his laptop, play video games, search the internet, and post on social media.
Neuralink's device was awarded the "breakthrough" title by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration earlier this month.
Musk has stated lofty goals for the business, claiming that the chip would enable both healthy and impaired individuals to visit nearby facilities for quick surgical device insertions to address conditions including obesity, autism, melancholy, and schizophrenia. He also witnesses them being used for telepathy and web surfing.
Over the past four years, the worth of Musk's businesses has skyrocketed, but Neuralink is still one of his lesser businesses.
According to PitchBook data, SpaceX was valued on the secondary market at $350 billion by December 2024, despite having raised $180 billion in August. When his most recent business, xAI, joined with X, it was valued at $80 billion, making the combined company worth $113 billion.
In addition to improving the company's financial situation, the most recent fundraising round shows that investors are becoming more confident in its ability to revolutionize communication and healthcare technologies.
At the Qatar Economic Forum, Musk said that Neuralink intends to start clinical trials for its Blindsight implant by 2026 with the goal of helping those who are totally blind regain their eyesight. This audacious objective draws attention to the wider ramifications of Neuralink's work and may provide millions of people who suffer from visual loss new hope.
With the potential to greatly improve the lives of people with severe disabilities, Neuralink is positioned as a major role in the future of medical technology thanks to its funding successes and developments.
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The company's impact in the IT and healthcare industries is expected to grow as it innovates more, attracting more interest and funding.