Elon Musk-Backed Brain Chip Company Neuralink Gets $280 Million In Funding From Peter Thiel-Backed Fund

Best known as the CEO of Tesla, Elon Musk also wears many other hats with titles of co-founder, owner and CEO pertaining to SpaceX, The Boring Company, Neuralink and social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

One of the companies co-founded by Musk recently landed a funding round of more than $250 million dollars.

What Happened: Months after receiving FDA clearance to begin trials for brain chips implanted into humans, Neuralink has announced a new $280 million funding investment.

The Series D funding round was led by Founders Fund, a venture capital firm co-founded by Peter Thiel. Founders Fund previously invested in a Series C round for Neuralink.

“We’re happy to announce our $280M Series D round led by Founders Fund. We’re extremely excited about this next chapter at Neuralink,” the company tweeted.

Neuralink was co-founded in 2016 by Musk and is seeking to implant brain chips in humans, a move that Musk said could help with the growth of artificial intelligence.

“Excited to support Neuralink’s next chapter of helping human patients in need,” Founders Fund partner Scott Nolan tweeted. “The team has been working for seven years to make this possible, pulling off technical breakthroughs that feel like science fiction.”

Neuralink did not announce what the funds would be used for, but both the company and Nolan shared links to the company’s careers page, suggesting a push to hire additional talent.

In June, it was reported Neuralink was valued at $5 billion, up from $2 billion in 2021.

Related Link: Elon Musk Goes From Co-Founding OpenAI To Creating xAI, Seeking To 'Understand Reality'

Why It’s Important: The new investment by Founders Fund might not be a surprise given its past investment in the company.

Founders Fund is also an investor in several other private companies connected to Musk, including SpaceX and The Boring Company.

Thiel is also connected to Musk thanks to their past relationship at PayPal Holdings Inc PYPL. Musk co-founded X.com, a company that merged with Confinity, a company co-founded by Thiel, to form PayPal.

Musk has previously said Neuralink could lead to medical advancements such as treating mental health conditions, assisting paralyzed people with communication and enabling telepathy.

Read Next: Elon Musk Says Upgraded Neuralink Brain Chips To Be Placed In Humans 

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