Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund led a $280 million funding round for billionaire Elon Musk’s brain chip startup Neuralink.
“We’re happy to announce our $280 M Series D round led by Founders Fund. We’re extremely excited about this next chapter at Neuralink,” the company said in a post on Musk-owned social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
The company’s first-in-human clinical trial was set to begin in May after receiving FDA approval.
The valuation at which the funds were raised was kept a secret by Neuralink. According to Reuters, the company’s value after secret stock trades was about $5 billion in June.
According to the venture capital firm’s LinkedIn page, Founders Fund invests in smart people who can solve challenging problems. The company makes investments in all phases, industries, and regions. Companies like PayPal, Palantir, SpaceX, Anduril, Flexport, Airbnb, and Stripe were founded and funded by their partners.
Employees at Neuralink told Reuters last year that under pressure from Musk to get FDA approval, the company was rushing and botching procedures on monkeys, pigs, and sheep, killing more animals than necessary.
The sources were cited as saying that the company’s application for human trials was supported by the data generated by the animal experiments.
After Reuters reported on potential financial conflicts on the panel, US lawmakers urged regulators to look into whether the composition of a panel overseeing animal testing at Neuralink contributed to rushed and botched experiments.
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