Neuralink's total funding amount 2017-2021, by funding round

Neuralink raised 205 million U.S. dollars in its latest round of funding, concluded on July 30, 2021. The company has raised a total of 363 million U.S. dollars, starting from its first funding round in 2017. There are 13 investors in the company.

History and current activities

Neuralink was founded in 2016 by Elon Musk and eight other scientists and engineers. The company is developing brain implants that enable humans to control devices with their brains. In 2021, the company demonstrated this technology when it released a video where a monkey can be seen controlling a device with its mind to play the game Pong. According to Elon Musk, the first Neuralink product will "enable someone with paralysis to control a smartphone faster than someone using their thumbs." The company is expected to conduct the first trial of its technology on humans in 2022.

Criticism of company's claims

Neuralink's endeavors have been criticized for claiming that their technology can help cure depression and insomnia without providing any substantial scientific evidence to back up such claims. Skeptics have also pointed out that developing micro-wires that can withstand corrosion in the brain could alone require many years to achieve. The company was also accused of mistreating monkeys that participated in the trials for the technology. Neuralink has refuted these claims, saying that their medical records and study reports were interpreted without the necessary context.