Elon Musk's Neuralink closes Series E funding round

SAN FRANCISCO -- Elon Musk's brain computer interface startup Neuralink announced on Monday that the company has closed a 650-million-US-dollar funding round.

The Series E fundraise included investors such as ARK Invest, Founders Fund, Sequoia Capital, and Thrive Capital, among others, the company said in a blog post.

Neuralink last raised a 280-million-dollar Series D funding round in 2023, with an additional 43-million-dollar tranche added months later.

The company said it has now conducted more human clinical trials, implanting its brain chips in five individuals with severe paralysis.

In May, Neuralink received Breakthrough Device Program from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The Breakthrough Devices Program is a voluntary program for certain medical devices and device-led combination products that provide for more effective treatment or diagnosis of life-threatening or irreversibly debilitating diseases or conditions, according to the Food and Drug Administration.

The program is intended to provide patients and health care providers with timely access to medical devices by speeding up development, assessment, and review for premarket approval.