UNITED STATES: Neuralink, an Elon Musk-founded company that develops brain implants, was valued at $2 billion in a private funding round two years ago. It is now worth $5 billion due to recent purchases by optimistic investors, as per sources.
Neuralink’s brain implant may take several years to commercialise, with Ex program director for neural engineering at NIH, Kip Ludwig, predicting it will take at least 10 years. Federal inquiries into the company’s animal studies are one of the difficulties it faces.
As per reports, Neuralink shares were recently offered for sale at a valuation of $7 billion, with the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of the clinical trial being mentioned as a reason for the agreement being “sweeter”. Requests for a response from Musk and Neuralink executives went unanswered.
Musk’s company Neuralink has lofty goals, such as enabling people to walk into nearby facilities for quick surgical insertions of devices to treat obesity, autism, melancholy, and schizophrenia. Short-term goals include assisting people who are paralysed in communicating through computerised text without typing.
Neuralink has engaged in secondary trades valued at $5 billion, which are an imprecise indicator of a company’s valuation due to their small volume and lack of broader market consensus.
Neuralink’s valuation increased in secondary trading, with 85% of pre-IPO businesses being valued at a 47% discount, as per Caplight. It raised $205 million at a valuation of over $2 billion at its final funding in 2021, as per Pitchbook. Many of the recent stock transactions were too tiny investors, with the most money being only $500,000 for the shares advertised for sale at a $7 billion valuation, as per reports.
CEO of Hiive, Sim Desai, said that the demand for Neuralink stock has been “tremendous,” with buyers willing to pay $4.5 billion. However, biomedical specialists are dubious, with some describing the valuation as “bonkers” due to the young age of the brain implant.
According to UK-based media outlets, the FDA first turned down Neuralink’s request for a human trial, citing safety concerns. Even after receiving clearance, the business still faces several difficulties.
Separately, the Department of Transportation is investigating whether Neuralink carried harmful infections on chips extracted from animal brains without necessary containment precautions.
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