Science Corp Raises $230 Million to Challenge Neuralink in the Race to Commercialize Brain-Computer Interfaces
Science
Medical Device Developer
Khosla Ventures
Venture Capital Firms
Lightspeed Venture Partners
Venture Capital Firms
Y Combinator
Y Combinator, founded in April 2005 in Mountain View, California, is a startup incubator that provides funding and business advisory services to numerous startups. In 2005, Y Combinator pioneered a new model for startup financing. Twice a year, it invests small amounts of capital ($1.2 billion) in a large cohort of startups (most recently, 68 companies). These startups relocate to Silicon Valley for a three-month period. YC partners work closely with each company to help them reach their full potential and refine their investor pitches. Each cycle culminates in Demo Day, where the startups present their business plans to a carefully selected group of investors.
IQT
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Quiet Capital
Venture Capital Firms
Gelonghui March 5th | Neurotechnology company Science Corp has raised $230 million from investors to commercialize its implant devices for the blind and develop more advanced brain devices. According to informed sources, after this round of financing, Science's valuation (including new funds) reached $1.25 billion. This makes it the world's second most valuable brain-computer interface company after Elon Musk's startup Neuralink. Meanwhile, the company is also one of the best-funded companies, with cumulative financing of $489 million so far. Science is developing a retinal implant called PRIMA. This chip is implanted at the back of the eyeball and, with the help of specially designed glasses that can project images into the eye, helps restore vision to the blind. A study published in The New England Journal of Medicine last October showed that the system improved the vision of 26 out of 32 patients with advanced age-related macular degeneration. In recent years, investors have poured more than $2 billion into six major brain-computer interface companies in the United States. Currently, no device has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for long-term commercial use, so these devices are only available in clinical trials.