Elon Musk's brain chip startup valued at $5 billion, experts say 'crazy'

Investors have been buying aggressively in recent months, pushing up the company’s valuation, Reuters reported, with the transactions taking place before May 25, when Neuralink announced it had received approval for human trials.

Elon Musk's Neuralink is valued at $5 billion despite not having any official products yet

However, experts say it could take several more years for Elon Musk's company to receive commercial approval. Kip Ludwig, former director of the neural engineering program at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), even predicted that Neuralink would take at least 10 years to commercialize the brain implant.

Following the approval of the trial, Neuralink shares in the deal are being offered at $55 per share, valuing the company at $7 billion.

Elon Musk has big ambitions for Neuralink, saying that brain implants could help quickly treat obesity, autism, depression, or schizophrenia, and could even be used for web browsing and “telepathy.” Meanwhile, a startup executive recently outlined more modest applications, such as helping paralyzed patients communicate via computer text without typing.

It’s also worth noting that the stock transactions that pushed the company’s valuation to $5 billion were done by shareholders like employees and early backers, not by Neuralink selling new shares to investors. These transactions are classified as secondary—not a perfect measure of a company’s value when only a small number of shares are traded without broad market consensus.

Sim Desai, chief executive of Hiive, an online stock trading platform, said demand for Neuralink shares was “huge,” with a valuation that would put buyers at around $4.5 billion.

But some biomedical experts are skeptical. Arun Sridhar, a neuroscientist and entrepreneur, said Neuralink’s valuation was “insane” given that the license was only at the clinical stage.

(According to Reuters)

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/start-up-cay-chip-nao-cua-elon-musk-dinh-gia-5-ty-usd-chuyen-gia-noi-dien-ro-2151516.html