Bloomberg reports that brain-computer interface (BCI) maker Neuralink expects annual revenues to total at least $1 billion within six years.
According to the report, citing documents reviewed by Bloomberg, the Elon Musk-backed company expects FDA approval by 2029. Within two years, it then expects to have 20,000 BCI implants under its belt along with the billions in revenue.
Neuralink is one of many companies vying to be the first to bring a BCI implant to market. Last fall, analysts suggested a potential $400 billion market opportunity for BCIs. Notably, they forecast just under $1.5 billion in revenue generated by BCIs out to 2035, though. Neuralink, meanwhile, continues to add funding, with recent financings bringing its value past $9 billion.
The Neuralink Telepathy implant is one of the BCI systems that is moving closer to the highly anticipated approvals. The company completed the first human implant of its Telepathy BCI implant in January 2024. A second implant followed last year. A nine-minute livestream showed Noland Arbaugh using the Neuralink BCI to move a computer cursor and play chess online.
Telepathy, a remotely rechargeable implant goes along with electrode-laced threads that go further into the brain. The company also has an R1 robot designed to implant the BCI system while avoiding vasculature. It also received approval to launch a U.S. study for its N1 implant controlling a robotic arm.
Musk previously said he expected the total implants to reach “high single digits” in 2024. However, the company hit a snag over a potential wiring issue with the BCI in May 2024, saying that several threads retracted from the brain in the weeks following the first human implant. Neuralink also has a sight-restoring implant in the works.
According to Bloomberg, Neuralink plans to have five “large clinics” operating within this outlined six-year threshold. It expects at least three versions of its device available by then, the report says, citing a recent investor presentation.
State of play in the BCI implant space
Precision Neuroscience may have gotten a leg up on the BCI field in April, picking up FDA 510(k) clearance for its Layer 7 cortical interface for BCI technology. The company says it’s the first full regulatory clearance granted to a company developing a next-generation wireless BCI.
More companies are working toward bringing BCI’s to market, too, with Synchron advancing its own Stentrode platform, becoming the first BCI maker to achieve native integration with a new Apple protocol. As of this past spring, Onward has completed a number of BCI implants as well, while Paradromics moves closer to the launch of its own BCI trial.
Elsewhere, Science Corporation — founded by a Neuralink co-founder — submitted its own sight-restoring BCI for CE mark in June. InBrain Neuroelectronics is also accelerating its own BCI development through new funding, while a hospital in China has launched the country’s first-in-human clinical trial of an invasive BCI.
Other recent BCI developments include first-in-human cases for Axoft, funding for Phantom Neuro and the formation of a new BCI company through the merger of Kandu Health and Neurolutions.
For more on the space, MassDevice has compiled lists of BCI and neurotech companies you need to know in recent years:
- 2024 – Another 5 brain-computer interface companies you should know
- 2024 – 7 neurotech companies you need to know
- 2023 – 5 more brain-computer interface companies you need to know
- 2022 – 7 brain-computer interface companies you need to know
Learn more about BCIs and some of the players in the space HERE.
