Kernel Offers Brain-Computer Interface as a Service
This year we learned about a mind-blowing advance in brain-computer interface (BCI) technology for recording and interpreting neural signals. Founded by a wealthy and outsized personality, the West Coast startup has raised more than $100 million to advance the boundaries of neuroscience, augment human memory, and perhaps meld mind and machine in mind-bending ways. You know, modest goals like the rest of us. And, no, we’re not talking about painting lipstick on a pig in the way that Elon Musk is doing at Neuralink, a BCI startup that recently demonstrated its hardware hardwired into a poor little piggy. This story is about Kernel, a startup founded by Bryan Johnson that broke stealth mode (again) earlier this year with new mind-reading hardware powered by machine learning. It also unveiled its business model: Neuroscience as a Service (NaaS)........MUCH MORE
*****BCI Startup Kernel Attracts New Money
While Neuralink hogs the spotlight, Kernel has seemingly been quite content to remain in the shadows – until this year. Founded in 2016, Kernel has raised $107 million in funding, including a $53 million Series led by General Catalyst, a 20-year-old venture capital firm that recently announced $2.3 billion in capital commitments across three funds. Khosla Ventures, another high-profile VC firm, also joined the round. Johnson added some more of his own money to the round after seeding the company back in 2016 with $54 million out of his pocket. The new infusion of cash will support further technology development and commercialization of the company’s NaaS solutions.
Use Cases for Neuroscience as a Service....
