Precision Neuroscience raises new funding to advance brain-computer interface technology

Precision Neuroscience, a New York-based startup building minimally invasive brain-computer interfaces, has raised $250 million in new funding. The deal places billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman alongside Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos as major financial backers in an industry that, until recently, lived mostly in science fiction.

The tech and the traction

Precision Neuroscience was founded in 2021 by Benjamin Rapoport and Michael Mager. Its flagship product, the Layer 7 Cortical Interface, is a thin-film electrode array designed to rest on the brain’s surface rather than being implanted inside it.

The Layer 7 received FDA 510(k) clearance in April 2025 for temporary use of up to 30 days. Prior to its recent partnerships, Precision had already conducted procedures on dozens of patients, building a dataset that few competitors outside Neuralink can match in scale.

In January 2026, Precision struck a partnership with Medtronic, the $110B medical device giant, to integrate its electrode array with surgical navigation systems.

Why Ackman got involved

Ackman’s involvement with Precision Neuroscience has a deeply personal backstory. His daughter suffered a brain hemorrhage, an experience that pushed the Pershing Square founder to dive headfirst into neuroscience funding. He and his wife subsequently established the Ackman Oxman Institute, a nonprofit focused on advancing brain research, with an initial commitment of roughly $400 million.

The $250 million raise builds on a Series C round in December 2024 that brought in $102 million at a post-money valuation of approximately $500 million. Total disclosed funding for Precision has now climbed well above the $180 million it had previously raised.

The competitive landscape

Neuralink, Elon Musk’s implantable BCI venture, takes a more invasive approach, threading thin electrodes directly into brain tissue using a proprietary surgical robot. Synchron, backed by Jeff Bezos among others, delivers its Stentrode device through blood vessels, avoiding open brain surgery entirely.