Bezos and Gates back Synchron in drive for brain implant breakthrough

Synchron's Switch device aims to help paralyzed people, such as those with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), communicate by controlling computer cursors with their minds

Last March, brain-computing interface expert Tom Oxley sat down to dinner with Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos to talk about Oxley’s nascent company, Synchron Inc. That meal in Ojai, California, ended with something better than dessert: Bezos told Oxley that he wanted to invest in the business.
 

Synchron said Thursday it completed a $75 million funding round, part of it from Bezos Expeditions. The financing was led by ARCH Venture Partners, and includes a check from Gates Frontier, the venture investment arm of Microsoft Corp co-founder Bill Gates, and others. Existing investors also participated, including Khosla Ventures — whose founder,