Cortical Labs

Thesis

Cortical Labs (Melbourne/Singapore) launched CL1, the world's first commercial biological computer, in March 2025 at MWC Barcelona. Priced at $35,000/unit, each CL1 contains 200,000 living human neurons on a CMOS chip with an internal life-support system. Neurons survive up to six months. The company demonstrated neurons playing DOOM in February 2026 and signed a partnership with Singapore's DayOne Data Centers to deploy 120 CL1 units in Melbourne and up to 1,000 units in Singapore. Cortical Labs has raised ~$11.6M, backed by Horizons Ventures (Li Ka-shing), In-Q-Tel (CIA), and Blackbird Ventures. The March 2026 round brought in Tom Oxley (founder of Synchron) and Gobi Partners. A 'Cortical Cloud' wetware-as-a-service platform is now operational. Biological computing's energy advantage is real. Neurons consume less power than a handheld calculator. If AI's power demands continue scaling, biological computing becomes not futuristic but necessary. NSF has deployed $14M across seven university programs, and DARPA is funding organoid computing. This is the vacuum-tube era of biocomputing. Whoever solves scalability from 200K to billions of neurons creates an entirely new computing model. No retail access currently available. The company is private with no equity crowdfunding campaigns. Watch for crowdfunding or eventual IPO.

Catalysts

• +DayOne Data Centers partnership to deploy up to 1,000 CL1 units in Singapore
• +Cortical Cloud wetware-as-a-service platform now operational
• +NSF $14M funding and DARPA backing for organoid computing research

Risks

• -Neurons survive only up to six months, requiring ongoing biological maintenance
• -Scalability from 200K to billions of neurons is an unsolved problem
• -No retail access. Entirely private with no crowdfunding campaigns

Common questions