Flourish Raises $500M for Brain-Inspired AI Research
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Flourish, an AI research company based in New York, has raised $500 million at a $2.5 billion valuation. The round closed around June 4, 2026, with Jeff Bezos writing one of the largest checks. This Series A also drew backing from Lux Capital, GV, which is Alphabet’s venture arm, and Catalio Capital.
Bezos initially committed roughly $50 million, then nearly doubled his stake after other high-profile investors joined. New York-based Catalio co-founded the company and co-led its seed financing alongside a top-tier investor syndicate.
Flourish was co-founded by Thomas Reardon and Rob Williams. Reardon is known for creating Internet Explorer at Microsoft. He later founded CTRL-labs, a brain-computer interface company that Meta acquired in 2019 for an estimated $1 billion. Williams is a former Amazon S-team executive.
The company is building what it calls Cortex AI, a system designed to emulate brain function by mapping real neurons and their connections, a field known as connectomics. Cortex AI aims to operate in a range of 20 to 50 watts, roughly the power draw of a laptop rather than a server rack.