Google co-founder Sergey Brin made a windfall of $366 million in 2021 after selling off his entire Tesla stake. Now he’s using some of that money to back a startup researching mental health treatments using psychedelic drugs extracted from African bushes.
The Financial Times reported, citing people briefed on the discussions, that Brin’s nonprofit Catalyst4 will contribute $15 million to a $25 million funding round for biotech startup Soneira.
The company is reportedly launching clinical trials to examine whether ibogaine, a hallucinogen found in the root of the African iboga shrub, can be used to treat traumatic brain injury (TBI), which can be caused by sports injuries, car accidents or combat exposure.
The shrub has long been used by tribes in Central Africa in spiritual ceremonies for its mind-altering properties, but ibogaine has also recently been tested as a means to treat addiction and depression.
Brin’s investment comes as wellness and psychedelic startups are becoming increasingly popular with investors. In 2020, another tech mogul, PayPal co-founder and venture capitalist Peter Thiel, invested in Atai Life Sciences, a German biopharmaceutical company that is also researching ibogaine as a treatment for opioid addiction. In 2021, venture capitalists have poured a record $528 million into psychedelic-related biotech startups, and about $180 million has already been invested so far this year, according to PitchBook data.
Some Silicon Valley insiders have begun taking small amounts of recreational hallucinogens such as psilocybin and LSD in search of mental clarity and creative thinking.
Brin sold all of his shares in Tesla in 2021 after CEO Elon Musk was allegedly having a brief affair with Brin’s then-wife, Nicole Shanahan, and later divorced her, The Wall Street Journal reported in 2022. Musk had previously denied the affair.
The stock sale has netted Brin hundreds of millions of dollars, some of which came from a $500,000 investment he made in the company when it was in financial trouble in 2008. He used the money to start a nonprofit called Catalyst4, whose mission is to “help advance breakthroughs in cancer treatment.” [central nervous system] “The donation will contribute to efforts to prevent neurological diseases and disorders and to mitigate and reverse the effects of climate change,” Bloomberg reported, citing IRS records.
Psychedelic startup Soneira is testing whether combining ibogaine with heart medication could reduce the risk of fatal irregular heartbeats, a potential side effect of psychedelics. The company is also working on developing a synthetic version of the compound, the Financial Times reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
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