Overview
- Flourish completed a $500 million financing at a reported $2.5 billion valuation with backing from Jeff Bezos, Lux Capital, GV and Catalio Capital and with Bezos increasing his stake after an initial commitment.
- The company says it is building Cortex AI, a research program that uses connectomics—the mapping of real neurons and their links—to design new AI architectures.
- Flourish describes a target power draw of about 20 to 50 watts for Cortex AI, a claim the company is making as a research goal rather than a proven product capability.
- The startup has no commercial product or revenue today, and its valuation rests largely on the founders’ track records, including Thomas Reardon’s work at Internet Explorer and CTRL‑labs, plus investor conviction in the approach.
- If the research succeeds, it could cut the energy needed for advanced AI and shift demand from large server farms toward far lower‑power hardware, potentially lowering costs and reducing strain on power grids.