binarypublishKey Points:
- Hyperloop One, a high-speed transportation startup, is shutting down.
- Despite significant funding and investment, the company was unable to make the hyperloop concept a reality.
- The remaining employees are working to sell off the company’s assets.
The high-speed transportation startup Hyperloop One is officially shutting down. The company, which aimed to create a futuristic transportation system using sealed tubes and maglev capsules, was unable to overcome the safety and engineering challenges involved in the hyperloop concept. Despite raising approximately $450 million in venture capital, including investments from Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, Hyperloop One was ultimately unable to make the hyperloop a reality.
Hyperloop One was founded in 2014, just one year after Elon Musk released a whitepaper outlining the hyperloop concept. The company built a short section of test track in the desert but was unable to progress beyond that. Various factors, including the consolidation of operations under its largest investor, Dubai-based DP World, and the abandonment of the Virgin Hyperloop branding, contributed to the company’s decline.
Meanwhile, Elon Musk’s involvement in the hyperloop concept has been limited. Although he founded The Boring Company, which was intended to dig tunnels for hyperloop systems, the company has only completed a few projects. These projects, including a subterranean loop under the Las Vegas Convention Center, have been more focused on showcasing Musk’s other innovative ideas rather than advancing the hyperloop concept.
Hyperloop One has reportedly laid off most of its staff and closed its Los Angeles office. The remaining employees are tasked with selling off the company’s assets before the end of the year. With no tangible progress made in the decade since the hyperloop concept gained attention, it is apparent that the hyperloop may have been an infeasible idea that rode on the coattails of Elon Musk’s popularity.
