Hyperloop companies

Virgin Hyperloop Oneedit

Virgin Hyperloop One (formerly Hyperloop One, and before that, Hyperloop Technologies) was incorporated in 2014 and has built a team of 280+,when? including engineers, technicians, welders, and machinists. It has raised more than US$160 million in capital from investors including DP World, Sherpa Capital, Formation 8, 137 Ventures, Caspian Venture Capital, Fast Digital, GE Ventures, and SNCF.citation needed

Hyperloop One was founded by Shervin Pishevar and Brogan BamBrogan. BamBrogan left the company in July 2016, along with three of the other founding members of Arrivo. Hyperloop One then selected co-founder Josh Giegel, a former SpaceX engineer, to be CTO.

Hyperloop One has a 75,000-square foot Innovation Campus in downtown LA and a 100,000-square foot machine and tooling shop in North Las Vegas. By 2017, it had completed a 500m Development Loop (DevLoop) in North Las Vegas, Nevada.

On 11 May 2016, Hyperloop One conducted the first live trial of Hyperloop technology, demonstrating that its custom linear electric motor could propel a sled from 0 to 110 miles an hour in just over one second. The acceleration exerted approximately 2.5 g on the sled. The sled was stopped at the end of the test by hitting a pile of sand at the end of the track, because the test was not intended to test braking components.citation needed

In July 2016, Hyperloop One released a preliminary study that suggested a Hyperloop connection between Helsinki and Stockholm would be feasible, reducing the travel time between the cities to half an hour. The construction costs were estimated by Hyperloop One to be around €19 billion (US$21 billion at 2016 exchange rates).

In August 2016, Hyperloop One announced a deal with the world's third largest ports operator, DP World, to develop a cargo offloader system at DP World's flagship port of Jebel Ali in Dubai. Hyperloop One also broke ground on DevLoop, its full-scale Hyperloop test track.

In November 2016, Hyperloop One disclosed that it has established a high-level working group relationship with the governments of Finland and the Netherlands to study the viability of building Hyperloop proof of operations centers in those countries. Hyperloop One also has a feasibility study underway with Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority for passenger systems in the UAE. Other feasibility studies are underway in Russia, Los Angeles, and the Netherlands.

On 12 May 2017, Hyperloop One performed its first full-scale Hyperloop test, becoming the first company in the world to test a full-scale Hyperloop. The system-wide test integrated Hyperloop components including vacuum, propulsion, levitation, sled, control systems, tube, and structures.

On 12 July 2017, the company revealed images of its first generation pod prototype, which will be used at the DevLoop test site in Nevada to test aerodynamics.

On 12 October 2017, the company received a "significant investment" from the Virgin Group founder Richard Branson, leading to a rebrand of the name.

In February 2018, Richard Branson of Virgin Hyperloop One announced that he had a preliminary agreement with the Maharashtra State government of India to build the Mumbai-Pune Hyperloop.

In 2019, a partnership was formed between Virgin Hyperloop One, the University of Missouri, and engineering firm Black & Veatch to investigate a Missouri Hyperloop .

In March 2019, Missouri governor Mike Parson announced the creation of a "Blue Ribbon" panel to examine the specifics of funding and construction of the Missouri Hyperloop. The route would connect Missouri's largest cites including St. Louis, Kansas City, and Columbia. This comes after a 2018 feasibility study found the route viable, the first such study in the United States.

In June 2019, a partnership with the Sam Fox School of Washington University of St. Louis was announced to further investigate different proposals for the Missouri Hyperloop.

In July 2019, Indian Government of Maharashtra and Hyperloop One set a target to create the first hyperloop system in the world between Pune and Mumbai.citation needed

In November 2020, Company co-founder Josh Giegel and head of Passenger Experience Sara Luchian were part of the first crewed Hyperloop trip on the DevLoop in Nevada.

Hyperloop Transportation Technologiesedit

Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HTT) is the first Hyperloop company created (founded in 2013), with a current workforce of more than 800 engineers and professionals located around the world. Some collaborate part-time; others are full-time employees and contributors. Some members are full-time paid employees; others work in exchange for salary and stock options.

After Musk's Hyperloop concept proposal in 2012, Jumpstarter, Inc founder Dirk Ahlborn placed a 'call to action' on his Jumpstarter platform. Jumpstarter started pooling resources and amassed 420 people to the team.

HTT announced in May 2015 that a deal had been finalized with landowners to build a 5-mile (8 km) test track along a stretch of road near Interstate 5 between Los Angeles and San Francisco. In December 2016, Hyperloop Transportation Technologies and the government of Abu Dhabi announced plans to conduct a feasibility study on a Hyperloop link between the UAE capital and Al Ain, reducing travel time between Abu Dhabi and Al Ain to just under 10-minutes. In September 2017, HTT announced and signed an agreement with the Andhra Pradesh state government of India to build a track from Amaravathi to Vijayawada in a public-private partnership, and suggested that the more than one hour trip could be reduced to 5 minutes through the project. For yet undisclosed reason, neither the test track that HTT announced in May 2015 nor any other test track has been built in the last 3 years.

In June 2018, Ukraine's Infrastructure Ministry reached an agreement with Hyperloop Transportation Technologies to develop its high-speed vacuum transport technology in Ukraine. According to minister, Volodymyr Omelyan, a joint research and development center will be created in Kyiv or Dnipro, which will not only work on Hyperloop but new “materials and components for modern transportation systems.”

Later in 2018, the company signed an agreement with the Guizhou province of China to build a Hyperloop. In its China deal, HTT will provide technology, engineering expertise, and essential equipment in the venture, while Tongren will take charge of relevant certifications, regulatory framework, and construction of the system, the press release said. The venture will be a public private partnership in which 50 percent of the funds will come directly from Tongren, it added.

In May 2019, the company and TÜV SÜD presented the EU with generic guidelines for hyperloop design, operation and certification. In June 2019,Hyperloop Transportation Technologies met with officials from the United States Department of Transportation, USDOT, at HyperloopTT's research facilities in Toulouse, France. Simultaneously, other members of HyperloopTT met with the USDOT at the agency's offices in Washington D.C. presenting a technical overview of Hyperloop technology and the certification guideline completed by TÜV SÜD.

HyperloopTT is now beginning the process of integrating their full-scale passenger capsule for human trials in 2020.

TransPodedit

TransPod Inc. is a Canadian company designing and manufacturing ultra-high-speed tube transportation technology and vehicles. In November 2016 TransPod raised a US$15 million seed round from Angelo Investments, an Italian high-tech holding group, specializing in advanced technologies for the railway, space, and aviation industries.

In September 2017, TransPod released a scientific peer-reviewed publication in the journal Procedia Engineering. The paper was premiered at the EASD EURODYN 2017 conference, and presents the physics of the TransPod system.

TransPod vehicles are being designed to travel at over 1,000 km/h between cities using fully electric propulsion and zero need for fossil fuels. The TransPod tube system is distinct from the hyperloop concept proposed by Elon Musk's Hyperloop Alpha white paper. The TransPod system uses moving electromagnetic fields to propel the vehicles with stable levitation off the bottom surface, rather than compressed air. TransPod is stated to contain further developments beyond hyperloop. To achieve fossil-fuel-free propulsion, TransPod "pods" take advantage of electrically-driven linear induction motor technology, with active real-time control and sense-space systems. The cargo transport TransPod pods will be able to carry payloads of 10–15 tons and have compatibility with wooden pallets, as well as various unit load devices such as LD3 containers, and AAA containers.

At the InnoTrans Rail Show 2016 in Berlin, TransPod premiered their vehicle concept, alongside implementation of Coelux technology—an artificial skylight to emulate natural sunlight within the passenger pods.

TransPod has partnered with investor Angelo Investments' member companies MERMEC, SITAEL, and Blackshape Aircraft. With international staff of over 1,000 employees, 650 of whom are engineers, they will collaborate with the development and testing of the TransPod tube system It has since expanded from its Toronto, Canada headquarters at MaRS Discovery District to open offices in Toulouse, France and Bari, Italy. TransPod is additionally partnered with university researchers, engineering firm IKOS, REC Architecture and Liebherr-Aerospace.

TransPod is developing routes worldwide and in Canada such as Toronto-Montreal, Toronto-Windsor, and Calgary-Edmonton. TransPod is preparing to build a test track for the pod vehicles in Canada. This track will be extendable as part of a full route pending a combination of private and public funding to construct the line.

In July 2017, TransPod released an initial cost study which outlines the viability of building a hyperloop line in Southwestern Ontario between the cities of Windsor and Toronto. The study indicates a TransPod tube system would cost half the projected cost of a high-speed rail line along the same route, while operating at more than four times the top speed of high speed rail.

TransPod has announced plans for a test track to be constructed in the town of Droux near Limoges in collaboration with the French department of Haute-Vienne. The proposed test track would exceed 3 km in length, and operate as a half-scale system 2 m in diameter. In February 2018 Vincent Leonie, vice president of Limoges Métropole and a deputy mayor of Limoges, has announced agreements for the "Hyperloop Limoges" organization have been signed to promote and accelerate the technology.

DGWHyperloopedit

Established in 2015, DGWHyperloop is a subsidiary of Dinclix GroundWorks, an engineering company based in Indore, India. DGWHyperloop's initial proposals include a Hyperloop-based corridor between Delhi and Mumbai called the Delhi Mumbai Hyperloop Corridor (DMHC). The company has partnered with many government agencies, private companies, and institutions for its research on Hyperloop. DGWHyperloop is the only Indian company working on implementing the Hyperloop system across the nation.

Arrivoedit

Arrivo was a technology architecture and engineering company founded in Los Angeles in 2016. In November 2017, it disclosed a plan to build a 200 mph (320 km/h) link for automobiles to Denver International Airport using maglev train technology by 2021. On 14 December 2018 Technology news site The Verge reported Arrivo was shutting down, due to being unable to secure Series A funding.

On 17 October 2019, The Verge reported the Intellectual Property from Arrivo was purchased by rLoop, a reddit-born engineering group.

Hardt Global Mobilityedit

Hardt Global Mobility was founded in 2016 in Delft, emerging from the TU Delft Hyperloop team who won at the SpaceX Pod Competition.

The Dutch team is setting up a full-scale testing center for hyperloop technology in Delft. Hardt has received over €600,000 in funding for the initial rounds of testing, with plans to raise more to build a high-speed test line by 2019. At the unveiling of the test track, Dutch Minister of Infrastructure and Environment Schultz van Haegen said a Hyperloop system could help cement the Netherlands' position as a gateway to Europe by transporting freight arriving at Rotterdam's sprawling port.

On 9 October 2017 a report was released with information from Hardt Global Mobility and Hyperloop One. The report has been sent to the Dutch House of Representatives and judges the added value of a hyperloop test track facility. The report recommends building a test track of 5 km in Flevoland.

Zelerosedit

Zeleros was founded in Valencia (Spain) in November 2016 by Daniel Orient (CTO), David Pistoni (CEO) and Juan Vicén (CMO), former leaders of the Hyperloop UPV team from Universitat Politècnica de València. The team was awarded "Top Design Concept" and "Propulsion/Compression Subsystem Technical Excellence" at SpaceX's Hyperloop Design Weekend, the first phase of the Hyperloop Pod Competition conducted at Texas A&M University on 29–30 January 2016. After building Spain's first Hyperloop prototype with the support of Purdue University and building a 12-meter research test-track in Spain at the university, the company was awarded in November 2017 the international Everis Foundation prize. Zeleros has the support of the Silicon Valley accelerator Plug and Play Tech Center,citation needed its partner Alberto Gutierrez, (partner of Plug and Play Spain and founder of Aqua Service), and the Spanish venture capital fund Angels Capitalcitation needed owned by the Spanish businessman Juan Roig, owner of Mercadona. By June 2018, the corporation signed an agreement with the rest of the Hyperloop European companies (Hyper Poland and Hardt) and the Canadian TransPod to collaborate with the European Union and other international institutions for the implementation of a definition of the standards to ensure the interoperability and the security of a Hyperloop. In August 2018, Zeleros held a meeting with Pedro Duque, the ministry of sciencecitation needed to push for his support of the European initiative. By September 2018, the corporation announced the construction of a 2 km test track to perform dynamic tests of the system. The test track will be allocated in Sagunto in 2019 with the support of the Sagunto council and the Generalitat Valenciana.citation needed In November 2018, Zeleros received the international award in the World Transport Congress in Mascate, Omán. By February 2019, the corporation was formed by a team of 20 engineers and doctors specialized in different fields, developing and testing the systems and subsystems of the Hyperloop integrators.

In June 2020 Zeleros raised more than €7 million in financing, with plans to use them in the development of its core technologies, the construction of a European Hyperloop Development Centre in Spain and building a 3 km test track.

Hyper Polandedit

Hyper Poland is a Polish company founded in 2017 by engineers who graduated from the Warsaw University of Technology. In the summer of 2017, acting as the Hyper Poland University Team, they built a hyperloop model which took part in the SpaceX Pod Competition II in California. In March 2018, the company was recognized as one of the best startups in the mobility sector in Europe.

Unlike other companies in the Hyperloop sector, Hyper Poland develops a system aimed at offering a low-cost upgrade to existing conventional railway corridors. The system - dubbed ‘magrail’ - is based on magnetic levitation, linear motor and autonomous control systems and can be transformed into a full-fledged, vacuum Hyperloop at a later stage.

Key differentiator of Hyper Poland’s magrail technology is its interoperability with conventional railway systems which allows for the functionality of both the magrail system and conventional trains on the same tracks and promises reduced infrastructure costs and faster implementation by using existing and regulatorily approved railway corridors. In its initial implementation stage, the system is designed for speeds comparable to today’s conventional High-speed rail (300-415 km/h), but at significantly lower implementation costs. The system allows a subsequent upgrade into a vacuum system with speeds of up to 600 km/h on conventional tracks and 1,000 km/h on HSR lines.

In the first half of 2019, Hyper Poland it secured a EUR 3.8 million grant from the Polish National Center for Research and Development and two pre-seed rounds on a UK equity crowdfunding platform of EUR 820k total.

In October 2019, Hyper Poland presented its ‘magrail’ prototype vehicle and a track in 1:5 scale.