news

Virgin Group invests in Hyperloop One

Posted: 12 October 2017 | | No comments yet

Hyperloop One has announced that the Virgin Group has invested in the company to form a global strategic partnership, with Richard Branson joining the board of directors.

As part of this partnership, Hyperloop One has been rebranded as Virgin Hyperloop One.

“For more than 20 years, Richard and Virgin have been at the forefront of transportation innovation, and a partnership with them feels like a natural fit,” said Shervin Pishevar, co-founder and Executive Chairman of Hyperloop One. “Virgin is an iconic brand and having Richard as an ally will help strengthen our mission to spread Hyperloop One throughout the world. Josh and I could not think of a better person or brand to be our true partner in our continued quest to make our moonshot idea a reality. Onwards.”

The partnership will focus on passenger and mixed-use cargo services and will create a new passenger division. Furthermore, other brands could possibly be used globally as well.

“After visiting Hyperloop One’s test site in Nevada and meeting its leadership team this past summer, I am convinced this groundbreaking technology will change transportation as we know it and dramatically cut journey times,” added Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group. “Virgin has been known for investing in and creating innovative companies over the years, and I look forward to making history together as we bring Hyperloop to the world as Virgin Hyperloop One.”

Following the successful test at its Nevada test track ‘DevLoop’ this past summer, Hyperloop One continues to see a growing demand with projects underway in the UAE, U.S., Canada, Finland, the Netherlands and India.

“We’ve focused on developing the technology required to make Hyperloop a reality and demonstrated that it works,” concluded Josh Giegel, co-founder and President of Engineering of Hyperloop One. “The combination of our proven technology and Virgin’s expertise in transportation, operations, safety and passenger experience will accelerate the commercialization phase of our company’s development. Together with Virgin, we will not only transform how we live, we will rethink how it feels to travel by creating a passenger experience that people will enjoy and look forward to riding. Our goal is to make travel fun again.”