Elon Musk’s Hyperloop concept has finally been picked up and funded by a company that hopes to make it a reality.
The group is called Hyperloop Technologies, and hopes its $8.5 million of capital will be an entry point into the creation of Musk’s futuristic transport tubes, as reported by TNW.
What’s more, the company is looking to raise a further $80 million in a funding round planned for later in the year.
The team behind Hyperloop Technologies is made up of some pretty big names out of tech-dom.
The tech-savvy roster includes Uber investor Shurvin Pichevar, Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale, former White House deputy chief of staff Joe Messina, founder of Yammer David Sacks, found of the X-prize Peter Diamandis, and Brogan BamBrogan, a SpaceX engineer.
It’s important to mention that Musk isn’t directly involved in the project, although it is based on his ideas.
The team will work on Hyperloop without Musk, giving him breathing room to focus on Tesla and SpaceX.
Transporting people will come eventually, but Hyperloop Technologies plans to kick off its research with cargo initially.
Once that’s successful, the company will transfer its efforts to shuttling humans about the planet at record speed.
Related: What is Google X? See what’s cooking in Google’s secret lab
If you’ve never heard of Hyperloop, here’s a quick run-down. Hyperloop is Elon Musk’s vision of the future, whereby citizens of the future are transported over vast distances at upwards of 700 miles per hour through giant, trans-continental tubes.
The Hyperloop proper is estimated to cost somewhere in the region of $10 billion however, which means Hyperloop Technologies has a fair way to go in terms of funding before the technology becomes a reality.
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