Hyperloop One

Hyperloop One
Company type	Private
Industry	Transportation technology
Predecessor	Virgin Hyperloop
Founded	June 1, 2014; 12 years ago
Founder	Shervin Pishevar, Brogan Bambrogan
Defunct	December 31, 2023
Fate	Wound down operations; intellectual property transferred to DP World
Headquarters	Los Angeles, United States
Area served	Worldwide (intended)
Key people	Josh Giegel (co-founder, CTO), Richard Branson (former chairman), Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem (chairman)
Products	Hyperloop transportation technology, XP-1 and XP-2 test pods
Owner	DP World (majority shareholder)
Number of employees	Reduced by over 100 in 2022; more than half laid off by end of 2022

Hyperloop One, previously known as Virgin Hyperloop until its November 2022 rebranding, was a U.S.-based firm specializing in transportation technology with the goal of commercializing ultra-fast travel through the Hyperloop concept, a type of vacuum train. Established on June 1, 2014, the company underwent restructuring and adopted its new identity on October 12, 2017.

The enterprise sought to deliver both freight and passenger transit at speeds comparable to airlines but at substantially reduced expenses. Its technology featured magnetically levitated pods moving inside partially evacuated tubes, propelled by linear electric motors. Engineered to reach velocities up to , the system offered quiet, autonomous travel directly between destinations via elevated or underground pathways that required less land use compared to conventional high-speed rail or highway systems.

Virgin Hyperloop diverged from Elon Musk’s initial Los Angeles–San Francisco route proposal and showcased its propulsion system in May 2016 at a test facility in North Las Vegas. The company completed a 500-meter Development Loop (DevLoop) and performed its inaugural full-scale integrated test in May 2017, incorporating vacuum conditions, propulsion, levitation, control mechanisms, and tube infrastructure.

Following more than 400 unmanned trial runs, the firm conducted its first human passenger test in November 2020 near Las Vegas, reaching speeds of 172 km/h. Nevertheless, by February 2022, it shifted focus exclusively to freight transportation, resulting in layoffs affecting over half of its staff. Later that same year, it reverted to the Hyperloop One name.

On December 21, 2023, Hyperloop One declared it would wind down operations by year-end due to financial difficulties including high interest rates, withdrawal of initial investors, and an inability to secure deployment contracts. The company initiated asset liquidation and workforce reductions. Its intellectual property rights are planned to be transferred to DP World, the majority shareholder and prominent Dubai port operator.

Origins

The notion of vacuum-based trains has roots in early scientific theories and speculative fiction, with Robert H. Goddard proposing a variant of vacuum tube transport as early as 1904.

The contemporary Hyperloop concept originated from a 2012 discussion between Elon Musk and Iranian-American investor Shervin Pishevar during a flight bound for Cuba. Pishevar encouraged Musk to publicly share his idea, which Musk was inclined to make open-source due to his commitments with SpaceX and Tesla.

On August 12, 2013, Musk published the Hyperloop Alpha white paper, generating substantial public interest. Following this, Pishevar established Hyperloop Technologies (later renamed Hyperloop One), assembling an advisory board that included David O. Sacks, Jim Messina, and Joe Lonsdale. Brogan Bambrogan, a former SpaceX engineer and cofounder, played a key role in launching the company from his garage in Los Angeles in November 2014.

By January 2015, the startup had secured $9 million in funding from Pishevar’s Sherpa Capital along with investors such as Formation 8 and Zhen Fund. This financial backing allowed relocation to a campus situated in Los Angeles’ Arts District. The company’s feature on Forbes’ February 2015 cover significantly enhanced recruitment efforts and attracted further investment. In June 2015, Pishevar recruited former Cisco president Rob Lloyd as an investor who later became CEO.

Funding and expansion

From June to December 2015, the company enlarged its downtown campus to encompass 75,000 square feet and expanded its engineering team. In December 2015, Hyperloop Tech announced plans for an open-air propulsion trial at a newly established Test and Safety Site located in Nevada. By that point, it had secured $37 million in funding and was in the process of closing an $80 million Series B financing round, which was completed in May 2016. Later, in October 2016, the company obtained an additional $50 million investment led by 8VC and DP World.

The open-air propulsion test (POAT) occurred on May 11, 2016, in North Las Vegas, where the sled accelerated to 134 mph (216 km/h) within 2.3 seconds—demonstrating a significant proof of concept milestone. Concurrently, the company, now renamed Hyperloop One, announced collaborations with major international engineering firms such as AECOM, SYSTRA, Arup, Deutsche Bahn, General Electric, and Bjarke Ingels.

On November 10, 2016, Hyperloop One unveiled its initial system designs developed jointly with the Bjarke Ingels Group.

On October 12, 2017, Hyperloop One entered a strategic investment agreement with Virgin Group, resulting in Richard Branson joining the board. This alliance concentrated on passenger and combined cargo services while establishing a dedicated passenger division. By December 18, 2017, after raising $295 million in total capital, the company rebranded as Virgin Hyperloop One with Branson assuming the role of chairman. Funding had reached $400 million by May 2019.

In June 2020, the organization rebranded again as Virgin Hyperloop, introducing a refreshed logo and website.

In October 2020, West Virginia Governor Jim Justice announced that Virgin Hyperloop would develop a certification facility covering Tucker and Grant Counties. Approximately 800 acres near Mount Storm were donated to the West Virginia University Foundation to support this initiative, which anticipated partnerships with West Virginia University, Marshall University, and the West Virginia Community and Technical College System.

Shift toward freight and workforce reductions

According to a Financial Times report from February 2022, the company reduced its workforce by over 100 employees to redirect focus toward cargo transportation instead of passenger travel. A subsequent round of layoffs took place in December 2022 affecting personnel based in downtown Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

While Hyperloop One pivoted primarily to freight services, other competitors continue targeting both freight and passenger sectors.

This strategic redirection created uncertainty regarding the West Virginia facility until March 2023 when the company confirmed its cancellation.

XP-1

Construction of the 500-meter DevLoop test track began in October 2016. The company conducted its first complete system test featuring a levitating chassis without a passenger pod on May 12, 2017. On July 12 of the same year, Hyperloop One revealed its first-generation pod prototype designed for aerodynamic evaluation at the Nevada site. This prototype integrated vacuum systems, propulsion, levitation technology, control mechanisms, as well as tube infrastructure and structural elements.

The full-scale XP-1 (Experimental Pod One) measured 8.7 meters in length and was 2.4 meters wide and tall. Its motor technology evolved from testing approximately 500 units optimized for near-vacuum conditions. On July 29, 2017, XP-1 accelerated over a distance exceeding 300 meters to attain speeds of up to 310 km/h (193 mph), generating an output of 3,151 horsepower within a depressurized tube simulating high-altitude environments.

During a test on August 2, 2017, XP-1 reached speeds of up to 192 mph before decelerating after traveling just over 300 meters. This speed was later surpassed within that month by WARR Hyperloop’s smaller competition pod achieving 324 km/h (201 mph), although those pods were not intended for passenger use.

In December 2017, XP-1 established a new world speed record of 387 km/h (240 mph) during tests that demonstrated airlock technology enabling rapid pod insertion into the depressurized tube—eliminating the prior four-hour tube depressurization requirement. Subsequently, WARR Hyperloop broke this record during the third Hyperloop Pod Competition on an extended track.

During summer 2019, XP-1 was exhibited on a U.S. roadshow visiting Ohio, Texas, Kansas, New York, Missouri, North Carolina, and Washington D.C.

XP-2

To facilitate passenger trials, the company created the "experimental pod 2" (XP-2), a design collaboration between Bjarke Ingels Group and Kilo Design.

On November 8, 2020, following over 400 unmanned tests, Virgin Hyperloop completed its inaugural human ride featuring co-founder and CTO Josh Giegel alongside Director of Passenger Experience Sara Luchian. This trial achieved a speed of at the DevLoop testing facility in Las Vegas, Nevada, conducted within a near-vacuum environment measuring 100 Pascals.

In March 2021, Virgin Hyperloop revealed plans to exhibit the XP-2 at the Smithsonian Arts and Industries Building later that year.

After the successful completion of passenger testing, the company introduced its commercial vehicle concept in January 2021. Created in partnership with Seattle-based Teague, each vehicle is designed to accommodate approximately 28 passengers and is capable of transporting thousands hourly through convoy formations.

Funding

By May 2019, Hyperloop One had secured funding exceeding $485 million. Prominent backers include Sherpa Capital, Formation 8, 137 Ventures, DP World, Khosla Ventures, Caspian Venture Capital, Fast Digital, Western Technology Investment, Zhen Fund, GE Ventures, and SNCF.

Management

As of July 2018, the board of directors featured Richard Branson as chairman along with Justin Fishner-Wolfson, Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Rob Lloyd, Josh Giegel, Bill Shor, Yuvraj Narayan, Anatoly Braverman, and strategic adviser Emily White. Former board participants included Peter Diamandis; Jim Messina (now serving as strategic adviser); ex-Morgan Stanley executive Jim Rosenthal; Joe Lonsdale; co-founder Shervin Pishevar—who took a leave in December 2017 amid sexual misconduct allegations—and Russian billionaire Ziyavudin Magomedov, who faced embezzlement charges in 2018.

On November 8, 2018, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem replaced Richard Branson as chairman.

In February 2021, Josh Giegel was appointed CEO but was succeeded by CFO Raja Narayanan in October of the same year. The company announced an acceleration in production system rollout from the early 2030s to the mid-2020s. The initial deployment targets freight transport between Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the UAE with backing from Dubai-owned DP World.

Planned cooperation

In June 2016, Virgin Hyperloop signed a memorandum of understanding with the Summa Group and Russian authorities to develop a hyperloop system in Moscow, completing feasibility analyses there and across Russia's Far East.

By August 2016, it partnered with DP World—the third-largest global port operator—to create a cargo offloading system at Dubai’s Jebel Ali port. In November that year, an agreement was reached with Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) to explore passenger and cargo hyperloop routes within the UAE.

By April 2017, feasibility evaluations were active in locations including the UAE, Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Moscow, and the United Kingdom. In September 2017, a letter of intent was signed with Estonia to jointly develop the Helsinki–Tallinn Tunnel project.

In February 2018, Virgin Group entered into an intent agreement with Maharashtra’s government in India to construct a hyperloop corridor connecting Mumbai and Pune. By August 2019, India officially recognized hyperloop as public infrastructure and approved the Virgin Hyperloop-DP World Consortium as Original Project Proponent (OPP), establishing a Consultative Group on Future of Transportation to address regulatory considerations.

An Ohio regional planning commission initiated studies in July 2018 on hyperloop connections linking Chicago, Columbus, and Pittsburgh. The Midwest Connect feasibility report released in May 2020 forecasted $300 billion in economic gains alongside a reduction of 2.4 million tons of CO2 emissions.

Texas authorities announced plans in July 2018 to evaluate hyperloop technology for routes between Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, and Laredo. Collaboration began in June 2019 with Washington University in St. Louis on Missouri Hyperloop proposals; by October that year Missouri became the first U.S. state to conduct a hyperloop feasibility study for a Kansas City–St. Louis link.

In December 2019, Punjab state in India signed an MoU to examine a route connecting Amritsar-Ludhiana-Chandigarh.

In February 2020, Virgin Hyperloop partnered with Saudi Arabia for a national pre-feasibility study. Later in September 2020, it joined forces with Bangalore International Airport Limited to analyze a potential corridor originating from BLR Airport.

Hyperloop One Global Challenge

In 2016, the company initiated the Hyperloop One Global Challenge to pinpoint optimal sites for the creation and implementation of the world's inaugural hyperloop systems. By January 2017, it had announced 35 semifinalist routes spanning 17 different countries and organized events to present these proposals, including Vision for India in February, Vision for America in April, and Vision for Europe in June. On September 14, 2017, Hyperloop One disclosed the 10 victorious routes; these winners were then invited to participate in feasibility assessments aimed at progressing their projects toward realization.

The ten chosen routes include:

#	Country	Route
1	Template:USA	Chicago to Columbus to Pittsburgh
2		Dallas to Laredo to Houston
3		Cheyenne to Denver to Pueblo
4		Miami to Orlando
5	Template:CAN	Toronto to Ottawa to Montreal
6	Template:MEX	Mexico City to Guadalajara
7	Template:GBR	Edinburgh to London
8	Template:GBR	Glasgow to Liverpool
9	Template:IND	Bengaluru (Bangalore) to Chennai
10	Template:IND	Mumbai to Pune

Legal Disputes

In July 2016, Brogan BamBrogan, the company's CTO and co-founder, departed and subsequently filed a lawsuit together with three former colleagues, accusing the firm of breaching fiduciary responsibilities and misappropriating corporate assets. On July 19, 2016, Hyperloop One responded with a counterclaim alleging that BamBrogan and his associates attempted a failed takeover and breached fiduciary duties as well as agreements related to non-compete clauses, proprietary information, non-disparagement, and contractual relations interference. The parties reached a confidential settlement on November 18, 2016. Following this, BamBrogan and other ex-employees from Hyperloop One and SpaceX established Arrivo, another hyperloop enterprise that ultimately ceased operations in 2018.

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