Swisspod, a Swiss-American company founded in 2019 by Romanian Denis Tudor and Cyril Dénéréaz, said it successfully closed its pre-Series A funding round, advancing plans to build the world's largest hyperloop testing facility in the US. The capital raised will drive the development of a revolutionary high-speed transportation system set to redefine the future of passenger and freight mobility, the company stated. 

Companies such as Charlie Holding, E-INFRA Group, and Polysys Industries, alongside a group of business angels, participated in Swisspod's pre-series A round.

Denis Tudor, CEO and co-founder of Swisspod, said: "This funding round enables us to pave the way for a transportation revolution that's as practical as it's futuristic. Our unique technology is not only ultra-fast and sustainable, but it solves the biggest challenge of deploying hyperloop systems - making them cost-effective to build and maintain. We've achieved this by making the infrastructure passive and embedding all the advanced technology within self-contained pods."

The capital raised will fast-track the completion of Swisspod's second hyperloop facility, located in Colorado, US. Once finished, the full-scale system construction will cover 162,000 square meters, which, the company noted, is three times the size of the Louvre and twice that of the White House grounds.

"In addition to being the world's largest hyperloop testing facility, it will stand out as the only hub designed for long-distance hyperloop missions, thanks to its unique closed-loop configuration - a crucial feature for precise and efficient technology validation," reads the press release.

After installing the first 100 meters of hyperloop tubes in the US, Swisspod began construction on the next 100 meters. Completing this section will unlock the testing phase of the company's first full-scale hyperloop product on-site.

As part of its strategy for bringing hyperloop to the market, Swisspod started technology trials in Switzerland, at Europe's first hyperloop testing facility. Recently, the company announced that it achieved a record-breaking hyperloop journey here, covering 9.6 km, the equivalent of 115.2 km for the full-scale system, setting new benchmarks in the industry.

"Built in partnership with Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and Haute Ecole d'Ingénierie et de Gestion du Canton de Vaud (HEIG-VD), the Swiss testing site serves as a scaled-down model of the infrastructure the company is currently building in Colorado, USA, offering a cost-effective and rapid way of advancing and testing hyperloop technology," the company said.

Swisspod has received support from the Swiss government through two grants to further its research and development in hyperloop technology. At the same time, the company, together with a group of 5 prestigious research centers from Europe, has secured a grant of EUR 3.5 million from the European Innovation Council (EIC) and the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) for the Muspell project aimed at developing a solution that will also contribute to optimizing the thermal management of hyperloop.

Moreover, expanding its global footprint, the company has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Swiss and Indian governments, along with the Indian startup TuTr Hyperloop, to advance the development and commercialization of hyperloop technology in India.

irina.marica@romania-insider.com

(Photos: the company)