1.25M investment for start-up Hardt Hyperloop
Delft, Netherlands – Hardt, the Dutch start-up that is developing the hyperloop, has raised an amount of €1.25M in a new financing round. Thanks to this investment, the start-up is another step closer to turning the hyperloop into a reality. The hyperloop is a technology designed to make it possible to travel through a high-tech tube at speeds of more than 1,000 kilometres per hour. The company is currently working with the Dutch government and the business community on plans for constructing a test facility in the province of Flevoland. Several investors are involved in this investment round.
In the first year of its existence, the TU Delft spin-off Hardt has become the leading player in hyperloop technology in Europe. The construction company BAM, the Dutch Railways and the regional investment fund UNIIQ have acted as investors right from the start. The company also already enjoys the support of the Lower House of the Dutch parliament for the construction of the test facility. Tim Houter, co-founder and CEO, is pleased with this new investment round but also knows that there is still much to be done: “Our goal is to build the world’s first high-speed hyperloop test facility in the Netherlands. We can’t do that on our own. So we are calling on top talents, potential investors and the business community to join us.”
The world’s first hyperloop test facility
If successful, the Netherlands will have the world’s first hyperloop test facility at which the entire system can be tested. According to a study carried out by the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), building the facility is expected to generate around 400 jobs. This test facility is an important first step in making the hyperloop possible and Hardt’s mission to eliminate physical barriers between people: “The digital distance between people is progressively decreasing while the physical distance is progressively increasing. But what if distance and time no longer matter? What if you could live and work wherever, whenever and with anyone you want to? These are the questions that inspire us at Hardt,” says Tim Houter.
Diverse group of investors
Interest in Hardt is substantial and highly diverse, and that is also reflected in this group of new investors in hyperloop. The list of investors includes, for instance, the names of Paul van Keep, co-founder of Exact, Gregory van der Wiel, professional footballer and co-founder of Block Party and the sustainable energy fund Enfuro Ventures. Tim Houter: “It is gratifying to see a diverse group of investors placing their trust in us. Thanks in part to their investment, we will be able to let passengers and goods travel through tubes with very low air resistance at speeds of more than 1,000 kilometres per hour in the future. That makes travelling more energy-efficient than travel by air or rail, for instance. With a hyperloop network, Paris can be reached from Amsterdam in only 38 minutes in the future.”
