Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, also known as HyperloopTT, is an American research company formed using a crowd collaboration approach (a mix of team collaboration and
crowdsourcing
Crowdsourcing involves a large group of dispersed participants contributing or producing goods or services—including ideas, votes, micro-tasks, and finances—for payment or as volunteers. Contemporary crowdsourcing often involves digit ...
)
[ Lynda Applegate, Terri L. Griffith, and Ann Majchrzak]
''Hyperloop Transportation Technologies: Building Breakthrough Innovations in Crowd-Powered Ecosystems''.
Harvard Business School Case 817-134, May 2017. (Revised October 2017.) to develop around the world commercial transportation systems based on the
Hyperloop
Hyperloop is a proposed high-speed transportation system for both passengers and freight. The concept was published by entrepreneur Elon Musk in a 2013 white paper, where the hyperloop was described as a transportation system using capsules supp ...
concept.
The concept of the Hyperloop was popularized in 2013 by
Elon Musk
Elon Reeve Musk ( ; born June 28, 1971) is a businessman. He is known for his leadership of Tesla, SpaceX, X (formerly Twitter), and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Musk has been considered the wealthiest person in th ...
, not affiliated with HyperloopTT. The project was to develop a high speed,
intercity transporter using a
low pressure
In meteorology, a low-pressure area (LPA), low area or low is a region where the atmospheric pressure is lower than that of surrounding locations. It is the opposite of a high-pressure area. Low-pressure areas are commonly associated with inclem ...
tube train which would reach a top speed of with a yearly capacity of 15 million passengers.

HyperloopTT also plans to build slower, urban Hyperloops for inter-suburb travel.
History
JumpStarter, Inc
The company was founded by JumpStarter, Inc., utilizing the company's
crowdfunding
Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and Alternative Finance, alternative finance, to fund projects "withou ...
and collaboration platform
JumpStartFund.
In 2013, HyperloopTT announced partnered with
Ansys, GloCal Network and UCLA's Architecture & Urban Design program to aide in the early-stage development of feasibility testing, supply chain management and station experience.
Early routes
The company was not focused on the Los Angeles-to-San Francisco route that was the baseline of the Hyperloop Alpha design from 2013, and considered other routes.
In 2015, HyperloopTT signed and agreement with GROW Holdings, the developer of
Quay Valley, California, to construct a demonstration track beginning in 2016.
Also in August 2015, HyperloopTT announced partnerships with international
engineering design and construction giant
Aecom
AECOM (, ; formerly AECOM Technology Corporation; stylised A''Ξ''COM) is an American multinational infrastructure consulting firm headquartered in Dallas, Texas.
The company's official name from 1990–2015 was AECOM Technology Corporation, ...
and
Oerlikon, the world's oldest vacuum technology specialist.
AECOM
AECOM (, ; formerly AECOM Technology Corporation; stylised A''Ξ''COM) is an American multinational infrastructure consulting firm headquartered in Dallas, Texas.
The company's official name from 1990–2015 was AECOM Technology Corporation, ...
began providing services to HyperloopTT for the design of the full-scale Quay Valley prototype track.
Construction on this demonstration track in Quay Valley never started as GROW Holdings lacked the funds to continue the new community development and stopped all development in the valley.
Employee growth
The company's singular collaboration model meant that rather than employees, HyperloopTT has established a network of contributors all working a minimum of 10 hours per week in exchange for future equity.
Initial development was done by approximately 100 engineers compensated solely in stock options. This initial team was primarily based within the United States. The company has assembled a team of community members, attracting high level engineers and contributing corporations.
HyperloopTT saw a large growth in contributor numbers in 2015, in February the company had grown to nearly 200 contributors
and by November had more than doubled to just under 500 people.
HyperloopTT continued growing and began hiring full-time executives, to help manage the contribution of the crowd.
Today, HyperloopTT boasts more than 800 contributors in 40 countries with 50 full-time employees and more than 50 corporate partners.
Early agreements
In 2016 then HyperloopTT CEO, Dirk Ahlborn, announced an agreement with the
Slovak government to perform feasibility studies regarding routes connecting
Vienna, Austria
Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
to
Bratislava, Slovakia, and Bratislava to
Budapest, Hungary
Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...
.
Total costs for this project are estimated to be . The resulting annual system capacity is projected to be 10 million passengers. The company announced in March 2016 that they would be using passive
Inductrack systems for their titular Hyperloop. However, in August 2018 the agreement expired after the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and HyperloopTT didn't reach an agreement to continue the project.
In September 2017, HyperloopTT signed an agreement with the
Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...
State Government in
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
to build a Hyperloop between the cities of
Amaravati
Amaravati ( , Telugu language, Telugu: ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is located in Guntur district on the right bank of the Krishna River, southwest of Vijayawada. The city derives its name from the nearby his ...
and
Vijaywada
Vijayawada ( ), formerly known by its colonial name Bezawada, is the second largest city and a major commercial hub in the Andhra Pradesh state of India. The city forms an integral part of the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region and is situated on th ...
. The two-phase project would begin with a 6-month feasibility study which would be followed by actual construction.
In July 2018, HyperloopTT announced an agreement to create a joint venture with the government of China's southwestern province of
Guizhou
)
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, image_caption =
, image_map = Guizhou in China (+all claims hatched).svg
, mapsize = 275px
, map_alt = Map showing the location of Guizhou Province
, map_caption = Map s ...
to construct a 10 km long Hyperloop track in the city of
Tongren.
Funding
In 2016, HyperloopTT had raised $31.8 million in cash and received $77 million in man-hours, services rendered, land rights usage and future in-kind investments. A 2020
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...
article stated that HyperloopTT had received a total of $50 million in-cash investments since founding, compared to Virgin Hyperloop's $350 million.
In a letter to shareholders obtained by
''Fortune'' in 2024, CEO Andrés de León stated the company was in financial trouble, having not paid employee salaries for months.
Move to Venice
HyperloopTT stated in a 2024 press release the company was moving from its Toulouse headquarters to offices outside of
Venice
Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...
in the first half of 2024.
Current prototypes
HyperloopTT is currently operating or designing four prototypes.
Toulouse

From 2017 to 2023, HyperloopTT had an agreement with the city council of Toulouse and established a research and development center to test hyperloop-related technologies at the Francazal Airport, in the heart of the renowned "Aerospace Valley".
Construction began on the 320-meter long test system in April 2018. The completed test-track was 4 meters in diameter which made it the world's only full-scale hyperloop test track.
By 2022, the site appeared to be shut down with no development or testing activities taking place.
In November 2023, Hyperloop TT was evicted from the site due to inactivity, with the test track being dismantled in the following months.
Abu Dhabi
In November 2016, HyperloopTT signed an agreement with the Abu Dhabi Department of Municipal Affairs and Transportation to conduct a feasibility study for a hyperloop system connecting the cities of Abu Dhabi and Al Ain. In 2017, HyperloopTT and the Office of His Highness Sheikh Falah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan signed a strategic partnership agreement accelerating the development of the system to create an innovative infrastructure in line with the Abu Dhabi 2030 vision. The study was completed in 2018, and according to Professor Sabih Gatea Khisaf, has shown the system is "feasible, can be implemented, and is cheaper than high-speed trains. Travel between Abu Dhabi and Al Ain would take just from 10 to 20 minutes."
In 2018, HyperloopTT and Aldar Properties signed an agreement to develop the first 10-kilometer section of a system between Abu Dhabi and Dubai. The system was expected to be operational by 2023, and is still in progress as of 2024, after plans were delayed due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
.
Great Lakes
In February 2018, HyperloopTT announced a public-private partnership with the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA)
metropolitan planning organization
A metropolitan planning organization (MPO) is a federally mandated and federally funded transportation policy-making organization in the United States that is made up of representatives from local government and governmental transportation authorit ...
and the
Illinois Department of Transportation
The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) is a state agency in charge of state-maintained public roadways of the U.S. state of Illinois. In addition, IDOT provides funding for rail, public transit and airport projects and administers f ...
for the development of the United States’ first interstate hyperloop system in the Great Lakes megaregion. The project, which initially only focused on connecting Cleveland to Chicago, expanded in 2019 to include Pittsburgh, as HyperloopTT looks to create the first part of a national network that would connect the Midwest to the east coast through Pittsburgh.
The audio branding company DFAD developed audio identity and acoustics design for HyperloopTT's capsules and stations. This included overall audio environment including implementation of sound, music, voiceovers into prototypes, soundscape systems for passenger well-being and comfort, sound for the infotainment system, audio UX, safety alerts, system notifications, optimized for functional design.
The Great Lakes project resulted in the world's most comprehensive hyperloop feasibility study demonstrating that the system would, “not only be a boon to communities along the travel corridors but also would be a strong business investment.” The study projected development costs of about $40 billion, but would see a $30 billion profit in the first 25 years of operation. The study also predicted a 931,745 increase in jobs, $74.8 billion increase in property values, and an expanded tax base that would generate $12.7 billion in government revenue from 2025 to 2050.
The report also projected that the renewable powered emission-free hyperloop system proposed by HyperloopTT would eliminate 143 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions by replacing air, car, and rail transit along the corridor.
As of 2023, HyperloopTT Chief Marketing Officer Rob Miller maintained the Cleveland stage of the project was on track to be completed before the end of the 2020s.
Hamburg
In 2018, HyperloopTT announced the creation of a joint venture with Hamburger Hafen und Logistik Aktiengesellschaft (HHLA) the leading container terminal operator in the Port of Hamburg. The project aims to build a 100-meter test track to test the cargo system before expanding the system to connect the port with an inland container yard to alleviate port congestion. In 2019, HyperloopTT announced a partnership with the Gaussin Group, a French autonomous vehicle company, to create the AIV HyperloopTT electric self-driving vehicles that will cost-efficiently carry and transfer containers for the fully automated Hyperloop Cargo System.
Venice
HyperloopTT is involved in the development of a Hyperloop system in Venice through its subsidiary Hyperloop Italia, which leads the Hyper Builders consortium alongside Italian engineering firms
Webuild
Webuild S.p.A. (previously Salini Impregilo S.p.A.; ) is an Italian industrial group specialising in construction and civil engineering. The company was formally founded in 2014 as the result of the merger by incorporation of Salini into Impregi ...
,
Leonardo, and
RINA. Hyper Builders won a multiple stage contract for a hyperloop link between Venice and Padua in May 2023, with the first stage entailing the completion of a feasibility study, looking into the feasbility of a 10-kilometer prototype between Venice-Mestre and Padua. If all stages are completed, HyperloopTT aims to have a fully functional system operating by 2030, however the project does not have to be continued upon completion of the feasbility study.
See also
*
List of crowdsourcing projects
References
{{Reflist, 30em
Hyperloop
Technology companies of the United States
Transportation companies of the United States
Transportation companies based in California
Technology companies based in Greater Los Angeles
American companies established in 2013
Transport companies established in 2013
2013 establishments in California
Privately held companies based in California