Zeleros , the Spanish company dedicated to the development of Hyperloop, one of the transportation systems destined to transform the future, has had to adjust its perspectives due to difficulties in securing new financing.
The Valencia-based company has begun a staff reduction process through an Employment Regulation File (ERE) that will affect 26 of its 58 employees , focusing on projects related to electric mobility to streamline income generation.
Construction of Zeleros Hyperloop set aside
Although Zeleros will maintain its fundamental objective of developing capsules and other components of the Hyperloop, the system designed to allow travel at speeds greater than 1,000 km/h through a network of tubes, this will be relegated to the background and in the long term after the restructuring of the company. The decision of this “strategic change” is due to the general context that is not conducive to attracting new investments necessary to advance plans focused mainly on Hyperloop.
The startup, founded in 2016 by a group of engineers who were students at the Polytechnic of Valencia at that time and backed by Juan Roig’s accelerator in Valencia, Lanzadera, has so far obtained 15 million euros from various investors, both financial and industrial companies, such as Acciona, CAF or Red Eléctrica. According to the company, all of them continue to support the project started by David Pistoni, Dani Orient and Juan Vicén, which arose after the global initiative launched by Elon Musk, owner of Tesla, to look for entrepreneurs interested in promoting this technology.
Instead, the startup will focus on projects related to electric mobility that it was already working on in the last year. These are considered by the company as more viable to commercialize its innovations and generate income in the short term.
More about Zeleros
It should be noted that Zeleros has obtained financing of 2.8 million euros for its participation in the D-Hub project, linked to the former Nissan factory in Barcelona, which has been selected to receive funds in the first Strategic Recovery and Recovery Program. Economic Transformation (Perte) of the Electric and Connected Vehicle (VEC). This project aims to design a battery pack intended for high-performance electric mobility sectors, such as super sports cars, the maritime sector, aviation or industrial vehicles, with technical requirements similar to those of the Hyperloop.
In addition, the company has collaborated with the Basque aeronautical engine manufacturer ITP Aero in the design and development of a zero-emission propulsion system. This system involves capsules that levitate at high speeds inside low-pressure tubes.
The company has also implemented a pilot prototype of its autonomous container transportation system, known as SELF (Sustainable Electric Freight-forwarder), in the Port of Sagunto. This system seeks to develop Hyperloop technology for the transportation of goods in large port and container terminals. After carrying out the planned pilot tests, the Port Authority will decide whether to advance to the next phase.
Don’t miss any of our posts and follow us on social media!
Inspenet.com YouTube LinkedIn Facebook Instagram
Source: eleconomista.es
Loading...
