Elon Musk’s tunnelling company has raised $3bn at a valuation of $23bn, led by the United Arab Emirates and affiliated investment entities, four times what it was worth in 2022, and a long way from the Washington to New York hyperloop announced in 2017.
The money is earmarked for more than 150km of tunnel across the UAE, on top of the Dubai Loop contract already signed.
The company set out the round and the reasoning behind it in its own Series D announcement. Human Capital, Vy Capital, Valor Equity Partners, Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Temasek, Shamal Holding and Baron Capital also took part.
Proceeds go to hiring across engineering, operations and production, to Vegas Loop, Music City Loop in Nashville and Dubai Loop, and to further work on its Prufrock boring platform.
What the announcement does not mention is the term that made this round unusual. Investors were told they would have to help recruit workers or assist with business development, including introductions to officials in cities where the company wants to dig, and the company reserved the right to buy back some of their shares if they failed to supply viable candidates.
