Elon Musk’s ‘Boring’ Project Just Raised $675 Million in an Effort to Take Travel Underground
Elon Musk is more than just a multi-billionaire. After making more money than most people on earth can even imagine, Musk began inching his way into the cultural conversation. Now, with his recent purchase of Twitter, the 50-year-old has become even more ingrained in global social consciousness. In a way, he controls it.
Before Musk ever put in a bid to own a social media giant, he was already reenvisioning the way society would work. Sure, Tesla has popularized electric vehicles. Paypal has forever changed the way we buy things online. But interestingly, Musk’s most innovative idea may be the one with the most mundane name: The Boring Company. According to CNBC, the company recently got a huge infusion of cash.
Elon Musk’s Boring Company is not like his other ventures
The Boring Company’s name has a double meaning. It is intended to be “boring” as in boring a hole. The company is developing technology to dig tunnels faster than ever. The name also may be a joke about how boring the purpose of the company sounds.
Although underground tunnels may seem kind of lame, The Boring Company could change travel as we know it, by making fast, underground train services ubiquitous. Unlike Tesla, which sells transportation solutions to individuals in the form of electric cars, most of The Boring Company’s clients will be cities and countries.
The tunneling technology will be able to build networks of tunnels in record time, making subway and underground road projects much, much faster.
The Boring Company just raised $675 million to reinvent travel
Even though Musk is a multi-billionaire, he doesn’t put his own money into his companies. At least not a lot of it. His companies raise money from investors, just like other businesses. The Boring Company recently did a Series C funding round and received a great showing.
Investors poured $675 million into the promising venture, and the company was valued at $5.6 billion. It makes sense that The Boring Company would fair well with investors. The idea is promising, and the company is already digging tunnels all over the world.
The company was recently given the go-ahead to dig 29 miles of tunnels under Las Vegas. Although The Boring Company has over-promised before, the project looks incredibly promising. It claims it will be able to transport 57,000 passengers per hour. Even half that would permanently change the Las Vegas landscape.
Elon Musk has had a lot of crazy ideas that paid off
Musk isn’t always the most popular person, but his companies have changed the world. That was his vision for The Boring Company, although he has scaled back its mission considerably in the past few years.
Originally, Musk wanted to use the technology to build various “hyperloops” around the world. These high-speed, underground transportation systems would speed riders between distant cities in pods. Musk’s original idea included pods that go up to 750 miles per hour. In the real-world tests conducted by The Boring Company, that speed hasn’t yet been achieved. In fact, test vehicles are only reaching speeds of 50 miles per hour.
But just because it is not happening yet, that doesn’t mean the Hyperloop should be thrown out entirely. If anyone can make it happen, it’s Musk. And Hyperloop or not, The Boring Company can reinvent travel, even if it’s just by digging holes.
