Hyperloop One (formerly Hyperloop Technologies) has changed its name to Hyperloop One to coincide with Wednesday's successful propulsion open-air test (POAT) in North Las Vegas. This historic milestone was the first of many full-scale tests by Hyperloop One as the company reinvents transportation to eliminate the barriers of time and distance.  

The company also announced the closing of an $80 Million Series B Financing with ongoing investments from Series A investors Sherpa Ventures, EightVC, ZhenFund and Caspian Venture Partners. New investors in the Series B round include 137 Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Fast Digital, Western Technology Investment (WTI), SNCF, the French National Rail Company and one of the major forces behind high-speed rail in Europe, and GE Ventures.  

"Our growing team of incredible engineers is working at full-speed along a proven development process to design, analyze, build and test the hardware and software to make Hyperloop a reality," Brogan BamBrogan, Hyperloop One cofounder and CTO commented. "We are proud to show off our progress today and look forward to meeting more milestones on our way to debuting a full-scale system later this year."

The company announced a series of critical relationships with several world leaders in transportation, engineering, operations, architecture, construction, passenger and freight economics, station design and tunneling, including:

• AECOM, a global network of experts based in Los Angeles who develop and implement solutions to the world's most complex challenges.

• AMBERG Group, with headquarters in Zurich, an expert in transportation infrastructure and tunnel planning and design to drive technical, economic and social development.

• ARUP, an independent firm of designers, planners, engineers, consultants and technical specialists that address today's and tomorrow's most challenging projects around the world.

• BJARKE INGELS GROUP/BIG, world renowned architects, concept designers and future thinkers headquartered in New York.

• DEUTSCHE BAHN ENGINEERING AND CONSULTING, based in Berlin, offers consulting and engineering services for passengers and freight transport, from conception through to operation.

• KPMG, a worldwide presence in audit, tax and advisory services with global expertise in transportation strategy, procurement, financing and related services.

• SYSTRA, an international engineering and consulting group and world leader in public transport and high-speed rail infrastructure based in Paris.

Additionally, Hyperloop One announced that the company is participating in privately funded feasibility studies to examine the economic and social benefits of Hyperloop routes in Finland and Sweden. Hyperloop One is partnering with FS Links Ab, a company based in the Åland Islands in the heart of the Baltic region, to develop the technical, commercial and policy case for a strategic link between Stockholm and Helsinki.

The company is also participating in a feasibility study with Arcturan Sustainable Cargo of Los Angeles to determine how Hyperloop One can streamline the movement of containers from the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles to reduce congestion and pollution. The company has recently joined with the founders of Cargo Sous Terrain in Switzerland to investigate how Hyperloop One can help create a completely tunneled cargo transport and logistics system throughout Switzerland.

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n order to harness the most creative minds in making Hyperloop a reality, the company announced the Hyperloop One Global Challenge. This is an opportunity for individuals, companies and governments to develop competitive proposals for using the first Hyperloop One solutions on transport corridors in their regions. The company will provide access to its expertise and ecosystem to help develop these concepts. The deadline for entries is September 15, 2016. Hyperloop One and an expert panel will select by March 2017 the projects that best demonstrate the transformative power of Hyperloop and are most likely to gain government, financial and regulatory support.

Organizations such as Connekt Netherlands, an independent network working to improve mobility in the Netherlands in a sustainable manner, have announced a Dutch National Hyperloop Competition with the objective of finding a winner.

For more information on Hyperloop One and the Hyperloop One Global Challenge, visit www.hyperloopchallenge.com.