Advertisment

Hyperloop India partners crowd funding platform Ketto to raise funds for building pod

author-image
CIOL Writers
New Update
Virgin Group and Maharashtra Govt. enter agreement to build hyperloop

Hyperloop India- a team of 80 students from BITS Pilani, Indian School of Business (ISB), IIM-Ahmedabad, National Institute of Design, Xavier’s Institute of Management, amongst others has partnered crowd funding platform Ketto to raise funds for the last leg of building pod prototype with Workbench Projects to feature in a global design competition for superfast transportation system using advanced magnetic levitation technology.

Advertisment

The Hyperloop, a high-speed transportation system initially proposed by SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk is seen by many as the future of transportation. To accelerate the development of this technology, SpaceX announced an open competition in 2016 for student engineering teams to design their own Hyperloop pods to compete on a test track.

CIOL SpaceX

Hyperloop India is the first and only Indian team among top 24 finalists to build the super-fast mode of transport. Their pod prototype ‘OrcaPod’ has been selected for the final stage of SpaceX’s Hyperloop Pod Design competition, which will be held in California in August 2017. While the pod is still in the making, the design will be inspired by Orca, the whale.

Advertisment

Now, Hyperloop India along with Workbench Projects - Bangalore-based startup, which will build the first pod prototype is seeking to raise the funds through crowdfunding platform Ketto. "We have partnered with Ketto to raise the final leg of funds required to build the pod prototype," Hyperloop India founder and team leader Sibesh Kar told PTI. "We urge the Indian community to contribute to our success in realising our goals."

The amount that they are looking to raise is around Rs 75 lakh, which, according to Sibesh Kar would be used to build a most frugal pod in the world. “The average cost of building (pod) would be Rs 3 crore,” he said.

Until now, Hyperloop India and Workbench have managed to raise Rs 30 lakh from a few corporates and both the Central and Karnataka governments have lent their support for this project. "The campaign will run for the next 45 days, and we will be delighted if we are able to raise Rs 30 lakh or more for us to build the - OrcaPod prototype," said Workbench Projects co-founder Anupama Gowda.

Hyperloop envisages transporting passengers or goods inside pods through the tubes at speeds topping over 700mph and is being touted as the fifth mode of transportation.

hyperloop