LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Hyperloop Technologies Inc. announced today that Rob Lloyd will join the company as CEO. Lloyd is a 20-year networking technology veteran who was most recently President of Cisco Systems. In addition to assuming the top post as CEO, Lloyd is an investor in the company and will join the board of directors. Hyperloop is a transportation system in which a full-length tube is built between destinations, with a controlled environment inside the tube allowing people or cargo to travel at extremely fast speeds.
Also joining Hyperloop Technologies Inc. as an advisor and board observer is Emily White, who was most recently COO at Snapchat after spending many years at Facebook and Google. Lloyd and White join current members of the distinguished board of directors -- co-chairs Shervin Pishevar and David O. Sacks, Peter Diamandis, Joe Lonsdale and Jim Messina.
"I'm hugely impressed by the team and the vision of this company and the brilliant team committed to making the hyperloop a reality," said Rob Lloyd, CEO, Hyperloop Technologies, Inc. "This is an incredible opportunity to dramatically impact the trillion-dollar transportation industry – Hyperloop is the fifth mode of transport, and will be the most efficient transportation network ever seen. It's an immense global market, and the opportunity of a lifetime to lead Hyperloop Technologies Inc. into the future.”
Hyperloop Technologies Inc. employs a growing team of over 50 full-time employees occupying over 55,000 sq.ft. at the company’s three-acre, three-building campus in the downtown Los Angeles Arts District.
This is a multi-decade effort and movement. To that end, Lloyd will be tasked with creating and leveraging global relationships and partnerships as Hyperloop Technologies Inc. prepares to have its Test Track operational in late 2016 / early 2017, and develop the systems and a family of products that will be ready, proven and commercially viable by 2020. The company plans to announce significant technology developments and partnerships over the course of the next year.
"When I founded this company with Brogan BamBrogan in 2014, we knew that when the time was right we would need a world-class operator to lead it," said Shervin Pishevar, co-founder, Hyperloop Technologies Inc. "Rob Lloyd is perfectly suited to lead this company given his incredible 20+ year track record of innovating and disrupting. Rob helped build the network that moved bits in the digital era, and now he will help change the world again by building the network that will move people and things faster than ever before possible - we are extremely lucky to have him.”
The technical team, led by CTO Brogan BamBrogan, is pioneering unique innovations including advancements in tube design and fabrication, levitation systems, pod designs and thermodynamics, systems engineering and propulsion.
"The amount of innovation happening within the walls of our office every day is astounding," said Brogan BamBrogan, CTO and co-founder, Hyperloop Technologies Inc. "It’s rare as an engineer to have the chance to solve really big problems – and while building the hyperloop is a massive undertaking, it is now an engineering certainty. We have over 50 of the best and brightest engineers working fulltime, and our team of builders is growing daily. 2015 was the year hyperloop went from concept to certainty, and Rob paving the way with the necessary partnerships, capital, and resources ensures that Hyperloop becomes reality. We look forward to 2016 being our Kitty Hawk moment.”
Hyperloop Technologies Inc. is financially backed by leading investors Formation 8, Sherpa Ventures, Zhen Capital, Caspian VC, David O. Sacks and more. The Series A financing of $10m was raised over 2-3 months in 2014, and the company is currently raising an $80m Series B round.
About Hyperloop Technologies, Inc.:
Hyperloop Technologies, Inc., is the world’s next breakthrough in transportation, engineering unique transportation solutions worldwide for both cargo and passengers. The company was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in downtown Los Angeles, California. For more information, please visit http://hyperlooptech.com.