Hyperloop One raises $50mn, appoints former Uber CFO Brent Callinicos

Los Angeles-based Hyperloop Technologies better known for its futuristic transportation system has raised $50 million in convertible-debt financing in a round led by DP World Group of Dubai. The company also announced hiring of Uber Technologies Inc.’s former chief financial officer as a strategic advisor to CEO Rob Lloyd.

The latest investment takes Hyperloop One’s total funding to $160 million; also bringing DP World Group of Dubai’s chairman and chief executive officer Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem on Hyperloop board seat.

Finding a chief financial officer and new strategic partners has been CEO Rob Lloyd’s primary focus since joining the company last year. Hyperloop One already works with organizations such as French railway SNCF and engineering giant Arup Group.

Former Uber CFO Brent Callinicos, who worked at Microsoft from 1992 to 2007, followed by a seven year stint at Google as vice president of treasury and the chief accountant, will serve as a full-time strategic advisor, the company said in a statement.

Uber CEO Travis Kalanick described Callinicos as one of the “great financial operators in Silicon Valley, in an email sent to investors announcing his departure,

“Almost 2 years ago, I brought on one of the great financial operators in Silicon Valley as our CFO. Though two years sounds short, Uber was a much smaller startup then — about 1/10th the size we are today. Brent has provided critical leadership to take Uber to the next level as we matured as a company. We have financial systems in place overseeing operations in 53 countries. We have a deep bench of talent poised to help our finance organization grow with the business.”

Uber and Hyperloop have a common investor in Sherpa Capital’s Shervin Pishevar, who co-founded Hyperloop and is a board observer at Uber.

Hyperloop is working on technology to reinvent transportation, eliminating barriers of time and distance by using magnetic levitation in low-pressure tubes to transport people and goods at airplane-like speeds.