Hardt Hyperloop rises from bankruptcy with US backer Green Rock, but won't say how much it raised

04/11/2026
7
Abstract illustration of concentric blue rings receding like a vacuum tube

Hardt Hyperloop, the TU Delft spin-off that became the face of Europe's hyperloop ambitions, is back in business. On 3 November the Rotterdam company announced a "multi-million euro" investment round led by Green Rock, a US infrastructure investment and project-development firm founded by former banker Cindy Huang. Existing backers Perpetuum Ventures, the Belgian vehicle of investor James Troch, and Urban Impact Ventures of Hans van Houwelingen are also taking part, according to the company and RTL Nieuws.

The size of the round is not disclosed. Hardt, ANP and RTL all describe it only as several million euros. That detail matters. Building hyperloop infrastructure costs far more, and the last time Hardt's funding fell short, the company collapsed.

From bankruptcy to restart

A court in The Hague declared Hardt Hyperloop bankrupt in March. The first trustee's report put the failure down to missing out on a European subsidy that, according to ANP, was worth about €13m. At the time Hardt would not say why it had lost the grant. The restart was possible because the bankruptcy hit an operating subsidiary rather than the parent, Hardt Group. Hardt itself says the investment "secures the continued operations of the Hardt Group".

The restart also has a cost for creditors. In his third report, trustee Sjoerd Warringa says he sold business assets as part of the restart. As RTL Nieuws reported, neither the report nor Hardt's press release says how much the bankrupt estate received. Warringa could not be reached for comment by RTL.

A pivot to the Americas

The money will go to technology development, preparing planned projects and building new ones. The more telling part of the deal is a separate Strategic Collaboration Agreement with Green Rock to develop hyperloop projects in North, Central and South America. Bits&Chips notes that no concrete initiatives have been announced.

"We see real demand in the Americas for fast links between cities," Huang said in the company statement. She described Hardt as a partner that has "built, tested and demonstrated the core technologies". Through its HyperloopGRX platform, Green Rock says it covers project origination, government engagement and financing strategy. RTL reports that Huang has also been linked to the US company HyperloopTT.

Hardt's main physical asset is the 420-metre European Hyperloop Center in Veendam, Groningen, which it delivered as a test and demonstration track. In ten years, though, the company has not moved beyond test installations. It raised tens of millions of euros from grant-makers and investors along the way. Co-founder Tim Houter called the round "a new chapter after a challenging period".

Why it matters

The restart keeps one of Europe's few hyperloop engineering teams alive at a moment when Germany is debating public money for the technology. Hardt points to the German coalition agreement's commitment to a national hyperloop reference line and says research minister Dorothee Bär intends to make €100m available for it. That is Hardt's account, and the timing and the winner of any such project remain open.

Elsewhere in Dutch deep tech on the same day, Heerhugowaard-based Drystack closed a €2m round with new shareholders ROM InWest and TBI Zebra to scale its circular dry-stacked brick façades, according to ROM InWest.

What next: Hardt has not given a timeline or a first site for any project in the Americas. The tests will be whether it names a concrete project, discloses its funding and bids for Germany's reference line.

Sources

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Hardt Hyperloop rises from bankruptcy with US backer Green Rock, but won't say how much it raised

04/11/2026
7
Abstract illustration of concentric blue rings receding like a vacuum tube

Hardt Hyperloop, the TU Delft spin-off that became the face of Europe's hyperloop ambitions, is back in business. On 3 November the Rotterdam company announced a "multi-million euro" investment round led by Green Rock, a US infrastructure investment and project-development firm founded by former banker Cindy Huang. Existing backers Perpetuum Ventures, the Belgian vehicle of investor James Troch, and Urban Impact Ventures of Hans van Houwelingen are also taking part, according to the company and RTL Nieuws.

The size of the round is not disclosed. Hardt, ANP and RTL all describe it only as several million euros. That detail matters. Building hyperloop infrastructure costs far more, and the last time Hardt's funding fell short, the company collapsed.

From bankruptcy to restart

A court in The Hague declared Hardt Hyperloop bankrupt in March. The first trustee's report put the failure down to missing out on a European subsidy that, according to ANP, was worth about €13m. At the time Hardt would not say why it had lost the grant. The restart was possible because the bankruptcy hit an operating subsidiary rather than the parent, Hardt Group. Hardt itself says the investment "secures the continued operations of the Hardt Group".

The restart also has a cost for creditors. In his third report, trustee Sjoerd Warringa says he sold business assets as part of the restart. As RTL Nieuws reported, neither the report nor Hardt's press release says how much the bankrupt estate received. Warringa could not be reached for comment by RTL.

A pivot to the Americas

The money will go to technology development, preparing planned projects and building new ones. The more telling part of the deal is a separate Strategic Collaboration Agreement with Green Rock to develop hyperloop projects in North, Central and South America. Bits&Chips notes that no concrete initiatives have been announced.

"We see real demand in the Americas for fast links between cities," Huang said in the company statement. She described Hardt as a partner that has "built, tested and demonstrated the core technologies". Through its HyperloopGRX platform, Green Rock says it covers project origination, government engagement and financing strategy. RTL reports that Huang has also been linked to the US company HyperloopTT.

Hardt's main physical asset is the 420-metre European Hyperloop Center in Veendam, Groningen, which it delivered as a test and demonstration track. In ten years, though, the company has not moved beyond test installations. It raised tens of millions of euros from grant-makers and investors along the way. Co-founder Tim Houter called the round "a new chapter after a challenging period".

Why it matters

The restart keeps one of Europe's few hyperloop engineering teams alive at a moment when Germany is debating public money for the technology. Hardt points to the German coalition agreement's commitment to a national hyperloop reference line and says research minister Dorothee Bär intends to make €100m available for it. That is Hardt's account, and the timing and the winner of any such project remain open.

Elsewhere in Dutch deep tech on the same day, Heerhugowaard-based Drystack closed a €2m round with new shareholders ROM InWest and TBI Zebra to scale its circular dry-stacked brick façades, according to ROM InWest.

What next: Hardt has not given a timeline or a first site for any project in the Americas. The tests will be whether it names a concrete project, discloses its funding and bids for Germany's reference line.

Sources

Recent

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