Elon Musk invests another $100M into his ‘flamethrower’ startup
Elon Musk took to Twitter to announce The Boring Company's latest product launch, life-size Lego-like interlocking bricks that can be used to create sculptures and buildings.
Billionaire Elon Musk has invested more than $100 million of his own money in a new round of funding for his tunnel startup, the Boring Company, according to a new Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
The startup, which launched in 2017 after Musk became frustrated with traffic congestion in Los Angeles, is developing underground tunnels to facilitate his Hyperloop concept to allow for faster travel between destinations.
The company has also made headlines this year for its flamethrowers, a “complimentary Boring fire extinguisher,” that sold out within five days, grossing more than $10 million for the startup.
According to Recode, which first reported the funding news, the Boring Company has raised around $113 million in a recent funding round, with Musk himself providing more than 90% of the funds, with the rest of the funding coming from “early employees.” There were no outside investors, the report said.
The filing did not name Musk either, but rather Jared Birchall as a director and executive. Birchall is the president and CEO of another Musk co-founded startup called Neuralink. What’s more, the report did not disclose what the new funds would be used for.
Musk has said the first segment of the Boring Company’s first tunnel from Los Angeles International Airport to Culver City, Santa Monica, Westwood and Sherman Oaks has been completed. Though, the startup does face tough competition from Richard Branson’s Virgin Hyperloop One, which is also developing high-speed transportation technology that sends pods hurtling through pressurized tubes at around 600 miles per hour.