NEVOMO

Idea

Introduction

With strong pressure on reducing transport CO2 emissions and the urgent need to relieve road and air congestion, new cutting-edge hardware is needed to transform a 190-year-old railway industry into an efficient mode of transport which will move the 21st century.

Hyper Poland develops the next generation of High-Speed Railways, based on magnetic levitation, linear motor and autonomous control systems. We can gradually implement hyperloop-inspired solutions as an upgrade for the railway industry.

Our unique, patent-pending magrail technology allows parallel operation of existing wheel-rail trains and passive magnetic vehicles on the same existing railway line at speeds of up to 415 kph (258 mph).

Magrail can be subsequently transformed into a vacuum system - hyperrail, with a top speed of up to 1,000 kph (621 mph).

This approach significantly reduces implementation costs and time, compared to greenfield hyperloop deployment, which is stage three of our commercialization strategy.

Intended impact

The accelerating global warming has triggered a bold response of the EU Commission with its Green Deal initiative which aims to leverage up to EUR 1 Trillion and includes actions to boost cleaner transport.

According to a 2017 WHO report, the transport sector accounts for 21% of global CO2 emissions. But while HSR trains produce only 6g of CO2 per passenger kilometer – opposed to 171g for cars and 253g for domestic flights – rail accounts for less than 8% of passenger traffic in the EU-28. For freight transport, the situation is equally critical with forecasted market growth in the EU by 30% until 2030.

With our magrail technology, we strive to radically transform the current transportation system. We aim at restoring the competitiveness of railways by combining high-speed, just-in-time availability and environmental friendliness. By upgrading existing railway infrastructure, our solution minimizes land consumption and significantly lowers construction costs.

Substantial accomplishments to date

Hyper Poland was founded in 2017. In the same year, our student team built our first vehicle prototype which was tested during the second SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition in California.

Since 2018, we have focused on developing our unique three-stage approach to the hyperloop implementation (with a special focus on the magrail technology) and securing our IP via patent applications. We have been a semi-finalist of the European Startup Prize for Mobility supported by both the European Parliament and the European Commission.

In the first half of 2019, we secured a EUR 3.8 million EU grant from the Polish National Centre for Research and Development for R&D, including the construction of a test facility in Poland. We also raised a EUR 334k pre-seed round on Seedrs from over 450 investors from 30 countries. With this capital, in just a few months, we grew our team to 32 highly skilled experts and built a 1:5 scale Proof-of-Concept of our magrail technology which was unveiled to the public in October 2019.

In 2019 we were chosen for two acceleration programs: MassChallenge Switzerland and Incredibles by Sebastian Kulczyk. We were also invited by Engie to exhibit at VivaTechnology in Paris and by Michelin at the Movin’On Summit in Montreal.

Currently, we have eight patents pending, there are five under PCT, and we are represented by a Swiss patent attorney.

We have developed strong relationships with key industry players such as Microsoft, Railway Research Institute (certification body for the railway industry), and Transfer Multisort Electronik. Moreover, we have initiated talks with leading European railway companies to start the first pilot implementations in 2022/23.

Monetisation strategy

Business model:

We develop Intellectual Property (IP) which we protect with patents. We aim to be licensed to:

1. manufacturers of rolling stock,
2. railway infrastructure elements’ manufacturers,
3. optionally also to hyperloop companies (e.g. technology of linear electric motor and passive magnetic levitation).

We are currently focused on hardware, where we have unique skills and are aiming to be protected by patents. Software, enabling efficient use of it, will be developed in partnership with global industry players.

We expect a 2.4% licensing fee on manufacturers revenues on licensed elements from two segments:

• vehicle elements: propulsion and suspension (magnetic bogies), tilting mechanism.
• infrastructure elements: linear motor & magnetic track, integrators with conventional tracks.

Alternatively, we might go into Joint Ventures with manufacturers.

Exit strategy: We aim that within ca. 10 years the company will be acquired by one of the leading global railway suppliers.

Use of proceeds

Proceeds from this campaign will serve to continue R&D on key elements of magrail. Each euro from this round will be leveraged by another four euros from an EU grant.

Funds will also be used to strengthen our biz dev activities by growing the team needed for negotiations of partnerships and pilots.

We are planning cooperation with leading international experts in business development, investment banking, and magnetic railways’ project management. The prospects have broad experience in companies such as Dalkia, BNP Paribas, Alstom, Rothschild, Veolia, and Transrapid, which built the world’s first commercial maglev line in Shanghai.

We aim to open a Swiss office, which will:

• serve potential indirect clients in three key markets: Germany, France & Italy,
• grow the number of international corporate partnerships,
• develop R&D partnerships and recruit international engineering talent,
• facilitate access to Western European sources of funding.

Finally, we will initiate rebranding.