Zeleros is a deep tech scale-up based in Valencia, Spain, and part of EIC Scaling Club’s Clean Fuels & Hydrogen market group. The company is leading the charge in Europe in developing hyperloop technology while also leveraging its extensive electrification and automation know-how to help other companies achieve their sustainable mobility ambitions. 

In our latest interview, David Pistoni, CEO and Co-founder of Zeleros, shares how the scale-up formed, the wins and challenges of their journey, as well as his take on developing hyperloop technology in Europe. 

You can also listen to the interview recording here (or watch the video below):

A new and sustainable way to move people and freight

Zeleros came into existence after its founders took home the main prizes at a SpaceX competition back in 2016, then still under the banner of the “Hyperloop UPV” team of the Polytechnic University of Valencia. 

The hyperloop – a maglev (magnetic levitation) train in a low pressure environment – has long been a topic of fantasy, contention, and, more recently, intense development and tangible progress, spearheaded by companies like Zeleros. Hailed as the fifth mode of transportation – adding to transport by boat, rail, plane, and automobile – the hyperloop promises a revolution in how people and things move, namely faster and consuming less energy. 

“We are sure Europe has everything needed to jump onto this new mode of transportation very soon,” says David. 

In terms of concrete progress, Zeleros has tested some of the key technologies for hyperloop in their prototypes. The team also has several patents for the core technologies, and they’re ready to put them into practice. But building a hyperloop is not a one-company endeavor.

“We are ready to move forward in building the hyperloop, integrating the technologies in a test track and collaborating with other colleagues from different regions of Europe that are also working in this lane.”

They are part of the Hyperloop Development Program – one of the principal vehicles for collaboration in this field. However, David points out that high-level standardisation of technology is necessary in Europe to keep pace with China and other regions investing in hyperloop development. 

A team on a mission

From a small group of innovators that won a competition, Zeleros has evolved into a major project, currently expanding its capacity, onboarding experts from different industries and fields.

As to their leadership team, David points to deep technical expertise and professional diversity as the pillars of their success. 

“We are formed by engineers from different profiles that have huge experience in railway, in aerospace, in electric fields – both in innovation and research programs as well as corporates.”

Zeleros also boasts and benefits from valuable support from their impressive stakeholder lineup, which includes ACCIONA, InnoEnergy, Capgemini, and many others. To date, Zeleros has attracted about 50 million EUR of investment, thanks to which they’ve been able to develop their technology and grow the team into the powerhouse it is today.  

The wins and challenges of a hyperloop scaleup

Beyond securing a sizable amount of funding and building a strong team, David points to the various prototypes produced as major milestones for the company. Moreover, finding multiple applications for their technologies, namely applying them to other fields such as logistics, have also helped the company find strong footing to support them through the relatively slow pace of hyperloop development. 

Indeed, combining long-term objectives with short- and medium-term market demands has been a major challenge for David and his team. This explains the teams’ active participation in the electric market, where Zeleros’ batteries help other companies electrify their solutions.

EIC Scaling Club membership – a way to learn and advocate

For Zeleros, joining the Club is a point of pride, and brings with it a deluge of benefits. 

“We are proud to be part of the EIC Scaling Club because we can connect with different colleagues from startups doing strong deep tech projects, also with mentors with huge experience, and, of course, investors who are interested in collaborating and helping with the growth of our company.”

Beyond building a strong network, David also sees the club as a platform, namely, a way to offer their perspective of Europe’s positions on various pertinent topics to deep tech at large, and their field in particular.

Watch the full interview with David Pistoni below, or visit our YouTube channel to explore our other videos:

About the EIC Scaling Club

The EIC Scaling Club is a curated community where 120+ European deep tech scale-ups with the potential to build world-class businesses and solve major global challenges come together with investors, corporate innovators and other industry stakeholders to spur growth.

The top 120+ European deep tech companies will be carefully selected from a pool of high-growth scale-ups that have benefitted from EIC financial schemes, other European and national innovation programmes, and beyond.

The EIC Scaling Club is an EIC-funded initiative run in partnership by Tech Tour, Bpifrance (EuroQuity), Hello Tomorrow, Tech.eu (Webrazzi), EurA and IESE Business School.

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