- Zeleros team members presented the HyperLab, showcasing test benches of key hyperloop technologies and explained the company evolution from their first levitation prototype design to current developer of e-mobility solutions.
- The activity was organized under the European Institute of Innovation’s Deep Tech Talent Initiative to share Zeleros deep tech experience.
Valencia, October 17, 2023.
Martin Kern, Director of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), EIT members and 24 journalists from media outlets of 17 European countries, visited on October 11 the Valencian deep tech company Zeleros in the framework of the EIT’s Deep Tech Talent Initiative.
During the visit, Juan Vicén, VP of Institutional Affairs and Co-founder, explained how founding Zeleros was an idea that came after a series of engineering awards – among them the Space X Hyperloop Pod competition from Elon Musk in 2015- that led a group of students to realize they could do great things to commercialize a product that could help society.
Since its origins in 2016, Zeleros has been devoted to developing hyperloop, a new means of transport bringing aircraft speeds to land transportation and moving without generating emissions. The company has completed static test benches of the main technologies proposed to move the vehicles of the system: a propulsion based on electromagnetism and levitation and another one consisting of an electric motor. EIT members and journalists visited these protypes in the company of Marcos Sacristán, Engineering Manager and Daniel Fons, Program Technical Leader of Zeleros.
The company has also completed a dynamic prototype of the linear motor, part of the first propulsion system in the Port of Sagunto also in Spain, that the group could get to know through a guided video of the premises.
In the words of Alejandro Gómez, Chief Commercial Officer, “While Zeleros has hyperloop as flagship project, the company also now develops sustainable mobility solutions by adapting technology to other high performing sectors that can benefit from it”. As such, he presented SELF, Zeleros proposal to move cargo within ports and the development on batteries that the company is currently doing with applications in transports such as aircraft or boats.
One of the greatest successes to achieve technological development has been the alliances the company has with leading industrial companies such as Acciona, ITP Aero, Redeia or CAF, but also with organizations such as EIT. EIT Climate-KIC provided one of the first financial supports to the company in 2017. In 2019 Zeleros won the best EU company award from EIT, which increased the visibility of the company, while in 2021 InnoEnergy, a KIC from EIT, became an investor of Zeleros.
In the words of Martin Kern, “The EIT is about supporting disruptive new technologies that offer solutions to some of the most pressing global challenges. Zeleros has come a long way since their founders first joined the EIT Community as University students. Today, after a period of growth, the company is getting close to offering carbon-free transportation for long distances. The EIT Community is proud to have supported Zeleros’s growth at different stages of their innovation journey, and we will continue to invest in promising Deep Tech ventures, ensuring that Europe is equipped with the right talent and support for a more sustainable future”.
Finally, concerning experiences and challenges on finding the skills required to develop innovative projects such as this one, Juan Vicén shared how the company actively collaborates with the Universidad Politécnica de Valencia and sponsors initiatives such as the academic competition European Hyperloop Week. Finally, he stated Zeleros’ intention to pledge the EIT Deep Tech Talent Initiative, having the objective of training 1,000,000 Deep Tech innovators and experts in Europe by 2025.
