Boring Company gets more funding, but hurdles galore

Elon Musk seems to have taken the conventional route this time to raise money for Boring Company. The tunnel-digging firm has raised $112.5 million from a handful of investors as per a filing made with the SEC. It’s worth noting that Musk had earlier raised $10 million for Boring by selling flamethrowers and hats.

The latest round of funding would give further impetus to the much-talked about hyperloop project. Musk has contributed a lion’s share (90%) in the latest funding round and the rest coming from Boring’s early employees.

Ideally, digging tunnels via traditional ways is very expensive and would cost a humungous $1 billion/mile. Musk has stated that the tunnels from Boring would be more economical (10x less cost). Last month, he also announced that Boring would sell interlocking building bricks.

Boring has got approvals to dig test tunnels in Baltimore and California. More importantly, the firm has been shortlisted as one of the finalists for constructing a transit system to connect downtown Chicago and O’Hare International Airport. Separately, in Maryland, it has got the green signal to construct tunnel between Baltimore and Washington.

Long way to success

The company has its task cut out to make sure that it would be able to execute these mammoth projects without any hiccups. Tunneling professionals are still doubtful about the claims made by the firm. It’s just not about digging tunnels; rather a lot of other factors such as building the supporting walls for the tunnel, transportation of the hauled soil to the surface, and monitoring any related damages due to the tunnel digging.

Last but not least, Boring has to tackle the bureaucracy before it can kick-start work. It has to get the necessary approvals from multiple government authorities, which is going to be daunting and time consuming. Apart from getting the necessary permits, the company has to hire contractors and consultants to execute the project.

Boring is yet to come up with a solid proposal on how it’s going to execute this grandiose plan it has envisaged. Until and unless the firm is able to successfully deploy the tunnel transportation as planned in one city, it’s not going to be easy to get the nod from other cities.