BORING CO RAISES $3BN AT $23BN VALUATION WITH UAE BACKING

The Boring Company, Elon Musk's tunnelling venture, raised $3 billion in funding at a $23 billion valuation, the company announced this week. The funding round included backing from the United Arab Emirates and a group of long-standing Musk supporters. The company said it will pursue an ambitious project in the UAE as part of its expansion strategy.

The Boring Company was created within SpaceX in 2017 and spun out a year later. Its stated aim is to revolutionise transportation by constructing underground loops with stations where passengers can board and exit. The company has announced approximately a dozen city projects to date. Its only operational loop for public use is in Las Vegas, where passengers travel in Tesla vehicles between the downtown convention centre and various casino resorts via the Las Vegas Convention Centre Loop. In July of the previous year, the company reached an agreement to build 20 miles of tunnels in Nashville, Tennessee, known as the Music City Loop, to carry paying passengers between downtown and the airport in Tesla vehicles.

The Nashville project broke ground a month before a Vanderbilt University survey conducted in March found that most Nashville residents opposed the tunnels in their city. The company this week shared footage showing its Prufrock machines digging into Nashville's limestone geology. The Boring Company's expansion into the Middle East marks a significant geographical shift for the venture beyond its existing North American operations.