North Carolina's high-tech Research Triangle may get even more advanced in years to come.
The Tar Heel State announced on Friday that it is exploring options to bring Virgin Hyperloop One technology to the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill corridor, which has grown into a hub for technology companies and research universities.
"You can literally begin to start thinking about the cities like they're metro stops," Jay Walder, the CEO of Virgin Hyperloop One, told Cheddar. North Carolina's inquiry makes it the ninth state to explore hyperloop as a potential regional transportation system.
"We have stopped our imagination somewhere around 1956, which is when the interstate highway system was created, and it is time to restart our imagination," Walder said.
Virgin Hyperloop One, which was developed by Virgin founder Richard Branson, is the first company to successfully operate a full-scale hyperloop vehicle system, which uses electric propulsion and electromagnetic levitation in depressurized tubes to propel vehicles at hundreds of miles per hour.
"Imagine being in a super-fast vehicle that is completely smooth, no turbulence moving at airline speed," Walder added.
Although still in its early stages, hyperloop technology is proving to be a far faster, safer, and more environmentally friendly alternative to traditional forms of transportation, according to the company.
"The Research Triangle area is uniquely positioned from a technology focus, spatial layout, and favorable mid-East Coast location to benefit from a hyperloop travel solution that could quickly link America's R&D cities of Raleigh and Durham with each other and with neighboring regions in the southeast and mid-Atlantic," Joe Milazzo II, the executive director of North Carolina's Regional Transportation Alliance, said in a statement.
Trips between Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill are expected to be under 10 minutes, according Virgin Hyperloop One's initial estimates.
"You can take it a step further — Raleigh-Durham to Washington DC it just over 35 minutes," Walder told Cheddar.
GM exceeded earnings expectations, yet still felt the chip shortage squeeze. Baron's Senior Writer Al Root discussed GM's segue into the electric car car world despite its struggles.
The freight industry has its newest unicorn. Flock Freight recently reached the $1 billion mark after recently raising $215 million dollars. It comes during a watershed moment for the global shipping and freight industry, with the pandemic and other issues leading to the ongoing supply chain crisis.
Flock Freight and its shared truckload service may be a solution. Flock Freight CEO Oren Zaslansky joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Cannabis tech company Dutchie raised $350 million in Series D Funding in October, and Ross Lipson, CEO and co-founder, joined Cheddar's "Closing Bell" to talk about how the funds will be used to grow the business. He noted that attracting the best talent, research and development, and expanding the brand's international reach are among the top priorities with this latest round of funding. Lipson also provided a breakdown of how his company "powers a dispensaries operations" through point of sales and e-commerce transactions.
Cloud data management company Informatica made its market debut on the New York Stock Exchange today under the ticker symbol INFA. Shares ending the day even after opening at $27.55. with shares priced at $29 apiece.
This is the second time the company has gone public after being founded back in 1993. Informatica then went private in a $5 billion deal in 2015. Now, the company is reentering public markets as a subscription business with a push to the cloud. Cheddar News welcomes CEO of Informatica, Amit Walia, to discuss.
It's no doubt that the pandemic has been tough on the job market. According to the Labor Department, a record four million people quit their jobs in April. Now, a new survey from Oracle is touching on mental health and how employees are demanding more from their work lives. Juergen Lindner, SVP of global software for SaaS at Oracle, joins Cheddar Wellness to talk about the findings.
