Hardt and the EIC Accelerator: Hyperloop Test Track, Then Bankruptcy

Hyperloop promised to move pods through low-pressure tubes at airliner speeds, and Hardt was Europe's best-known attempt. The Dutch company, which moved its headquarters to Rotterdam, pitched a European network that would connect cities within hours, starting with freight. With EIC money and investors from the Dutch regions and Korea's POSCO, it built the European Hyperloop Center in Veendam, a 420-metre test tube with a working lane switch.

The European Innovation Council granted €2.5 million towards a €3.68 million project, and the EIC Fund invested in 2023. In September 2025 Hardt's pod reached 85 km/h in the tube and switched lanes at speed. On 4 March 2026 Hardt's group confirmed that a court had declared Hardt BV, one of its operating companies and the EIC beneficiary, bankrupt.

What Happened to Hardt

Hardt's statement of 4 March 2026 is short: the court declared Hardt BV bankrupt, a trustee was appointed, and together with the trustee Hardt was "actively exploring all opportunities for continuation of the business activities". It gave no reasons and directed questions to the trustee. According to Railway Gazette, which quotes the trustee's report, "the direct cause of the bankruptcy lies broadly in the failure to be awarded the second part of a so-called 'open commitment' totalling approximately 13 million euros from the European Innovation Council". When that was rejected in early February 2026, "the capital needed to operate Hardt's business had consequently dried up", and private investors became "reluctant to provide additional funds". The same report puts Hardt's losses above €3 million in 2025.

Six months earlier the company had announced a speed record at Veendam: 85 km/h, above the vehicle's design speed of 80 km/h, with acceleration at 0.3G over 140 metres, a lane switch over 155 metres and braking in the final 100 metres.

The Technology: A Pod in a Tube, and a Switch

A hyperloop vehicle levitates magnetically inside a tube from which most of the air has been pumped, reducing friction and drag. Hardt's distinctive contribution was the lane switch, which lets a vehicle move from one tube to another without mechanical points, a precondition for a network rather than a single line. The CORDIS report calls the European Hyperloop Center "the first hyperloop test facility in the world with a fully functional lane-switch".

What the EIC Project Promised, and What CORDIS Shows

The project, which ran from January 2022 to March 2024, set out to develop hyperloop for sustainable freight. Its CORDIS report describes test set-ups and prototypes for magnetic levitation and motors, the start of test-track construction, and plans to build the vehicle in 2023. It gives no freight pilot, customer or speed figures. The test track was completed in April 2024, just after the project ended.

1. Sub-system tests and prototypesDeliveredLevitation and motor rigs, per CORDIS.
2. A test facility with a lane switchDeliveredCompleted 2024; lane switch at 85 km/h in 2025.
3. Freight transport by hyperloopNot achievedNo freight pilot or commercial route.
4. Operating company continuesBankruptHardt BV bankrupt in March 2026.

From the Award to Bankruptcy

The Money

In July 2023 Hardt announced €12 million, combining new and earlier investments, from the EIC Fund, InnovationQuarter, Investment Fund Groningen, First Dutch with Platform Zero, POSCO International and Urban Impact Ventures, to complete the test centre and build the vehicle. The EIC Fund's board member Hermann Hauser was quoted supporting the investment.

Why Europe Should Care

Hyperloop attracted European, national and regional public money as a possible low-carbon way to move goods and people. Hardt's test centre in Groningen was built with regional support and is a real piece of engineering. The bankruptcy of its operating company came when the money ran out, after the EIC declined the second part of its open commitment, according to the trustee's report quoted by Railway Gazette.

The Verdict

Hardt has not been asked for comment for this article. It is based entirely on public records, company statements and EU project data, linked throughout.