[DigitalToday reporter Jinju Hong] Elon Musk's tunnelling specialist The Boring Company raised $3 billion in Series D funding, securing a valuation of $23 billion.

Electrek, an electric-vehicle outlet, reported on Sept. 10 local time that the UAE and related investment institutions led the funding round.

The valuation is about four times the roughly $5.7 billion valuation in 2022. Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Temasek, Vy Capital, Valor Equity Partners, Human Capital, Shamal Holding and Baron Capital also participated in the investment.

The Boring Company plans to use the funds to hire engineering, operations and production staff. It also plans to expand its Loop projects and use the money for research and development of its Prufrock tunnel-boring machine. Musk said alongside the fundraising that the company's business goal targets traffic congestion, calling it "the ultimate boss battle." He added, "Even the most powerful people in the world cannot beat traffic congestion."

A key part of the investment is a plan to build more than 150 km of tunnels in the UAE. The UAE is both an investor and the largest customer where the funds will be deployed. The Boring Company has already won a Dubai Loop pilot project. The Dubai project consists of a 6.4 km tunnel and 4 stations, and construction is set to begin at the end of 2026. The company said precast production for the project is under way, but no tunnel in the UAE that carries actual passengers has opened yet.

The only place where The Boring Company currently carries passengers is Las Vegas in the United States. The Vegas Loop has carried more than 4 million passengers in total, and Clark County recently approved the addition of 19 stations, authorising a network of 123 stations. The Boring Company has started boring its 14th tunnel in the city and its 25th tunnel overall.

Business expansion is also continuing. Nashville's "Music City Loop" began boring on Feb. 25, the day it received state government approval. In August, 2 Prufrock machines began working simultaneously, and a third machine entered the final assembly stage in Texas.

The high valuation also highlights that it is built on business plans that have not yet been realised. The Boring Company has announced projects in about 12 cities since 2017, but Las Vegas is the only project that actually carries passengers.

A key example, the Chicago O'Hare Express, was unveiled in 2018 with a Ford-based system that would link the city centre and the airport at speeds of 150 miles per hour, but it effectively halted in 2019 after failing to secure financing and a formal contract. The Washington-Baltimore Loop received conditional approval from Maryland but later disappeared from the company's website. The California Ontario airport connection project grew from $45 million to nearly $500 million, and the company chose to withdraw rather than proceed with an environmental review process.

In San Antonio, the company was selected in 2022 as the preferred bidder for a 9-mile system connecting the airport and downtown, but local transport authorities said The Boring Company "stopped responding to emails" and the contract fell through in 2023. A Fort Lauderdale beach tunnel remains in a similar state. In Los Angeles, the Sepulveda test tunnel and the Dodger Stadium "Dugout Loop" fell through due to community opposition and permitting issues.

Ultimately, the fundraising is seen as a result of an assessment that considers both The Boring Company's limited operating performance and its large-scale projects that have not yet begun construction. Attention is focused on whether the first passenger tunnel in the UAE will open and whether the Loop model can prove real demand outside Las Vegas.