Hyperloop Transportation Technologies announced plans today to open a research and development center in Toulouse, France.

The Playa Vista-based company is ramping up its operations after raising $30 million in December from EdgeWater Investments.

The firm chose the Toulouse region because it’s the global headquarters for Airbus and the European Space Agency has a research facility there, said Chief Executive Dirk Ahlborn at a signing ceremony in France, reports VentureBeat.

Not to be confused with Hyperloop One of downtown Los Angeles, Hyperloop Transportation Technologies has about 30 salaried employees and 600 unsalaried collaborators doing research and development work in exchange for stock. The company is eyeing a European rail network and has signed an agreement to explore connecting a hyperloop system from Slovakia to the Czech Republic.

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