In a letter to shareholders obtained by Fortune, Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HyperloopTT) CEO Andrés de León has expressed concerns about the company's financial stability. The venture-funded startup, inspired by Elon Musk's Hyperloop vision, is in dire need of funding to pay back debt, cover operational expenses, and compensate employees who have been working without pay for several months.

De León pleads for an additional $5 million to ensure the company can move forward with its plans to design a hyperloop prototype in Northern Italy. He emphasizes that the funding is crucial to protect the value created by the company over the last decade. To keep the company afloat, C-Suite executives and employees have agreed to salary reductions ranging from 10% to 25% as part of a deferment program.

The letter reveals that HyperloopTT had until February 28th to repay a $1 million senior secured debt borrowed from one of its investors. Failure to meet this deadline would have resulted in the forfeiture of all the company's assets to the investor. It remains unclear whether HyperloopTT successfully raised the capital needed to meet this payment.

While HyperloopTT states that they have the support of their shareholders, the company did not provide specific details about the investor situation being resolved. De León dismissively refers to the company's recent attempt to raise $5 million as "old news," asserting that their contract with Italy is secure and funded, and that HyperloopTT remains financially sound.

Two weeks ago, HyperloopTT announced plans to leave its R&D facility in Toulouse, France, and establish new offices outside of Venice, Italy, within the next six months. The press release did not explicitly address whether this move was related to the company's previous difficulties in paying rent and salaries.

HyperloopTT, along with other companies involved in the potential Italy project, signed a contract in January with an Italian regional highway operator. Under the agreement, a study will be conducted to assess the feasibility of a 10-kilometer hyperloop prototype between the cities of Venice-Mestre and Padua in Northern Italy. HyperloopTT is set to receive approximately €1.6 million of the €4 million allocated for the study, although the highway operator is not obligated to proceed with the project upon its completion.

Despite these challenges, De León emphasizes that HyperloopTT is a revenue-generating company with a commercial hyperloop project, referring to the study and the €1.6 million payment as indications of forward progress.

HyperloopTT was one of the early pioneers in the Hyperloop space after Elon Musk published his groundbreaking whitepaper in 2013. While their attempt to go public through a SPAC merger in 2022 was abandoned, Musk remains committed to the vision and continues to pursue his own Hyperloop system through his tunneling startup, the Boring Company.

It is worth noting that while Musk's tunnels have seen limited operational use, there have been significant safety concerns during their construction process. However, Musk's ambitions for a fully functional Hyperloop system remain a work in progress.

As the need for alternative transportation solutions grows, the fate of HyperloopTT hangs in the balance, dependent on securing the necessary funds to sustain its operations and bring Elon Musk's Hyperloop vision closer to reality.