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UAE capital is leading a USD 3 bn wager on Elon Musk’s The Boring Company: The tunnelling and transport infrastructure firm raised a Series D led by the UAE and affiliated investment entities, valuing TBC at USD 23 bn, according to a company statement. The investment will accelerate an expanded UAE partnership covering more than 150 km of tunnels, on top of its existing Dubai Loop project.
Who’s involved: Dubai-based Shamal Holding is among the investors in the new round, alongside major backers including Sequoia Capital, a16z, and Temasek, and Dubai-based firm Vy Capital, set up by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. alums Alexander Tamas and Mateusz Szeszkowski in 2013 and a backer of Musk’s other ventures. Shamal stressed that its stake is a private commercial investment in TBC, separate from the government-level Dubai Loop agreement with RTA, according to Khaleej Times. The other UAE investors involved were not named.
Background: Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) first signed an MoU with TBC in February 2025 to explore a local version of its Las Vegas Loop. We reported at the time that the proposal covered 17 km and 11 stations. By February this year, the plan had expanded to 22.2 km and 19 stations, carrying an AED 2 bn investment ticket and targeting up to 30k passengers a day.
The first stretch is moving toward construction. The AED 565 mn pilot will run 6.4 km between Dubai International Financial Center and Dubai Mall. TBC says precast production is already underway, with tunnelling due to begin in late 2026. Khaleej Times identifies the four stations as Burj Khalifa, DIFC 2, Zabeel Dubai Mall Parking, and ICD Brookfield Place.
And Dubai now looks like the opening act: The new partnership calls for more than 150 km of tunnels across the UAE — nearly seven times the length of the planned Dubai Loop alone. TBC has yet to disclose where those additional tunnels will run, how much individual projects will cost, or when they will be delivered.
The UAE’s Musk portfolio keeps growing. MGX has backed xAI, G42 has invested in Neuralink, and MGX, Alpha Dhabi, and IHC have direct or indirect exposure to SpaceX. The UAE’s TBC stake adds underground transport to a growing UAE investment footprint across Musk’s AI, space, and neurotechnology businesses.
