British billionaire Richard Branson has placed another bet on the future with an investment in Hyperloop One, which is developing super high-speed transportation systems.

He has joined the board of Hyperloop One, with the company saying Branson's Virgin Group would take the company global and it would rebrand itself as Virgin Hyperloop One in the near future.

Hyperloop One develops pods that will transport passenger and mixed-use cargo at speeds of 402 kilometres an hour.

The pod lifts above a track using magnetic levitation and glides at airline speeds for long distances because of low aerodynamic drag.