Fuel cell maker Bloom Energy became the first alt-energy IPO in the US since 2016 on Wednesday — the company raised $270m, with a valuation of $1.6B.
The Sunnyvale, CA-based startup makes what it calls ‘energy servers,’ containing natural fuel cells that allow customers (like Morgan Stanley and AT&T) to generate clean electricity onsite even when the utility grid is off.
Perhaps the biggest story to come out of the IPO is an old legal spat that charged Bloom with paying millions in hush money to a pair of men accused of defrauding Bloom investors.
The startup remains cagey about the circumstances, refusing to lift the confidentiality agreement made after the settlement and leading many to ask: What are they hiding?
Here’s what we know: The Wall Street Journal reported that Bloom settled a $16.7m dispute in 2014 with investors and co-founders of a brokerage firm, Dwight Badger and Keith Daubenspeck, who claimed Bloom misled them and landed them in hot water with the SEC.
Bloom adamantly denied the allegations, but nonetheless agreed to relinquish 200k Bloom Energy shares post-IPO on top of the payout.
Their shares rose 47% by midday, giving the company a market value of around $2.34B.
That said, while Bloom’s revenue did rise last year, the company continues to blow through cash, and according to the filing, expects to remain unprofitable for the foreseeable future.