French start-up Hopium, which until recently promised to put the world’s first hydrogen-powered sedan on the auto market, announced its suspension of payments on Friday as it faces significant financial difficulties.
“By means of a judgment of July 19, the Paris Commercial Court opened in favor of Hopium a judicial administration procedure for an initial period of 6 months (until January 19, 2024), possibly extendable for 6 months,” said the company in a statement.
The company’s listing, suspended on Thursday, will resume this Friday. Before the suspension, the stock was worth 90 cents, a drop of more than 87% since the start of the year.
In a second press release published Friday, the start-up announced that it had found a way to finance itself through Atlas Special Opportunities. This contribution of fresh money “is intended to allow the company to continue its activity over the next 12 months and develop its fuel cell” until a prototype is made, Hopium specifies.
23.9 million euros of losses in 2022
Chaired until mid-March by former Transport Minister Jean-Baptiste Djebbari, Hopium, which presented itself as the Tesla of hydrogen with its Machina sedan, is experiencing great financial difficulties.
In 2022, its losses amounted to 23.9 million euros compared to 8 million in 2021, linked in particular to the hiring of 116 new employees, according to the company. At the beginning of 2023, 35 employees left the start-up due to collective contractual termination (RCC).
Despite several capital increases last year for a total of 4.1 million euros, the company registered negative own funds as of December 31, 2022 (-10.4 million euros) and cash was also in the red, with -1.3 million euros.
In May, when publishing its 2022 annual results, Hopium warned that the continuation of its activities was contingent on raising additional funds.
In early April, Hopium announced that it was focusing on the development of its fuel cell technology, postponing its Machina commercialization project, which was initially scheduled for launch in 2025.
Experts and industrialists remain divided on the place of hydrogen in the decarbonisation of the automotive sector. Toyota or BMW place great hopes on it, while many other brands reserve it for utility vehicles, which are more difficult to convert to electric.
Source: BFM TV
