2023-07-24 10:00:00
Bad luck for the nicely named Hopium. The French start-up, which promises to put the first hydrogen sedan on the automotive market, announced on Friday its placement in receivership. The judgment, pronounced by the Paris Commercial Court on July 19, involves “an initial period of 6 months (until January 19, 2024), possibly renewable for 6 months,” the company said in a press release. Almost immediate sanction on the Paris Stock Exchange: the price of its share, suspended Thursday pending this announcement, had been stopped since 1:30 p.m. (11:30 a.m. GMT) at 0.54 euros – a drop of 40% compared to its last available price – due to excessive variations. Since the beginning of the year, the title has even lost more than 90% of its value.
In a second press release also published on Friday, the start-up announced that it had found a way to finance itself with the Atlas Special Opportunities investment fund. This contribution of fresh money “aims to allow the company to continue its activity over the next 12 months and to develop its fuel cell” until the realization of a prototype, explained Hopium.
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In search of an economic model
The numbers, however, are not in favor of the company. In 2022, its losses amounted to 23.9 million euros – against 8 million in 2021 -, linked in particular to the recruitment of 116 new employees, according to Hopium. At the start of 2023, however, 35 employees left the start-up via collective contractual termination (RCC). And despite several capital increases last year for a total of 4.1 million euros, the company posted negative equity as of December 31, 2022 (-10.4 million euros) and cash also in the red, at -1.3 million euros.
It is difficult to find an economic model for the Machina Vision, the premium hydrogen sedan at the heart of the start-up’s ambitions. Hopium must change strategy, and quickly. Especially since mid-March, Jean-Baptiste Djebbari, former Minister of Transport, left the company’s management committee, barely a year after his arrival. The name of his successor already provides clues as to the new trajectory desired for the company. This is Alain Guillou, a recognized professional who has worked in the past at Naval Group in the development of fuel cells. As we often recall, at the time of the gold rush, those who made a fortune were rarely those who sought to extract the precious metal, they were rather the sellers of shovels and pickaxes! Is it better to produce a hydrogen car on a random premium positioning, or to provide a motorization solution?
Strategic repositioning
In late December 2022, the company announced that “Hopium’s Board of Directors has tasked a new management team to continue developing the Hopium Machina’s technology platform while implementing load-adjustment measures.” Hopium’s founder, former racing driver Olivier Lombard, is now deputy general manager in charge of the product.
The prototype of the Machina Vision was one of the stars of the last Paris Motor Show, in October 2022. Agilauto, the brand specializing in automotive sales and financing of the Crédit Agricole group in France, had even announced a memorandum of understanding for the delivery of 10,000 hydrogen vehicles.
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Commercializing an innovative fuel cell
But we can now seriously doubt that the luxury fuel cell car will leave the factory in 2025, as initially announced. With a range of 1,000 km for 10 kg of hydrogen consumed and a power of 500 horsepower, it was to be sold for around 120,000 euros. Instead of marketing its luxury hydrogen sedan as planned, the French start-up is moving towards the sale under license of its fuel cell.
At the beginning of the year, the start-up confirmed its new strategic plan. “As part of this new plan, the company is considering various scenarios including the sequencing and timing of commercialization of the Hopium Machina, and the possibility of commercializing or licensing its fuel cell first.” The latter, very innovative, has been the subject of 16 patents.
Couple Paul Malo (with AFP)
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