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First Mode designed a two-megawatt hydrogen-fueled powerplant that was installed in this Anglo American haul truck at their platinum mine in Mogalakwena, South Africa, creating the world’s largest zero-emission vehicle. (First Mode Photo)
First Mode filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Sunday as the Seattle-based clean tech company continues to explore strategic alternatives after its majority shareholder stopped providing capital.
GeekWire reported earlier this month that Anglo American, a global mining company which took ownership of First Mode last year in a $1.5 billion transaction, recently halted funding to First Mode. The company then explored a potential sale but was unable to find a buyer.
Bankruptcy court documents show that First Mode initiated a Chapter 11 bankruptcy process with the support of Anglo American to help sell assets and wind down the business.
First Mode has nearly $100 million in total liabilities and has reduced its workforce from 228 employees to 66 people over the past year, according to bankruptcy documents.
The company has received a “stalking horse” bid as part of the bankruptcy process from Cummins, a global power company based in Indiana, documents show.
It’s been a rocky year for First Mode, which launched in 2018 and aims to reduce carbon emissions for mining trucks and other heavyweight vehicles such as freight locomotives.
Anglo American acquired a majority share of First Mode a year ago and planned to focus on converting heavy trucks to use First Mode’s zero-emission, hydrogen fuel-cell powertrain — starting with Anglo American’s fleet.
But in January, First Mode said that it would put less emphasis on hydrogen-battery powertrains, shifting instead to hybrid diesel-battery powertrains.
It also announced a workforce reduction in January of about 20% of its U.S.-based workforce. The company trimmed its workforce again in August.
First Mode created the hydrogen-fueled hybrid powerplant for Anglo American’s nuGen mining truck, which made its debut in South Africa in 2022 as the world’s largest zero-emission vehicle.
The $1.5 billion deal with Anglo American, announced in 2023, included a $200 million investment.
Later that year, Anglo American said it planned to reduce expenses by $1.8 billion by 2026.
Anglo American currently owns 81.4% of First Mode.
The Seattle-based company started in 2018 as an employee-owned engineering venture, formed by veterans of asteroid mining venture Planetary Resources. First Mode initially focused on space projects such as NASA’s Perseverance rover mission and the Psyche mission to a metal-rich asteroid. But in 2019, the company began building an increasingly close relationship with Anglo American.
The company is based in Seattle, but its leadership team and administrative center is in London, where Anglo American is headquartered. It has other locations in Australia and Chile.
First Mode this year held a Seattle ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new 40,000 square-foot factory to build powertrain conversion kits for mining trucks. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and Albert Gore, executive director of the Zero Emission Transportation Association, attended.
