BlocPower is shutting down.
The energy transition darling of the Biden-era, which championed affordable building electrification and clean energy retrofits for 12 years, is liquidating its assets and returning money to investors, reportedLatitude Media.
At the height of BlocPower’s success, the company had contracts for building, community and municipal retrofits in New York, Denver, San Jose, Calif., and elsewhere (see, “Inside BlocPower’s mission to upskill workers and green New York City buildings”). BlocPower raised $154 million in debt and equity in 2023.
But the Brooklyn-based company struggled to deliver at scale, and some clients complained that BlocPower’s revenue model wasn’t aligned with building owners’ and tenants’ interests. Co-founders Keith Kinchand Donnel Bairdresigned from the company in 2024. Kinch declines to comment; Baird couldn’t be reached.
Investor losses
In the liquidation, BlocPower’s senior investors, including Goldman Sachs and VoLo Earth Ventures,will be repaid first; investors from BlocPower’s crowdfunding campaigns would only be repaid after senior investors are made whole.
“Management does not currently expect that any assets will remain available to distribute to unsecured creditors,” Latitude Mediareported, citing a BlocPower letter to investors.
Other investors included Kapor Capital, Builders Vision, Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund, Andreessen Horowitz and recently retired NBA-star Russell Westbrook.
Back in 2021, Baird toldImpactAlpha, “I’m a tech entrepreneur that believes that the best way to protect my family from the damage of climate change is for the company to be successful.”
