Battery startup Blackstone files for bankruptcy.
The start-up Blackstone Technology from Döbeln in Saxony wanted to conquer the battery market – now the company has filed for bankruptcy. As the District Court of Chemnitz confirmed to Wirtschaftswoche, the application for insolvency was received. A provisional insolvency administrator has not been appointed.
Batteries from the 3D printer – with this story, Ulrich Ernst, head of the Swiss parent company Blackstone Resources, not only got investors to invest in Blackstone shares. Above all, Blackstone has secured funding of over 30 million – from the Federal Ministry of Economics, the State of Saxony, Switzerland and the European Commission. Some of the money has already been paid out.
In May, WirtschaftsWoche reported that there were serious doubts about the success story. According to this, there could never have been a series production of batteries from the 3D printer in Döbeln. Because the system should not have worked properly.
Blackstone continued to spread success stories. And politicians let themselves be harnessed for corporate PR: Saxony’s Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer posed in front of the 3D printer, his Economics Minister Holger Dulig had his picture taken with one of Gritzka’s batteries. The cells are said to have been dummies.
Employees and suppliers have been waiting for money for months, and the first employees have been successful in their lawsuits against Blackstone in recent days. The public prosecutor’s office in Chemnitz is investigating on suspicion of subsidy fraud.
The Blackstone company did not respond to questions from WirtschaftsWoche about the bankruptcy filing. Company boss Ulrich Ernst said in May that “a possible investigation and its results are positively anticipated”. Blackstone successfully set up, tested and produced a 3D printing process to manufacture a lithium-ion battery. Until recently, Blackstone’s management had spread the hope that an investor would still make the dream of a successful start-up possible. Apparently nothing came of it.
Trouble with the stock exchange regulator
The parent company Blackstone Resources has been in trouble in Switzerland for the past year. Authorities had complained about violations of accounting rules and market manipulation.
The shares had to be taken off the stock exchange. Blackstone said he “did not agree” with the allegations and presented the withdrawal from the stock exchange as his own decision. They wanted to go public “shortly” in Germany, England or the USA. The shareholders would have to “be patient”. To date, Blackstone has not presented a new trading venue.
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Battery start-up Blackstone files for bankruptcy, June 29, 2023
