Seattle-based clean energy company First Mode is laying off about 20% of its roughly 240 U.S. employees.
A First Mode spokesperson confirmed the layoffs on Wednesday and said most of the company's U.S. workforce is based in Washington. First Mode in January 2023 closed a $1.5 billion merger with nuGen, the clean energy division of global mining company Anglo American.
First Mode also has a supply agreement to retrofit and decarbonize about 400 Anglo American haul trucks over the next 15 years.
Co-founder Chris Voorhees left the company in September for personal reasons unrelated to the layoffs, the spokesperson said. Voorhees had been First Mode's CEO until last year's merger, after which he became the chief product and technology officer. Voorhees' LinkedIn page doesn't list a new role. Julian Soles, previously Anglo American's head of technology development, took over as CEO after the merger.
First Mode has about 125 employees overseas. The company planned to move its headquarters to London with the nuGen merger but now considers Seattle its headquarters.
GeekWire first reported the layoffs.
First Mode, founded in 2018, focuses on clean energy for heavy industry. The company received a $200 million investment from Anglo American as part of the merger deal with nuGen. Anglo American took a majority stake in First Mode as part of the merger, and First Mode founders and shareholders hold the remaining balance. Its headcount growth had been rapid, having had 30 employees before the pandemic.
First Mode launched a hydrogen-powered haul truck for Anglo American that entered its commercial fleet in 2022.
First Mode initially launched with deep space exploration focus, supported by Voorhees' background as a NASA mechanical engineer, but after working with Anglo American for years, First Mode put aside its space efforts.
In July, First Mode announced plans for a 45,000-square-foot facility in Seattle's Sodo area to build its power plants. The new space will serve as validation for its manufacturing process and allow the company to add more manufacturing elsewhere. The company has an additional roughly 90,000 square feet between facilities in Pioneer Square and in Sodo. First Mode also has a testing site in Centralia and a presence in Perth, Australia.
