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10 Things to Know About Bloom
Energy<http://earth2tech.com/2010/02/21/10-things-to-know-about-bloom-energy/>
By Katie Fehrenbacher <http://earth2tech.com/author/katiefehren/>
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Posted February 21st, 2010 at 9:17 pm in clean
power<http://earth2tech.com/category/clean-power/>

Eight years and close to $400 million later, ultra-stealthy fuel cell maker
Bloom Energy is finally ready to officially launch and ditch its
“stealth-mode” status. The company started its first ever media blitz on
Sunday with a video on 60
Minutes<http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/02/18/60minutes/main6221135.shtml?tag=contentMain;contentBody>,
an article in Fortune<http://brainstormtech.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2010/02/19/is-k-r-sridhars-magic-box-ready-for-prime-time/>,
and soon to befollowed by the unveiling media event on
Wednesday<http://earth2tech.com/2010/02/16/bloom-energy-to-open-the-kimono-next-week/>
.

But while the public is just starting to hear the Bloom Energy name,
greentech watchers have been scrambling for every little bit of information
about Bloom Energy for years. Founder K.R. Sridhar told
Fortune<http://brainstormtech.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2010/02/19/is-k-r-sridhars-magic-box-ready-for-prime-time/>
that
the company is going public now because its Fortune 500 customers want to be
able to brag about it as a green move. Here’s 10 things that you should know
about Bloom Energy:

*1). It’s doing something that many are tackling:* While Bloom Energy
is nowpositioning
itself as revolutionary<http://earth2tech.com/2010/02/21/the-bloom-box-what-all-the-fuss-is-about/>
—
that will replace the power grid no less — fuel cells have been under
development by endless amounts of companies for decades. Any consumer
electronics company from Samsung to Sharp, or auto maker, from Hyundai to
Toyota, has researchers developing fuel cell technology. Fuel cell patents
have consistently remained at the top of the list of out of greentech
patents filed every year according to Clean Energy Patent Growth Index
(CEPGI). The problem is that fuel cells have remained too expensive. We’ll
see if Bloom can get those costs down.

*2). It’s far from a residential play:* Bloom’s first customers are big tech
companies like eBay and Google that have been using the large Bloom Boxes,
which cost between $700,000 to $800,000, to power campuses and data centers.
But Sridhar tells 60 Minutes that in 5 to 10 years the company hopes to
deliver a smaller Bloom box for under $3,000 for the residential market.
Both that price tag and that time frame seem waaay too optimistic — I’d say
at least double both estimates for a more realistic plan.

*3). Kleiner’s Big Bet:* Bloom Energy was famed venture capital fund Kleiner
Perkin’s first foray into greentech and Sridhar tells
Fortune<http://brainstormtech.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2010/02/19/is-k-r-sridhars-magic-box-ready-for-prime-time/>
that
he was “the evangelist who opened the company’s eyes to its huge potential.”
Kleiner needs a successful company in greentech to justify its investments
post-dot com — will Bloom be it?

*4). Bloom Energy IPO?:* Even when Bloom was still in stealth an IPO was
being discussed. Kleiner partner John Doerr said at an
event<http://earth2tech.com/2009/11/19/john-doerr-if-wed-predicted-the-market-crash-probably-no-green-fund/>
late
last year that he’d wager Bloom will take “nine years to a successful public
offering.” So, I guess that means one more year to go?

*5). Bloom Financials:* While Doerr said late last
year<http://earth2tech.com/2009/11/19/john-doerr-if-wed-predicted-the-market-crash-probably-no-green-fund/>
that
Bloom now has “substantial revenues and orders,” Fortune reports that
according to its VC sourcesBloom lost $85 million in
2008<http://brainstormtech.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2010/02/19/is-k-r-sridhars-magic-box-ready-for-prime-time/>.
Well, profits haven’t stopped other greentech firms from eying IPOs (Tesla).
Bloom has reportedly raised close to $400 million in funding.

*6). In With Google:* Bloom’s first customer was Google, and the search
engine giant is reportedly using 4 Bloom Boxes to power a datacenter. It’s
easy to see why Google would be eager to test out the technology: Google has
been very interested in the energy industry (just recently it was approved
to buy and sell
electricity<http://earth2tech.com/2010/02/18/google-can-now-buy-sell-energy-what-next/>)
and has been aggressive on innovating on energy efficiency technology for
its data centers to reduce costs (see GigaOM Pro
Report<http://pro.gigaom.com/2009/09/green-data-center-design-strategies/>:
Green Data Center Design Strategies). Connections also help, too: Doerr and
the Kleiner folks were early backers in Google.

*7). Former Mars Mission Tech:* Sridhar originally came up with the idea for
the Bloom Box after developing a device for NASA that would be able to
create oxygen on Mars. After NASA ditched their Mars mission, Sridhar had
the idea to reverse the oxygen-creating Mars box and use oxygen as the input
instead. Voila the Bloom Box. Side note: that is the best founding story
I’ve ever heard.

*8). Political Connections:* Former Secretary of State Colin Powell joined
Bloom Energy’s board of directors last year reports 60
Minutes<http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/02/18/60minutes/main6221135_page4.shtml?tag=contentMain;contentBody>.
Doerr himself is a member of the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory
Board. If Bloom is looking for loans or loan guarantees from the federal
government, as well as government customers, Powell and Doerr will be very
handy.

*9). Cali Subsidies:* It’s been an easier sell to the tech companies in
California because 20 percent of the cost of a Bloom Box is subsidized by
the state. Add that to a 30 percent federal tax break, and the price is cut
way down.

*10). Magic Box:* 60 Minutes reports that the magic behind the Bloom Box
starts with the company baking basic sand and cutting it into little squares
that are turned into a ceramic, which are then coated with green and black
“inks.” Using a special process Bloom creates these ceramic discs and stacks
them together interspersed with metal plates of “a cheap metal alloy.” The
bigger the stack the more power the Bloom Box will create.
--
Eric D. Schwerin
Rosemont Seneca Partners
(202) 333-1880
[email protected]