Pasadena-based Company Heliogen to Go Public In Combination That Could See Its Value Pegged at $2 Billion

Heliogen, a Pasadena-based renewable energy technology company, Wednesday said that it has entered into an agreement with Athena Technology Acquisition Corporation, a women-led blank check company, to form a combination that would be valued at $2 billion.

Athena said the resulting enterprise will be renamed Heliogen, Inc. and will remain listed on the New York Stock Exchange as HLGN. The merger is expected to accelerate Heliogen’s mission is to empower a sustainable future with low-cost AI-enabled concentrated solar energy as an affordable alternative to fossil fuels.

Heliogen’s modular concentrated solar power plants, which use the company’s proprietary heliostat layout and control system, can revolutionize the energy market by alleviating intermittency issues associated with renewable sources of power generation.

The company’s proprietary system can facilitate concentration of the sun’s rays and is able to generate temperatures that can exceed 1,000 degrees centigrade at the point of focus. This heat can then be captured and converted for industrial use, power generation, or to produce green hydrogen fuel, with the goal of providing near-24 hour renewable energy.

Heliogen is commencing the commercialization of these concentrated solar power modules with internationally recognized customers in the industrial, mining, and energy sectors.

Led by Chairwoman Isabelle Freidheim and CEO Phyllis Newhouse, Athena is one of the only entirely women-led blank check companies, also called “special purpose acquisition companies,” or SPACs, with a diverse, all-female team of managers, advisors and investors.

A SPAC is a shell corporation listed on a stock exchange with the purpose of acquiring a private company, thus making it public without going through the traditional initial public offering process.

“We very much look forward to working with Bill and the entire team at Heliogen in the pursuit of a cleaner, decarbonized world,” Newhouse said in a statement, referring to Bill Gross, founder and CEO of Heliogen. “Chairwoman Isabelle Freidheim and I co-founded Athena with a mission to work with disruptive technology companies with the potential to advance industry, and even society, through innovation. Heliogen absolutely meets that standard, not only in terms of solar-power generation, but in its ability to produce other sources of clean energy that may replace fossil fuels.”

Gross said Heliogen is excited to be combining with Athena to leverage their collective expertise as the company executes their strategy to accelerate growth and scale their groundbreaking concentrated solar technology for the global energy market.

“I have been building companies nearly my entire life, and the opportunity that Heliogen’s technology represents, to decarbonize power generation, replace other carbon-intensive sources of industrial heat, and contribute to the cost efficient production of alternative fuels such as green hydrogen, is at the head of the pack in terms of its potential to make a positive impact on society,” Gross said. “As economies and industries worldwide continue to decarbonize, I believe Heliogen’s AI-enabled technology will play an important role in supporting and making those goals reality.”

Athena’s mission-driven management team combines extensive investment and operational expertise with a history of founding and scaling companies to positions of industry leadership. Through the Heliogen combination, Athena CEO Newhouse is believed to be the first woman of color in the U.S. to take a company public through a SPAC.

Heliogen’s leadership will remain intact immediately after closing, with Gross continuing as CEO of the combined company, the statement said. He will work alongside Heliogen’s current executive team, including veterans of SpaceX, McKinsey and Company, Bechtel, Idealab, Deutsche Bank, and NRG Energy.

Newhouse is anticipated to join the Board of Directors of the combined company, which will include representation from both Heliogen and Athena.

To know more about Heliogen, whose offices are at 130 W. Union Street in Pasadena, visit www.heliogen.com.