Contractors are suing Modern Hydrogen, saying the Bill Gates-funded startup left their final invoices unpaid.

John Hinkey knew there was a risk in doing contract work for startups – sometimes their money went south and his mechanical design company might not get paid. But Modern Hydrogen felt like a safe bet. The company received public support from Bill Gates, raised $125 million from investors, and was on the verge of launching a commercial utility to produce hydrogen fuel.

Then in late October, Hinkey — who owns Geminus Technology Development — and other contractors received notices from Modern Hydrogen to abruptly terminate their contracts, citing “general policy and economic conditions.”

Now four contractors have filed a joint lawsuit, and one has filed a separate lawsuit, saying the Seattle-area clean energy company hasn’t paid their final invoices. The lawsuits allege that Modern Hydrogen owes $363,458 plus interest and attorneys’ fees.

“I would warn all other small organizations,” Hinkey said, that just because someone like Bill Gates backs the company, if the project stops “that doesn’t mean they’re going to pay their bills.”

Modern Hydrogen’s decline coincided with Gates’ retreat from his climate efforts — canceling his Breakthrough Energy plan and sending a memo just days before the contracts were to be terminated in which he again signaled a shift in priorities. “Although climate change will have serious consequences… it will not lead to human deaths,” Gates wrote.

Steven Brncic, the plaintiff in the joint suit, noticed Gates’ change in mood at the time.

“I remember thinking, ‘oh, you know what we’re doing is basically a different energy,'” Brncic recalled. When the cancellation notices came, he wondered about the connection.

Neither Modern Hydrogen founder and CEO Tony Pan nor Gates responded to GeekWire’s requests for comment.

It is unclear what role Gates may have played in Modern Hydrogen’s sudden decline. The company was launched in 2015 at Intellectual Ventures, an innovation hub created by former Microsoft CTO Nathan Myhrvold and backed by Gates. The Microsoft founder backed the startup through Gates Frontier, his private investment arm, but was not a board member or advisor to the company.

A promising pivot, then silence

The startup initially focused on generating electricity from heat recovered from electrical appliances. It has spent the past three years splitting natural gas to produce hydrogen fuel and solid carbon, used in industries including asphalt additives.

Gates visited the company’s Woodinville, Wash., facility in 2024, and took a wheelbarrow and shovel to fill a parking lot hole with carbon-infused asphalt.

When Modern Hydrogen ceased operations last year, it was about to complete its first commercial unit for a Texas customer, having already completed pilot projects with facilities in Portland and Miami.

A few hours before his contract was cancelled, Brncic was assigned extra work on the project. The change was “just awful,” he said.

Modern Hydrogen has not said if it is shutting down permanently. It laid off most of its employees in early December.

Smaller firms, greater exposure

Hinkey founded his Seattle-based company more than two decades ago and worked on Modern Hydrogen projects over the years. One of his three employees was helping with mechanical design and thermal analysis of the company’s reactor vessel, working closely with their team several times a week.

Geminus is part of a joint lawsuit filed in King County Superior Court, with a claim for $81,500.

“That could be an exit deal,” Hinkey said. “That hurts a lot.”

Brncic Engineering says it is owed $18,000 — the largest loss the Missouri-based company has suffered in its 15 years in business. The two additional contractors in the joint suit seek less damages. A separate lawsuit was filed by D&D Welding of Mukilteo, Wash., which says it owes $244,992 for fabricating steel frames.

Hinkey sometimes requires new or younger clients to pay 50% up front — but Modern Hydrogen, with significant funding and about 80 employees, can set its own terms, he said.

“If you push too hard in these contracts, they don’t hire you,” Brncic added. “They go to the next guy.”

A thank you note, then a formal fight

On October 30, one of Hinkey’s employees received an email from Amir Moftakhar, Modern Hydrogen’s chief financial officer, saying the contract had expired.

“This decision is part of an advanced restructuring effort and does not reflect your work,” Moftakhar said. “We want to sincerely thank you for the professionalism, dedication, and quality you have shown in all of our cooperation and understanding.”

Hydrogen’s modern lawyers struck a different tone in the initial response to the joint lawsuit. “Plaintiffs failed to perform and complete all work and services contemplated under the Agreement to Defendant’s satisfaction,” the court document said. The trial is scheduled for February 2027.

Hinkey rejects the idea that his company hasn’t finished its work.

“We did,” he said, “until you told us to stop.”