H2 Clipper Hires Veteran Aerospace Finance Executive, Joe Massaquoi, As New CFO


SANTA BARBARA, Calif., July 11, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- H2 Clipper, Inc., an aerospace and alternative energy company developing uniquely capable hydrogen-powered airships and end-to-end hydrogen infrastructure solutions, announces that Joe Massaquoi has joined the company as Chief Financial Officer (CFO).

Massaquoi, who was an executive at Boeing for over eight years, brings more than 25 years of experience as a global finance executive and investment banker for growth-stage private companies, mainly in the aerospace/aviation, cleantech, and transportation sectors. As H2 Clipper’s CFO, Massaquoi will focus on strategic financial planning and management to prepare the company for a significant capital raise. This will bring the company closer to commercializing its two patented, complementary hydrogen transportation solutions designed to deliver green hydrogen from remote areas where hydrogen can be most inexpensively produced to places where clean energy is most needed.

H2 Clipper founder and CEO Rinaldo Brutoco said, “Joe shares our vision of a world operating on clean, sustainable, and disruptively efficient renewable energy. During his illustrious career, Joe has championed many disruptive technologies. His expertise and industry experience will be pivotal in helping us achieve our goal of providing a rapidly scalable hydrogen infrastructure solution, which is essential to addressing climate change.”

Massaquoi said, “I am passionate about innovation that connects people and improves our lives, and I am very motivated by H2 Clipper’s mission to advance the hydrogen economy worldwide. My professional experience has been with leading companies in both the energy and aviation sectors -- H2 Clipper unlocks the value proposition of each in a unique and sustainable way.”

With a long record of success in leading key corporate initiatives, Massaquoi’s career has focused on securing the capital necessary to accelerate growth and drive M&A transactions from strategic inception to successful integration. He has enabled over $37 billion in external capital infusion into private and public companies, guided the establishment of seven strategic joint ventures, and executed over 40 M&A domestic and cross-border transactions. He has completed project assignments in North America, Europe, Southeast Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Most recently, as CFO of Boom Supersonic and Boeing’s Initium Aerospace, Massaquoi grew teams responsible for financial oversight and capital allocation and nurtured key investor and stakeholder relationships. During his tenure at Boom, the company closed its largest-ever funding round, completed inaugural independent audits, and revamped the annual strategic planning process. At Initium from 2019 - 2020, he secured shareholder funding to develop an advanced auxiliary propulsion system for commercial aircraft and ensured the successful implementation of a new ERP system. From 2012 - 2019, Massaquoi served as Boeing’s Director of Corporate Development, where he led cross-functional teams by establishing a record number of commercial joint ventures.

Massaquoi began his career as an investment banker. As Executive Director in M&A at Credit Suisse, he advised utilities and telecom clients as those respective industries underwent transformative shifts from fossil fuels to renewables, and from wireline to broadband/wireless technology.

Born in Sierra Leone, Massaquoi emigrated to the United States for college and is a naturalized U.S. citizen. He holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a B.S. in physics from Morehouse College. He has served on a number of not-for-profit organization boards, most recently as a Board Director for Red Rocks Credit Union, a Colorado-based financial institution with 16,000 members and ~$360 million in assets.

Massaquoi is the latest high-level executive to join the H2 Clipper team, which includes internationally recognized and notable experts in hydrogen, fuel cell technology, logistics, and corporate finance. Most recently, executive search leader Thomas J. Neff joined H2 Clipper’s Advisory Board. Other Board members include Peter A. Georgescu, Chairman Emeritus of Young & Rubicam, as Lead Board Director, and Ángel Gurría, renowned international diplomat and former OECD Secretary-General.

About H2 Clipper, Inc.
H2 Clipper, Inc. is the developer of high-speed, Pipeline-in-the-Sky hydrogen-powered airships for long distance global transport that use no fossil fuels and have a host of commercial and humanitarian applications, and of the new Pipe-within-a-Pipe™ “last mile” distribution system to deliver pure hydrogen to end users. Since 2008, the company has made significant strategic investments to research, develop, and patent core IP in modern airship design and regional solutions for delivery of hydrogen, forming a global end-to-end hydrogen infrastructure.

H2 Clipper recently completed the research and concept design phases on its disruptive modern airships using the Dassault Systèmes 3DEXPERIENCE® platform. The airship-based Pipeline-in-the-Sky™ for transporting pure hydrogen to market also enables point-to-point delivery of cargo and other payloads at speeds of 150+ miles per hour; a significant advantage over truck, rail, ship, airplane, or pipeline.

Media Contact:
Lisa Murray
Trevi Communications, Inc.
O: 978.750.0333 / M: 617.835.0396
lisa@trevicomm.com 

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/9959b313-0a29-4a5b-b7bc-62c19d6367f5


H2 Clipper Hires Veteran Aerospace Finance Executive, Joe Massaquoi, As New CFO