AquaHydrex’s clean-tech R&D operation in Louisville to be liquidated at auction

LOUISVILLE — Millions of dollars worth of intellectual property and laboratory equipment owned by Louisville-based clean-tech firm AquaHydrex Inc., which declared Chapter 7 bankruptcy in late 2023, is set to be sold at auction this month. 

“The sale features AquaHydrex’s intellectual property assets, such as patents, blueprints, proprietary tooling, molds, and more,” Nick Jimenez, vice president of global business development at Liquidity Services Inc., which is running the auction alongside Tiger Capital, said in a solicitation for the auction set for Jan. 18. “In the renewable energy space, there is intense interest in — and government incentives for — green hydrogen. These IP assets could be valuable to operators looking to capitalize on these opportunities.”

AquaHydrex, according to its website, was founded in 2012 in Australia with support from private investment firm True North Venture Partners. The company opened its North American headquarters in Colorado in 2015. Bankruptcy court documents indicate that the company had been operating out of a Louisville facility on Boxelder Street, where it had moved in July 2023 from a nearby location on Dogwood Street. 

AquaHydrex’s mission was to develop a technology platform for the creation of green hydrogen, an alternative to traditional carbon-based energy sources. 

The company did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday and bankruptcy court documents shed little light on why its leaders opted to seek voluntary Chapter 7 protections. 

When it filed for bankruptcy in October 2023, AquaHydrex listed assets of a bit more than $6.1 million and liabilities of $433,000. The company said it had between 50 and 99 creditors. 

The upcoming auction, according to Tiger, will include lab equipment such as autoclaves, environmental chambers, vacuum-tube furnaces; research and development equipment such as spectrometers; and machining tools such as milling machines and laser welders.

“The multimillion-dollar, court-ordered bankruptcy sale boasts many examples of high-quality, like-new machinery and equipment,” Tiger managing director Chad Farrell said in a prepared statement. “AquaHydrex had acquired a wide array of highly desirable laboratory, R&D and test and measurement equipment, making this online bankruptcy auction a strong opportunity for buyers in multiple sectors. We also anticipate strong energy-sector interest in the gas-processing equipment that AquaHydrex employed as part of its electrolysis-based approach to extracting hydrogen from H2O.”

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