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H2 Clipper hires veteran aerospace finance executive, Joe Massaquoi, as new CFO

H2 Clipper, Inc., an aerospace and alternative energy company developing uniquely capable H2-powered airships and end-to-end H2 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 H2 transportation solutions designed to deliver green H2 from remote areas where H2 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 H2 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 H2 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 B 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 several 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 MM in assets.

Massaquoi is the latest high-level executive to join the H2 Clipper team, which includes internationally recognized and notable experts in H2, 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.