Sacramento Inno

Sacramento-based electric motor technology company Highlands Power Inc. has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation.

The bankruptcy, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California in Sacramento, lists less than $3,000 in assets and liabilities of $931,365.

The bankruptcy was filed on behalf of the company by Conner Whaley, its former chief technical officer, whose LinkedIn page says he stopped working for Highlands two years ago.

According to the filing, Whaley owns 60% of the company. He didn’t return emails seeking comment.

Highlands had no revenue for the past three years, according to the filing.

The company developed a small and light electric motor that produced high torque at low speeds, which would allow the motor to operate on a car without a gearbox. The motor itself was also smaller and flatter than standard electric motors, which would allow, in theory, the motors to be installed at the drive wheels on a car. That would further reduce weight by eliminating heavy axle and drivetrain components.

Highlands Power was started in 2015. It made a splash locally in 2018 when it moved from Hayward to Sacramento. At a reception party at the former Urban Hive location on Alhambra Boulevard, the company was welcomed to the local startup community by Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg and Greater Sacramento Economic Council CEO Barry Broome. Highlands Power was also a finalist in the Sacramento Kings’ Capitalize competition for startup businesses in 2018.

Highlands' largest creditor, VLM LLC, is a family office private equity investor from San Francisco that is owed just under $400,000. Engineering firm PEM Motion of Aachen, Germany, is owed $200,005.

The company’s former CEO, Dimitrios Dovas, is owed $64,671. He was CEO from 2015 through August last year. According to the filing, he owns 40% of the company.

The city of Sacramento is owed $50,000.

The rest of the creditors appear to be friends and family investors and smaller debts.

The attorney representing Highlands Power in the bankruptcy, Matthew DeCaminada with the Stutz Law Office in Sacramento, didn’t respond to requests for information.