Quanergy Systems

Quanergy Systems is a public Silicon Valley technology company that develops LiDAR sensors and related technologies.

History

2022: Alisher Usmanov invested in developer

On October 25, 2022, it became known that Russian businessman Alisher Usmanov invested in the startup Quanergy Systems, based in Silicon Valley. This young company designs various lidar-based systems, as well as sensors for smart buildings and smart megacities.

According to The Wall Street Journal, citing studied public and corporate documents, emails, as well as records of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), investments in Quanergy Systems and large American IT companies by Russian citizens were carried out through the Bridgewaters venture fund and related offshore companies. It is alleged, in particular, that this Isle of Man-registered structure helped Russian businessmen invest millions of dollars in giants such as Meta Platforms (recognized as an extremist organization; activities in Russia are prohibited), Twitter and Airbnb.

Data The SEC says Quanergy Systems' 16 percent stake is owned by Rising Tide V LLC of, San Francisco which is receiving support from Bridgewaters. And in Bridgewaters, in turn, funds, according to information The Wall Street Journal, invested Mr. Usmanov. At the time of the initial public offering of IPO shares of Quanergy Systems in February 2022, the fund owned a stake of $175 million in this startup.

Bridgewaters says it operates entirely legally and does not support operations related to evading American sanctions. Representatives of the Russian businessman also commented on the situation:

{{quote 'We categorically reject claims that Mr. Usmanov used a network of shell companies and intermediaries to withdraw funds from Russia. Nothing like this has ever happened^[1] }}

Notes