Ryan Breslow, co-founder of e-commerce software team Bolt, was subpoenaed along with the company last year by the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The Information first reported the news on Friday..

A letter written in April by a lawyer representing Bolt’s investors said the SEC was investigating whether federal securities laws were violated in connection with statements made when Bolt was raising money in 2021. The letter was sent to Bolt’s general counsel as part of a lawsuit to inspect company records.

According to the letter referenced by The Information, it was alleged that the Breslow board and Bolt “misled” investors while raising funds for the company. Series E Round of $355 million, valuing the company at $11 billion. Bolt’s two investors, Brian Reinken of WestCap Management and Arjun Sethi of Tribe Capital Management, were Series C and Series B investors, respectively.

The attorney representing WestCap and Tribe Capital wrote that Breslow “made material misrepresentations about the Company’s financial condition and product portfolio that resulted in Series E investors purchasing the Company at a grossly inflated valuation.”

Shortly after the Series E financing was announced in January 2022, Breslow made headlines both positively and negatively in relation to comments you made about competitors and investors, and ended up resigning as CEO of Bolt. Shortly after, launched a wellness marketplace called Love which, according to his LinkedIn profile, he founded in January 2022.

When asked about the subpoena and lawsuit, an SEC spokesperson tells TechCrunch that the agency “does not comment on the existence or nonexistence of a potential investigation.”

On a separate matter, a lawsuit filed this week v. Breslow by Steve Sarracino, a former Activant Ventures board member, alleges that Breslow removed him and two other board members when they refused to help Breslow repay a $30 million loan. Sarracino’s lawsuit also alleges that CEO Maju Kuruvilla and three later appointed board members failed to force Breslow to repay the loans.

When contacted for comment, Breslow did not respond personally, but brought in a Bolt spokesperson who acknowledged the lawsuit regarding the loan, writing via email that “Bolt is not the direct target of this litigation and we continue to seek resolution of the outstanding amount. We remain well capitalized and the existence of this outstanding obligation to the company does not and will not affect our day-to-day operations or outlook.”

By the time Bolt announced its financing of Series E, the company was a hot commodity.

Speaking of receiving $355 million, Breslow told TechCrunch at the time: “It may seem like a lot of money raised, but not really, this is capital for us to be competitive. We don’t just want to be on par with our competitors, we want to be better. The capital will allow us to attract top talent, make strategic acquisitions and expand into Europe, which is important to us.”

Although Bolt had no problem at the time attracting large amounts of capital, Breslow has been public about his problems attracting Silicon Valley investors early on. It was just after Series E that it started post those thoughts on twitter.

It wasn’t long after he stepped down as chief executive, insisting his resignation was not tied to the attention his tweets garnered.

Soon after, it seemed like things were still going on a roller coaster for Bolt. the company was sued by one of his biggest clients in May 2022 (the case was solved months later). The next day, TechCrunch reported about a blog post CEO Maju Kuruvilla wrote that revealed a 131% year-over-year increase in buyer accounts and a 192% year-over-year increase in total active merchant accounts.

Then just a few weeks later, Bolt fired more than 100 people in a restructuring move that Kuruvilla, again via blog post, attributed to changing market conditions, writing: “It is no secret that market conditions in our industry and technology sector are changing, and in the face of macro challenges, we have been taking steps to adapt our business. In an effort to ensure Bolt owns his own destiny, the leadership team and I have made the decision to secure our financial position, expand our track, and achieve profitability with the money we have already raised.”

After Series E, The New York Times reported that Bolt’s leadership began another round of investor talks to seek additional capital at a higher valuation of $14 billion; however, that has yet to materialize.