Redwood Materials Lays Off 5% of Staff After $350M Funding
▼ Summary
– Redwood Materials is laying off approximately 5% of its workforce, affecting a few dozen of its 1,200 employees.
– The company recently secured $350 million in funding, increasing its valuation to around $6 billion.
– Founded by former Tesla CTO JB Straubel, Redwood recycles materials like cobalt, nickel, and lithium from battery scrap and used electronics.
– It has expanded into cathode production and now also uses old EV batteries to create energy storage products.
– Redwood has stockpiled over 1 gigawatt-hour of batteries for its energy storage business, which supports AI data centers.
Redwood Materials, a prominent player in battery recycling and cathode manufacturing, has initiated a workforce reduction affecting approximately 5% of its employees. This decision comes shortly after the company secured a substantial $350 million in Series E funding, which elevated its valuation to an estimated $6 billion. The layoffs impact several dozen individuals from a total workforce of around 1,200 people based in Nevada.
Established in 2017 by JB Straubel, a former Chief Technology Officer at Tesla, Redwood began by recycling waste materials from battery manufacturing, consumer electronics, and end-of-life electric vehicle batteries. The company specializes in recovering valuable metals such as cobalt, nickel, and lithium, which are then supplied back to clients like Panasonic. Over time, Redwood expanded its operations to include cathode production, a critical component for new batteries.
More recently, the firm ventured into the energy storage market by repurposing used EV batteries. This new business line has gained significant traction, especially with the rising demand from energy-intensive AI data centers. By June, Redwood had accumulated over 1 gigawatt-hour of batteries dedicated to this energy storage initiative.
Despite the recent financial boost from its Series E round announced in October, the company has proceeded with staff cuts. A spokesperson for Redwood Materials chose not to provide comments regarding the layoffs.
(Source: TechCrunch)
