Redwood Materials Lays Off 5% of Staff After Funding Round

Redwood Materials Announces Workforce Reduction

Following a recent $350 million funding round, Redwood Materials, a company specializing in battery recycling and cathode production, is implementing a workforce reduction impacting approximately 5% of its staff. This information was reported by Bloomberg News.

Details of the Workforce Adjustment

Based in Nevada, Redwood Materials employs roughly 1,200 individuals. Consequently, the current reduction in force affects a limited number of employees, estimated to be a few dozen.

Company Background and Evolution

Established in 2017 by JB Straubel, the former Chief Technology Officer of Tesla, the company initially concentrated on reclaiming materials from battery cell manufacturing waste, consumer electronics, and end-of-life electric vehicle (EV) batteries.

Redwood Materials recovers valuable materials such as cobalt, nickel, and lithium from these discarded sources. These reclaimed materials are then supplied to customers like Panasonic.

The company has expanded its operations to include the production of cathodes, a critical component in battery manufacturing.

Expansion into Energy Storage

Recently, Redwood Materials initiated a new venture utilizing repurposed EV batteries in energy storage solutions. This sector has experienced significant growth, particularly driven by the increasing energy demands of artificial intelligence (AI) data centers.

As of June, the company had accumulated over 1 gigawatt-hour of batteries specifically for these energy storage applications.

Recent Funding and Valuation

The $350 million Series E funding round, announced in October, increased the company’s valuation to approximately $6 billion, as previously covered by TechCrunch.

A company spokesperson has not provided any comment regarding the reported layoffs.