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Redwood Materials Cuts Jobs Despite $350M Raise
27 Nov
Summary
- Redwood Materials laid off approximately 5% of its workforce.
- The company recently secured $350 million in funding.
- Redwood Materials recycles batteries and produces cathodes.
Redwood Materials, a company focused on battery recycling and cathode production, has reportedly initiated layoffs affecting roughly 5% of its staff. This move comes shortly after the company successfully closed a $350 million Series E funding round, which boosted its valuation to an estimated $6 billion. The workforce reduction will impact a small number of employees within its approximately 1,200-person team.
Founded in 2017 by former Tesla CTO JB Straubel, Redwood Materials initially concentrated on extracting valuable materials such as cobalt, nickel, and lithium from battery production scrap, consumer electronics, and end-of-life EV batteries. These reclaimed materials are then sold to industry partners, including battery manufacturers like Panasonic.
The company has expanded its operations to include cathode production and has recently ventured into energy storage products. This new business line utilizes repurposed EV batteries and is positioned to capitalize on the burgeoning demand driven by AI data centers. As of June, Redwood Materials had amassed a stockpile of over 1 gigawatt-hour of batteries for this purpose.
