Redwood Supplies lays off 10% in restructuring to chase vitality storage enterprise

Redwood Supplies has laid off round 135 staff, or roughly 10% of its workforce, because it restructures to raised accommodate its rising vitality storage enterprise, TechCrunch has discovered.

The cuts come simply 5 months after Redwood minimize 5% of its workforce, and three months after it closed a $425 million funding spherical that boosted the battery-recycling firm’s valuation to north of $6 billion, as TechCrunch beforehand reported.

It’s been a tough time within the battery business currently. Earlier this month, battery recycler Ascend Components filed for Chapter 11 chapter safety, citing “insurmountable” monetary challenges. Some battery makers have additionally restructured or gone out of enterprise because the automotive business within the U.S. has backed away from its most optimistic and bold plans to transition to electrical automobiles.

However Redwood Supplies founder and CEO JB Straubel informed staff that this new spherical of cuts is just not an indication that the corporate is heading down the identical path.

“Redwood immediately is the strongest it’s ever been,” Straubel wrote in an electronic mail to the employees who weren’t laid off, in accordance with a replica seen by TechCrunch. “The supplies enterprise is properly on its solution to profitability and has an thrilling roadmap forward.”

Straubel famous that Redwood “proceed[s] to dominate the US battery recycling market” but additionally touted the corporate’s “nice momentum” in its new vitality storage enterprise. Redwood has just lately introduced offers with Crusoe AI and, most just lately, electrical automaker Rivian to offer recycled batteries that can be utilized to energy these firms’ services. The corporate declined to remark past the contents of Straubel’s electronic mail.

In his message, Straubel wrote that “elements of the corporate have expanded sooner than wanted to help the course” of Redwood. Because of this, he mentioned Redwood is making cuts throughout a number of divisions, together with the engineering and operations organizations, in accordance with an worker who was granted anonymity to debate the layoffs.

“We’re assured that we are able to ship on our important tasks with a smaller crew that’s extra targeted,” he wrote. “Now we have efficiently tailored to modifications available in the market which have bankrupted a lot of our opponents.”

Straubel went on to put in writing that he’s “extra excited than ever with our path forward as we construct probably the most built-in and cost-effective important supplies and vitality storage enterprise on this planet.”

“It is a self-sustaining enterprise and can proceed to make this firm extra worthwhile over time. Now we have the crew and the know-how to do what no different firm can,” he wrote.

Staff who had been laid off had been informed by Redwood’s chief HR officer that the layoffs had been made “to sharpen our focus, our work and the dimensions of our groups to help the course Redwood goes sooner or later,” in accordance with a replica of her electronic mail, which was seen by TechCrunch.

Staff who had been laid off are receiving severance and paid well being advantages, in accordance with Straubel’s electronic mail, in addition to “profession transition help.”

“I’m grateful to the roughly 135 staff who we are saying goodbye to immediately — they’ve all contributed to constructing Redwood,” he wrote.