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Redwood Materials lays off 10% in restructuring to chase energy storage business

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6 months ago

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Redwood Materials has laid off around 135 employees, or roughly 10% of its workforce, as it restructures to better accommodate its growing energy storage business, TechCrunch has learned.

The cuts come just five months after Redwood cut 5% of its workforce, and three months after it closed a $425 million funding round that boosted the battery recycling company’s valuation to north of $6 billion, as TechCrunch previously reported.

It’s been a difficult time in the battery industry lately. Earlier this month, battery recycler Ascend Elements filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, citing “insurmountable” financial challenges. Some battery-makers have also restructured or gone out of business as the automotive industry in the U.S. has backed away from its most optimistic and ambitious plans to transition to electric vehicles.

But Redwood Materials founder and CEO JB Straubel told employees that this new round of cuts is not a sign that the company is heading down the same path.

“Redwood today is the strongest it’s ever been,” Straubel wrote in an email to the workers who weren’t laid off, according to a copy viewed by TechCrunch. “The materials business is well on its way to profitability and has an exciting roadmap ahead.”

Straubel noted that Redwood “continue[s] to dominate the US battery recycling market” but also touted the company’s “great momentum” in its new energy storage business. Redwood has recently announced deals with Crusoe AI and, most recently, electric automaker Rivian to provide recycled batteries that can be used to power those companies’ facilities. The company declined to comment beyond the contents of Straubel’s email.

In his message, Straubel wrote that “parts of the company have expanded faster than needed to support the direction” of Redwood. As a result, he said Redwood is making cuts across multiple divisions, including the engineering and operations organizations, according to an employee who was granted anonymity to discuss the layoffs.

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“We are confident that we can deliver on our critical projects with a smaller team that is more focused,” he wrote. “We have successfully adapted to changes in the market that have bankrupted many of our competitors.”

Straubel went on to write that he is “more excited than ever with our path ahead as we build the most integrated and cost-effective critical materials and energy storage business in the world.”

“This is a self-sustaining business and will continue to make this company more valuable over time. We have the team and the technology to do what no other company can,” he wrote.

Workers who were laid off were told by Redwood’s chief HR officer that the layoffs were made “to sharpen our focus, our work and the size of our teams to support the direction Redwood is going in the future,” according to a copy of her email, which was viewed by TechCrunch.

Employees who were laid off are receiving severance and paid health benefits, according to Straubel’s email, as well as “career transition assistance.”

“I am grateful to the approximately 135 employees who we say goodbye to today — they’ve all contributed to building Redwood,” he wrote.

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SSA Adeboye’s Media Aide Jide-Ojo Joins African Leaders for Sport Business Summit in Nairobi

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October 5, 2026

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Jide-Ojo Jide Olusola, SA Media to the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Grassroots Sports Development, Hon. Adeboye Anthony Adeyinka, has been named among the speakers for the Year of Return Africa (YORA) Summit & Expo 2026 holding in Nairobi, Kenya.

Jide-Ojo, Founder/CEO of 247SportsNetwork Limited, publishers of Sports247.ng, will join leading African business executives, investors, innovators and industry stakeholders at the summit scheduled for October 13–14 at Broadwalk Mall, Westlands, Nairobi.

The veteran media executive, who has accumulated over 30 years of experience in the media industry, will participate in the summit’s sport business segment on October 14, bringing perspectives from sports journalism, grassroots development, strategic communications, partnerships and the commercialisation of African sport.

Jide-Ojo joins a diverse speakers’ lineup that includes Blue Mahoe Capital Chairman and CEO David Mullings, Kenya Film Commission Board Chairman Sudi Wandabusi, Capital Markets Authority Blockchain and Fintech Analyst James Hillary Obonyo, Emmppek Group Chairman Emmanuel Audu-Ohwavborua, and B|E Strategy Founder and Chief Strategist Charles Ellison, among others.

The summit, themed “Fueling the Future: Unlocking Africa’s Entrepreneurial Potential,” will examine investment, innovation, technology, entrepreneurship and opportunities within Africa’s creative economy.

A major focus of the sport business conversation will be the monetisation of Africa’s sports, media and entertainment industry, including how the continent can transform its enormous sporting talent, passionate audiences and compelling stories into sustainable commercial opportunities.

Through Sports247 and his current media role supporting the Presidency’s grassroots sports development agenda, Jide-Ojo has consistently promoted emerging athletes, grassroots competitions and initiatives aimed at creating greater visibility and opportunities within Nigeria’s sports ecosystem.

His contribution in Nairobi is expected to highlight the increasingly important role of media, digital storytelling, athlete branding, sponsorship and strategic partnerships in building commercially sustainable African sports properties.

The Nairobi platform will also provide an opportunity to share Nigeria’s grassroots sports experience while strengthening connections between sport, media, investment and business across Africa.

Following the Nairobi programme, YORA activities will continue in Kilifi, Kenya, from October 16–17.

YORA Summit & EXPO Kenya, 2026 is a three-day event including YORA Awards taking place from  12th – 17th Nairobi | Kilifi, Kenya

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NAIPE 11th Annual Conference Moves to 12 Noon as 28 Stakeholders Back Event

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October 5, 2026

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About 28 insurance and pension regulators and operators have backed the upcoming 11th edition of the Nigerian Association of Insurance and Pension Editors (NAIPE) Annual Conference, scheduled to hold in Lagos.

This is even as the timing of the event scheduled to hold on Thursday, October 8, 2026, at Oriental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos, has been shifted from 9:00am to 12:00pm same day.

This is to allow Insurance operators, who will be attending Insurers Committee meeting earlier that day, conclude their meeting and attend the conference.

The national conference with a focus on the emerging market dynamics in Nigeria’s insurance and pension sectors, follows  the just concluded recapitalisation exercise in the insurance sector and ongoing exercise in the pension industry.

Themed: “Post-Recapitalisation and Market Dynamics in Insurance & Pension Sectors,” the Chief Executive Officer of United Capital Asset Management Limited, Dr. Odiri Oginni, will deliver the keynote address, focusing on the insurance  perspective while Mr. Oguche Aguda,
Founder and Managing Partner of HRISP Partners, will equally deliver a paper on the theme, focusing on the pension perspective.

The Group Managing Director of Custodian Investment Plc, Mr. Wole Oshin, will chair the event.

According to NAIPE, the conference is coming at a critical period for the two sectors, as insurance operators have just concluded their recapitalisation exercise, while pension operators are expected to conclude theirs in 2027.

The high level discourse will therefore examine how funds raised through recapitalisation can be strategically invested and deployed to generate stronger returns, deepen market confidence and improve service delivery to shareholders and policyholders.

Expected dignitaries include the Commissioner for Insurance & Chief Executive Officer of the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), Mr. Olusegun Omosehin; Director-General of the National Pension Commission (PenCom), Ms. Omolola Oloworaran; chief executives of insurance companies, broking firms, investment and securities companies and Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs), as well as regulators, labour unions, students and other stakeholders.

Speaking ahead of the conference, Chairperson of NAIPE, Mrs. Ebere Nwoji said, the annual gathering provides a platform for insurance and pension journalists to contribute to the development of both sectors by promoting greater public understanding of insurance and pension as instruments for financial security and protection against old-age poverty.

Nwoji expressed appreciation to operators and regulators in the two sectors for their continued support for the conference, stressing that, the benefits derived from the annual event outweigh the resources committed to organising it.

She described this year’s theme as timely, given the significant structural changes taking place in the insurance and pension industries through recapitalisation.

She noted that, the insurance industry concluded its recapitalisation exercise on July 31, 2026, while the pension industry is currently undergoing a similar process expected to be completed next year.

The NAIPE chairperson, particularly, commended the leadership of NAICOM for successfully concluding the insurance industry’s recapitalisation exercise, describing it as a major achievement for Omosehin.

According to her, the Commissioner ‘took the bull by the horns’ in breaking what she described as the longstanding cycle of inconclusive recapitalisation exercises in the insurance industry.

She also expressed optimism that the pension industry, under the leadership of Ms. Omolola Oloworaran, would achieve a seamless and successful recapitalisation exercise.

“The conference would provide operators with an opportunity to gain insights into prudent and judicious investment of the capital raised through the recapitalisation process.

“I am confident that speakers at the event would provide practical perspectives on how insurance and pension operators can deploy their strengthened capital bases to deliver superior investment returns while enhancing value for investors, shareholders and policyholders” she affirmed.

Meanwhile, NAICOM, PenCom, SanlamAllianz, Veritas Kapital and 24 others have offered their support and partnership towards the conference.

The post NAIPE 11th Annual Conference Moves to 12 Noon as 28 Stakeholders Back Event appeared first on Business Today NG.

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