Moxion Power, a mobile battery startup funded by Amazon and Microsoft, has essentially shut down and laid off all of its employees, according to a media report.
Moxion, founded in 2020, is based in Richmond, California. The company developed mobile batteries that are designed to replace diesel generators.
Moxion as of February 2024 was seeking to raise about $200 million at a valuation near $1.5 billion, Bloomberg reported. Apparently, that new round of funding didn't come through.
The company previously raised $100 million in Series B funding in September 2022. Tamarack Global led that round, with participation from such investors as Energy Impact Partners, Sunbelt Rentals, Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund, Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund, Enterprise Holdings Ventures, Marubeni Ventures, Suffolk Technologies, and Rocketship.vc.
Fast forward to July 2024, and Moxion shut down and laid off roughly 250 employees, SF Gate reported. It's unclear whether employees will receive severance, the report said. Next up, a third-party will handle the sale of Moxion's assets, the report added.
Related:Â See all sustainability industry layoffs listed here.
Climate Tech, Clean Energy Job Growth
Despite those anecdotal job cuts, demand for green jobs in the United States has grown roughly 50% since 2019, according to Lightcast. Moreover, the U.S. clean energy sector could create roughly 5 million new jobs over the next decade, according the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
In response, companies such as Accenture, EY, Goodwill and Microsoft have launched green jobs training programs.
