Founder of battery startup Our Next Energy returns as CEO following new funding

Just over a year after being replaced as CEO of the battery startup Our Next Energy (ONE), Mujeeb Ijaz is back at the helm. Alongside this news, the company announced the close of a new funding round led by Crescent Ventures and Trousdale Ventures. ONE did not release any details about the round’s size, nor did it reply to a request for comment by the time of publication. As for the leadership shakeup, Ijaz first stepped aside in December 2023, taking the title of CTO, after the startup struggled to raise a Series C. He was then replaced as CEO by board member Paul Humphries. Ijaz had earlier recruited Humphries to the leadership role, likely due to Humphries’ experience at Flex, a contract manufacturer. The Series C fell through after Just Climate pulled out of leading the round with a $100 million investment, Bloomberg reported in December 2023. At the time, ONE was facing a cash crunch. The company had raised a massive $300 million in a Series B that valued the company at $1.2 b ... Read full article.