Battery Recycling Startup Redwood Materials Raises Over $1 Billion, Aims to Revolutionize US Battery Supply Chain
Battery recycling startup Redwood Materials has raised $1 billion in funding, bringing its valuation to $5 billion. The company aims to set up US production facilities for anode and cathode materials for electric vehicle batteries, addressing a gap in the supply chain and supporting domestic production. The funding will be used to expand capacity and develop the battery supply chain in the US. Redwood plans to produce 100 gigawatt-hours of capacity by 2025 and scale production to 500 gigawatt-hours per year by 2030.
Battery recycling startup Redwood Materials has raised over $1 billion in a new funding round, bringing its valuation to over $5 billion. The company, founded by former Tesla executive JB Straubel, aims to set up US production facilities for anode and cathode materials for electric vehicle batteries. Redwood initially focused on recovering valuable metals from spent batteries and production scraps, but has now expanded its operations to produce copper foil for anodes and plans to produce cathodes. This move addresses a gap in the supply chain and supports the growing demand for domestic anode and cathode production in the US.
Redwood Materials just announced it completed a $1B equity raise. I believe it's on track to become a foundational tech company. https://t.co/vLIAzstQqs
— Gene Munster (@munster_gene) August 29, 2023
The company's campus near Reno, Nevada, has already begun producing copper foil for Panasonic, and it is also building a $3.5 billion plant near Charleston, South Carolina, to supply anode and cathode materials to battery plants in the US Southeast. Redwood's Series D funding round was co-led by Goldman Sachs, Capricorn, and T. Rowe Price, with investments from Microsoft's Climate Innovation Fund and the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System. The funds will be used to expand Redwood's capacity, further develop the domestic battery supply chain, and offer customers battery materials made in the US.
Redwood Materials aims to address the current reliance on China for battery materials, such as lithium and cobalt. To create a closed-loop supply chain in the US, the company is building factories to refine materials into anode and cathode copper foil. The US typically exports large quantities of copper to Asia, leading to both environmental concerns and a shortage of critical copper supplies in the country. Redwood plans to produce 100 gigawatt-hours of capacity by 2025 and scale production to 500 gigawatt-hours per year by 2030, enough to power millions of electric vehicles. The latest capital raise will help the company start copper foil production by the end of 2023, with Panasonic as its first customer.