What is Redwood Materials?
Battery recycling and materials company building a circular U.S. supply chain for lithium-ion batteries.
- Category
- Battery recycling and materials
- Headquarters
- Carson City, NV
- Founded
- 2017
- Employees
- ~1,100
- Total funding
- $2B+ incl. DOE loan; $1B+ equity
- Valuation
- $6B+ valuation (2026 reported)
What is Redwood Materials?
Redwood Materials is a battery recycling and materials company founded in 2017 and headquartered in Carson City, NV.
Redwood Materials is a battery recycling and materials company founded in 2017 and headquartered in Carson City, NV. Battery recycling and materials company building a circular U.S. supply chain for lithium-ion batteries. Public revenue is not disclosed; the best scale signals are ~1,100 employees, $2B+ incl. DOE loan; $1B+ equity in disclosed funding or financing, and named strategic customers, investors, or project partners.
The company operates in a market where buyers care about technical proof, safety, regulatory execution, deployment reliability, and bankable unit economics. Its product surface includes Battery recycling, Hydrometallurgical refining, Cathode active material, Anode copper foil, with commercialization tied to long sales cycles and real-world deployment milestones.
For sellers, Redwood Materials should be treated as a sophisticated technical buyer rather than a conventional SaaS account. Engineering and operations leaders shape architecture, finance and legal shape contract structure, and executives usually become involved when the purchase touches strategic capacity, manufacturing, safety, or regulated deployment.
What does Redwood Materials offer?
Redwood Materials's product set centers on Battery recycling, Hydrometallurgical refining, Cathode active material.
- Battery recycling· Core product
- Hydrometallurgical refining· Processing
- Cathode active material· Battery materials
- Anode copper foil· Battery materials
- Redwood Energy storage· Grid storage
- OEM takeback partnerships· Commercial
How does Redwood Materials make money?
Redwood earns revenue from battery recycling, recovered materials, OEM takeback partnerships, cathode/anode material supply, and emerging second-life energy storage projects.
Redwood earns revenue from battery recycling, recovered materials, OEM takeback partnerships, cathode/anode material supply, and emerging second-life energy storage projects. The company does not publish simple self-serve pricing because contracts are tied to deployment scope, physical capacity, engineering services, risk allocation, and long-term operating obligations.
Pricing is negotiated by supply agreement: fees and revenue share depend on battery chemistry, logistics, metal prices, recovered-content specs, material volumes, and long-term offtake commitments. Growth is driven by converting technical proof into repeatable commercial deployments, then expanding with customers or partners that can absorb larger volumes, additional sites, or more mission-critical workloads.
Unit economics depend less on seat expansion and more on utilization, manufacturing yield, project execution, contract duration, and the cost of capital. As Redwood Materials scales, procurement becomes more formal: vendors should be ready for safety, security, quality, compliance, and finance reviews before broad rollout.
Who leads Redwood Materials?
Redwood Materials is led by JB Straubel, with technical, commercial, and operating leadership built around battery recycling and materials.
- JB StraubelFounder & CEOFounder since 2017Tesla co-founder and former CTO; drives battery-supply-chain strategy.
- Kevin KassekertChief Operating OfficerExecutive leadershipFormer Tesla operations leader scaling factories and material flows.
- Alexis GeorgesonCommunications & Government RelationsExecutive leadershipLeads public affairs, policy, and partner communications.
- Alan NelsonBattery materials technology leaderExecutive leadershipLeads materials science and battery-materials process development.
How do you contact Redwood Materials's leadership?
Use published company channels first. Personal addresses below are format-following examples using redwoodmaterials.com; verify before outreach unless the address is a role inbox listed as published.
first.last@redwoodmaterials.com (format-following example; verify before outreach)How much funding has Redwood Materials raised?
Redwood Materials has $2B+ incl. DOE loan; $1B+ equity; latest disclosed valuation/status is $6B+ valuation (2026 reported).
Redwood Materials's disclosed financing history is concentrated in these major public events: 2020: Early financing - $40M; Jul 2021: Series C - $775M; Feb 2023: DOE loan commitment - $2B; Aug 2023: Series D - $1B+; Jan 2026: Series E final close - $425M at $6B+ valuation. The latest disclosed valuation or status is $6B+ valuation (2026 reported), and the company has not disclosed full revenue or profitability.
2020: Early financing - $40M. Capricorn Investment Group and Breakthrough Energy Ventures fund early recycling scale-up. Jul 2021: Series C - $775M. T. Rowe Price, Goldman Sachs, Baillie Gifford, Fidelity, Ford, and Amazon Climate Pledge Fund participate. Feb 2023: DOE loan commitment - $2B. U.S. Department of Energy supports domestic battery-materials expansion. Aug 2023: Series D - $1B+. Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Capricorn, T. Rowe Price, and others fund materials capacity. Jan 2026: Series E final close - $425M at $6B+ valuation. Google joins the expanded round alongside Nvidia's NVentures and existing investors.
The funding signal matters because this is a capital-intensive battery recycling and materials company. Large rounds typically fund facilities, hardware, qualification, regulatory work, safety systems, and commercial teams, so sellers should expect formal technical review, finance scrutiny, security or compliance review, and multi-stakeholder procurement.
How did Redwood Materials get here?
Redwood Materials's path runs from its 2017 founding through financing, technical proof, and commercial deployment milestones.
- 2017Company foundedJB Straubel starts Redwood after leaving day-to-day Tesla operations.
- 2019Panasonic scrap partnershipRedwood begins processing battery manufacturing scrap from the Nevada Gigafactory ecosystem.
- 2021Ford strategic relationshipFord invests and partners with Redwood on battery recycling and materials.
- Feb 2023DOE loan announcedA $2B loan commitment supports Nevada battery-materials production.
- Sep 2023Redux Recycling acquiredRedwood expands into Europe by acquiring Redux Recycling in Germany.
- 2025-2026Energy storage expansionRedwood Energy uses second-life EV batteries for grid/data-center storage, attracting Google and Nvidia-linked capital.
Who are Redwood Materials's competitors?
Redwood Materials competes with specialized startups and incumbents adjacent to battery recycling and materials.
- Li-CyclePublic battery recycler with spoke-and-hub recycling model.
- Ascend ElementsBattery-materials recycling company focused on cathode precursor materials.
- American Battery Technology CompanyNevada-based recycler and critical-minerals processor.
- Cirba SolutionsBattery recycling and materials logistics network.
- UmicoreLarge incumbent battery materials and recycling company.
Redwood Materials — frequently asked questions
