Energy · Profile from Energy Research Companion
Redwood Materials
The Carson City, Nevada company founded in 2017 by Tesla co-founder JB Straubel to recycle lithium-ion batteries and turn the recovered nickel, cobalt, lithium and copper back into battery materials — first copper foil and cathode, then, from 2025, whole storage systems built from used EV packs. Redwood is the US's largest battery recycler by its own account and one of its best-funded climate-hardware companies, valued at more than $6bn after a ~$425m Series E that Google joined (Jan 2026, Bloomberg via Energy Connects). It is also the clearest case in the energy industry of a circular supply chain caught in the materials price cycle: it was built when lithium carbonate in China traded near ~CNY 600k/t (Nov 2022) and nickel was scarce, and it had to reinvent itself when lithium fell to ~CNY 60–75k/t by mid-2025 (Shared facts B3), US EV demand slowed and cathode customers delayed. Its 2025 answer, Redwood Energy, put second-life batteries behind AI data centres, starting with a 12 MW / 63 MWh microgrid for Crusoe in Sparks, Nevada (Jun 2025). In April 2026 it cut ~10% of staff (~135 jobs) to concentrate on storage (TechCrunch).
At a glance
- Founded
- 2017 by JB Straubel, Carson City, Nevada (reported)
- Headquarters
- Carson City, Nevada; main campus at McCarran (Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center), Nevada; second campus planned near Charleston, South Carolina (status verify)
- Ownership / structure
- Private, venture- and strategic-backed. Investors reported to include Goldman Sachs Asset Management, T. Rowe Price, Fidelity, Baillie Gifford, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Capricorn, Amazon's Climate Pledge Fund, Ford, Eclipse and Google (reported, verify each)
- Leadership (2026)
- JB Straubel (founder and CEO; Tesla co-founder and CTO to 2019; Tesla board member); Chris Lister (COO, retired 2026, reported)
- Business
- Battery recycling (production scrap and end-of-life packs from EVs, consumer electronics and storage); refining to nickel, cobalt and lithium intermediates; anode copper foil (from 2022–23, verify); cathode active material (pilot to early commercial, verify); Redwood Energy second-life storage (from 2025)
- Feedstock claims
- Redwood has said it recovers the majority of North America's recycled lithium-ion batteries, measured in GWh of packs a year (company claim, verify figure and basis)
- Funding
- Series C ~$700m (Jul 2021, ~$3.7bn valuation, reported); Series D ~$1bn+ (Aug 2023, reported, verify); Series E ~$350m (Oct 2025, reported) expanded to ~$425m with Google (Jan 2026; >$6bn valuation per people familiar, Bloomberg); DOE conditional loan commitment ~$2bn (Feb 2023; final close unconfirmed, verify)
- Signature moves (incl. setbacks)
- Founding by JB Straubel (2017); Panasonic scrap recycling (2019); Series C and carmaker recycling partnerships (2021–22); the Panasonic cathode deal and South Carolina campus (2022); the DOE conditional loan (2023); Series D and the metals price collapse (2023–25); Redwood Energy and Crusoe (2025); Series E, Google and layoffs (2026)
8 strategic moves analysed
Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.
2017
Founding by JB Straubel
Founding
2019
Panasonic Scrap Recycling
Offtake or supply contract (feedstock agreement)
2021
Series C and Carmaker Partnerships
Financing / partnerships (feedstock and offtake)
2022
Panasonic Cathode Deal and South Carolina Campus
Offtake or supply contract / construction (new campus)
2023
DOE Conditional Loan
Financing (state support)
2023
Series D and the Metals Price Collapse
Financing / market shock (setback)
2025
Redwood Energy and Crusoe
Strategy pivot (new business line)
2026
Series E Google and Layoffs
Financing / restructuring