Nevada-based battery recycling firm Redwood Materials, led by ex-Tesla CTO JB Straubel, proudly announced the successful closing of its latest equity funding round with over $1 billion in Series D stakes.
The press release indicated the following companies that co-led the funding round:
- Goldman Sachs Asset Management
- Capricorn’s Technology Impact Fund
- funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc.
Apart from this latest investment round, the company has also secured a $2 billion loan commitment from the DOE.
Primary objectives
Redwood Materials aims to utilize the fresh funding in its battery supply chain expansion in the US. Through this, customers can finally acquire its battery material products locally.
The company primarily aims to bring its battery component production locally. It believes domestic operations can substantially avoid ongoing risks in the global trading industry and some geopolitical issues concerning EVs.
It also intends to leverage its battery recycling expertise to lessen the ecological footprint of the electric vehicle transition.
“Redwood’s vision, leadership, and execution places it at the forefront in this emerging sector. With its commitment to creating a sustainable battery materials supply chain, we believe Redwood can be a durable growth company and help catalyze the next phase of clean energy adoption and deployment.”
Joe Fath, Portfolio Manager, T. Rowe Price Growth Stock Fund
Battery recycling
Redwood collects old electric vehicle batteries to extract the metals inside them, such as lithium, cobalt, and nickel.
The company will then utilize these recycled metals to produce new parts necessary for power battery production.
Battery recycling is an efficient way of producing batteries. It gives retired batteries a second life by taking their critical minerals instead of mining them.
As part of the company’s efforts to establish a domestic “closed-loop” battery supply chain, it is developing US factories to support its operation.
Its 175-acre factory in Nevada will soon manufacture anode copper foil. Meanwhile, its 600-acre factory in South Carolina will remanufacture cathode and anode copper foil.
How would Redwood Materials aid the EV supply chain in the US?
Energy Secretary Jennifer M. Granholm claims that local battery and component production is an efficient strategy to support the growing number of EVs in the US, CNBC reports.
It can also create new job opportunities to accelerate the economy. In addition, it can also boost the country’s shift to more sustainable energy.
With this, the US can gradually cut its reliance on fossil fuels, which contributes the majority of carbon emissions in the transportation sector.radua
In a significant development, Argonne National Laboratory research projects that battery production in North America will surge almost 1,000 GWh annually by the end of the decade.
That would be possible, given that Redwoon alone aims to generate an annual capacity of about 100 GWh of cathode active materials and anode foil by 2025. It can sufficiently support the production of 1 million EVs.
It will gradually increase to 500 GWh annually by 2030, enough for 5 million electric vehicles.
“As the electrification megatrend continues to accelerate, building a local sustainable battery materials supply chain is more important now than ever. We believe the Redwood team is well-positioned to become a leader in the battery materials industry. We look forward to working with the company in the coming years and leveraging our firm’s global platform to support Redwood’s growth, which we believe will play an important role in the ongoing energy transition.”
Sebastien Gagnon, a Managing Director in Private Equity within Goldman Sachs Asset Management
See Also:
- Redwood Materials secures another $2 billion loan from the DOE for EV battery materials
- Redwood Materials to build $3.5 billion battery factory in South Carolina
- Redwood Materials has been granted about $100 million in tax benefits
- Redwood announces deal with Panasonic for high-nickel cathode
- AESC to launch its new power battery factory in South Carolina to supply BMW
Redwood’s latest funding round will substantially assist in its expansion efforts in the US. It will fund the company’s copper foil production by the year’s end.
