US-headquartered battery supply chain developer Redwood Materials raised over $700m yesterday from investors including e-commerce and cloud computing group Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund.
The round was led by funds and accounts advised by investment management firm T Rowe Price, and it valued the company at $3.7bn post-money, a source familiar with the round told TechCrunch.
Investment and financial services group Fidelity, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Baillie Gifford, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Capricorn’s Technology Impact Fund, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Valor Equity Partners, Emerson Collective and Franklin Templeton filled out the round.
Redwood is building a closed loop supply chain for electric vehicle batteries that will involve it partnering large companies to recycle used batteries and feed the useful materials back into the supply chain, reducing the industry’s environmental impact.
The company has recycling partnerships in place with businesses including Amazon and revealed last month it plans to triple the size of its Carson City, Nevada facility while constructing a new plant elsewhere in the state.
JB Straubel, Redwood’s chief executive, said: “With this capital, Redwood will be able to accelerate our mission to make battery materials sustainable and affordable, accomplishing the change we need in the world with a circular economy.
“We are grateful for these strategic investors who bring decades of experience investing in and supporting companies that build transformative technology and who understand the mission and value of what Redwood is working to achieve.”
The company raised $2m in 2017, according to a regulatory filing, and was one of five recipients of financing from Amazon Climate Pledge Fund in September 2020, the same month it secured $36.9m, according to a separate filing.
The September round was Redwood’s series B, and it said this week that transaction also featured Capricorn Technology Impact Fund and Breakthrough Energy Ventures.
