Strategic Intelligence Report
Generated July 29, 2026
Energy
Redwood Materials
Strategic importance is our editorial rating of how central this entity is to the technology landscape we track; confidence reflects how well-sourced and current the underlying evidence is.
1
Chokepoint Score
1 other entity structurally depend on this one
Accelerating
Activity
1 recorded change in the last 90 days
Headquarters
Carson City, Nevada, USA
Website
Employees
1,500 (2026, approximate)
Founded
2017
Listing
private
Overview
A battery recycling and materials company, founded by former Tesla CTO JB Straubel, that recycles roughly 90% of all lithium-ion batteries and battery materials processed in North America and has expanded into energy storage systems built from second-life EV batteries. Redwood closed a $425 million Series E in January 2026 led by Eclipse with participation from Alphabet's Google, valuing the company at more than $6 billion, and powers a Crusoe Cloud GPU data center in Sparks, Nevada using a first-of-its-kind solar-plus-second-life-battery microgrid.
Dependency Map
One hop in each direction — see Strategic Connections below for the full, sourced breakdown of every relationship.
Strategic Connections
Dependency
- Alphabet (Google): Alphabet's Google participated in Redwood Materials' $425 million Series E round in January 2026, valuing the company at more than $6 billion.
Supply Chain
- Data Center Power & Cooling: Redwood Materials powers a Crusoe Cloud GPU data center using a solar-plus-second-life-EV-battery microgrid, and has expanded into energy storage systems for AI data centers more broadly.
Competition / Other
- Form Energy: Redwood Materials' second-life lithium-ion battery energy-storage systems compete with Form Energy's iron-air long-duration storage for data center and grid applications, though the two use different underlying chemistries.
Strategic Risks
- Second-life EV battery supply depends on the pace of EV fleet retirements
- Energy storage is a new business line relative to Redwood's core recycling operations
- April 2026 workforce reduction (10%) signals cost discipline amid capital-intensive plant buildout
Future Outlook
- Expanding second-life battery energy storage deployments to additional data center operators beyond Crusoe
- Continued dominance of North American lithium-ion battery recycling supply chain
Sources
- Sacra / Tracxn (Jan 2026) — Redwood Materials closes $425M Series E at $6B+ valuation
- Fast Company (Jan 2026) — Redwood Materials powers Crusoe Cloud GPU data center with solar-plus-second-life-battery microgrid
- South Carolina Manufacturing Conference / TSG Invest (Jul 2026) — Redwood Materials opens $3.5B South Carolina plant, partners with GM across full battery lifecycle
Generated by InsightNodes — Technology Intelligence Platform. This report reflects sourced, evidence-backed information as of the dates cited above and is not investment advice.
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