Redwood Materials, Inc. — research brief (BMC #071 on gallery, queue id 70)

Prepared 2026-10-11 (America/Chicago). Private company: no SEC filings and no audited financials. Labels: FACT = stated by Redwood Materials on its own site/newsroom (company statements, some are marketing claims). SECONDARY = press reports (TechCrunch, Bloomberg via TT News, Axios, Sacra) that may rely on unnamed sources. INFERENCE = conclusions drawn by this project.

Sources (accessed 2026-10-11)

About: https://www.redwoodmaterials.com/about/
Series E final close (Jan 28, 2026): https://www.redwoodmaterials.com/news/redwood-materials-announces-final-close-of-425m-series-e/
Series E $350M (Oct 23, 2025): https://www.redwoodmaterials.com/news/redwood-announces-350-million-series-e-funding/
Redwood Energy launch (Jun 27, 2025): https://www.redwoodmaterials.com/news/redwood-energy-fast-low-cost-storage-to-power-the-age-of-ai-and-a-changing-grid/
Crusoe expansion (Mar 24, 2026): https://www.redwoodmaterials.com/news/redwood-and-crusoe-expand-compute-to-7x-scale/
Rivian (Apr 14, 2026): https://www.redwoodmaterials.com/news/rivian-and-redwood-materials-announce-energy-storage-partnership-for-manufacturing/
GM full lifecycle (Jun 9, 2026): https://www.redwoodmaterials.com/news/general-motors-becomes-first-automaker-to-partner-with-redwood-across-the-full-battery-lifecycle/
EV fleet as energy asset (Jul 29, 2026): https://www.redwoodmaterials.com/news/america-s-growing-ev-fleet-is-quietly-becoming-one-of-the-most-valuable-energy-assets-in-the-country/
South Carolina (Nov 6, 2025): https://www.redwoodmaterials.com/news/redwood-begins-critical-materials-recovery-in-south-carolina/
2025 year in review: https://www.redwoodmaterials.com/news/2025-a-defining-year-for-redwood/
Battery Bin, Caterpillar, Ford, Toyota, Panasonic, Ultium, California program, DOE loan, Series D: redwoodmaterials.com/news/ (slugs in canvas.json sources)
TechCrunch Jan 28, 2026: https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/28/redwood-attracts-google-for-its-425m-series-e-as-ai-power-needs-rise/
TechCrunch Apr 21, 2026: https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/21/redwood-materials-lays-off-10-in-restructuring-to-chase-energy-storage-business/
Bloomberg via TT News (Nov 2025): https://www.ttnews.com/articles/tesla-redwood-layoffs-batteries
Axios May 21, 2025: https://www.axios.com/pro/climate-deals/2025/05/21/redwood-materials-canceled-doe-loan
Sacra (not used on canvas): https://sacra.com/c/redwood-materials/

What it is (FACT)

Founded 2017 by JB Straubel (ex-Tesla CTO), HQ Nevada (address Sparks, NV; TechCrunch says Carson City). Collects battery manufacturing scrap, consumer electronics batteries and end-of-life EV packs; recycles and refines nickel, cobalt, copper, lithium; made anode copper foil; plans cathode active material; launched Redwood Energy (Jun 2025) to repurpose usable EV packs into stationary storage. Campuses: Nevada (~900 acres, >2M sq ft under roof) and South Carolina (600 acres, Berkeley County; first facility online Nov 2025, initial 20,000 t/yr). SF R&D center (opened Apr 2025, footprint quadrupled Feb 2026). CFO Deepak Ahuja (May 2026); COO Cal Lankton (Sep 21, 2026).

Operating numbers (FACT, company statements)

Receives >20 GWh batteries a year (~250,000 EVs); ~90% of Li-ion batteries and battery materials recycled in North America (Jun 2025 post) / "more than 70% of all domestically recycled batteries" (Jul 2026 post) — different wording, not reconciled by the company. Recovers >70% of battery packs in North America (logistics claim).
Nevada produced >60,000 metric tons of critical minerals in 2025 (Nov 2025 and Dec 2025 posts).
Redwood Energy: 12 MW / 63 MWh Crusoe microgrid (Sparks, NV), built in just under four months, 99.2% availability; expanding to 20 more Crusoe Spark modules (~7x). Rivian: 100+ packs, 10 MWh at Normal, IL. GM: ~100 packs, 1.5 MW / 7.2 MWh at a Michigan plant, >$3M expected savings; >28,000 MT received from GM and Ultium, ~10,000 EV packs in pipeline. >1 GWh in pipeline plus ~5 GWh expected (Jun 2025 post); targets 20 GWh of storage by 2028 (TechCrunch).
Company claims storage "substantially less" than new Li-ion; "roughly half the cost" (Jul 2026 post); Crusoe energy cost lower than grid. Not independently verified.
Revenue: Jul 29, 2026 post says the recycling and refining business "generates nearly a quarter billion dollars in annual revenue". No exact figure, no fiscal year, one business line only. No full-year company revenue is published.

Funding (FACT / SECONDARY)

Series C $700M (2021); Series D >$1B (Aug 2023; nearly $2B equity to date then); Series E $350M (Oct 2025, Eclipse lead, NVentures) -> $425M final close Jan 28, 2026 (Google new; Capricorn, Goldman Sachs Alternatives). (FACT)
Valuation >$6B post-money per a source familiar with the round (TechCrunch, SECONDARY); company did not disclose. Total private capital $2.3B (TechCrunch correction).
DOE: conditional $2B ATVM loan commitment announced Feb 2023 (FACT); Redwood told Axios it walked away fall 2024 (SECONDARY).

Restructuring (SECONDARY)

~5% cut Nov 2025 incl. cathode engineers; commercial cathode plant planned for 2024 still incomplete, no opening date (Bloomberg via TT News).
~135 layoffs (~10%) Apr 2026; Straubel email: materials business "well on its way to profitability" (INFERENCE: not yet making a profit). COO Chris Lister retiring (TechCrunch Apr 23, 2026).

Not found / not stated

Total company revenue, profit/loss, cash, debt, headcount, customer concentration, pricing, contract structures (fee vs purchase, storage sale vs PPA). None asserted.
Sacra's ~$200M for 2024 is a third-party estimate, not used on the canvas (would not meet the full-year, no-estimate standard).

Atlas tag

Main engine = enterprise-contracts (recycling, materials supply and storage projects are negotiated with OEMs, cell makers and data-center customers; INFERENCE). Expected to be unranked (no stated full-year revenue).

# Redwood Materials, Inc. — research brief (BMC #071 on gallery, queue id 70) Prepared 2026-10-11 (America/Chicago). Private company: no SEC filings and no audited financials. Labels: **FACT** = stated by Redwood Materials on its own site/newsroom (company statements, some are marketing claims). **SECONDARY** = press reports (TechCrunch, Bloomberg via TT News, Axios, Sacra) that may rely on unnamed sources. **INFERENCE** = conclusions drawn by this project. ## Sources (accessed 2026-10-11) - About: https://www.redwoodmaterials.com/about/ - Series E final close (Jan 28, 2026): https://www.redwoodmaterials.com/news/redwood-materials-announces-final-close-of-425m-series-e/ - Series E $350M (Oct 23, 2025): https://www.redwoodmaterials.com/news/redwood-announces-350-million-series-e-funding/ - Redwood Energy launch (Jun 27, 2025): https://www.redwoodmaterials.com/news/redwood-energy-fast-low-cost-storage-to-power-the-age-of-ai-and-a-changing-grid/ - Crusoe expansion (Mar 24, 2026): https://www.redwoodmaterials.com/news/redwood-and-crusoe-expand-compute-to-7x-scale/ - Rivian (Apr 14, 2026): https://www.redwoodmaterials.com/news/rivian-and-redwood-materials-announce-energy-storage-partnership-for-manufacturing/ - GM full lifecycle (Jun 9, 2026): https://www.redwoodmaterials.com/news/general-motors-becomes-first-automaker-to-partner-with-redwood-across-the-full-battery-lifecycle/ - EV fleet as energy asset (Jul 29, 2026): https://www.redwoodmaterials.com/news/america-s-growing-ev-fleet-is-quietly-becoming-one-of-the-most-valuable-energy-assets-in-the-country/ - South Carolina (Nov 6, 2025): https://www.redwoodmaterials.com/news/redwood-begins-critical-materials-recovery-in-south-carolina/ - 2025 year in review: https://www.redwoodmaterials.com/news/2025-a-defining-year-for-redwood/ - Battery Bin, Caterpillar, Ford, Toyota, Panasonic, Ultium, California program, DOE loan, Series D: redwoodmaterials.com/news/ (slugs in canvas.json sources) - TechCrunch Jan 28, 2026: https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/28/redwood-attracts-google-for-its-425m-series-e-as-ai-power-needs-rise/ - TechCrunch Apr 21, 2026: https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/21/redwood-materials-lays-off-10-in-restructuring-to-chase-energy-storage-business/ - Bloomberg via TT News (Nov 2025): https://www.ttnews.com/articles/tesla-redwood-layoffs-batteries - Axios May 21, 2025: https://www.axios.com/pro/climate-deals/2025/05/21/redwood-materials-canceled-doe-loan - Sacra (not used on canvas): https://sacra.com/c/redwood-materials/ ## What it is (FACT) Founded 2017 by JB Straubel (ex-Tesla CTO), HQ Nevada (address Sparks, NV; TechCrunch says Carson City). Collects battery manufacturing scrap, consumer electronics batteries and end-of-life EV packs; recycles and refines nickel, cobalt, copper, lithium; made anode copper foil; plans cathode active material; launched Redwood Energy (Jun 2025) to repurpose usable EV packs into stationary storage. Campuses: Nevada (~900 acres, >2M sq ft under roof) and South Carolina (600 acres, Berkeley County; first facility online Nov 2025, initial 20,000 t/yr). SF R&D center (opened Apr 2025, footprint quadrupled Feb 2026). CFO Deepak Ahuja (May 2026); COO Cal Lankton (Sep 21, 2026). ## Operating numbers (FACT, company statements) - Receives >20 GWh batteries a year (~250,000 EVs); ~90% of Li-ion batteries and battery materials recycled in North America (Jun 2025 post) / "more than 70% of all domestically recycled batteries" (Jul 2026 post) — different wording, not reconciled by the company. Recovers >70% of battery packs in North America (logistics claim). - Nevada produced >60,000 metric tons of critical minerals in 2025 (Nov 2025 and Dec 2025 posts). - Redwood Energy: 12 MW / 63 MWh Crusoe microgrid (Sparks, NV), built in just under four months, 99.2% availability; expanding to 20 more Crusoe Spark modules (~7x). Rivian: 100+ packs, 10 MWh at Normal, IL. GM: ~100 packs, 1.5 MW / 7.2 MWh at a Michigan plant, >$3M expected savings; >28,000 MT received from GM and Ultium, ~10,000 EV packs in pipeline. >1 GWh in pipeline plus ~5 GWh expected (Jun 2025 post); targets 20 GWh of storage by 2028 (TechCrunch). - Company claims storage "substantially less" than new Li-ion; "roughly half the cost" (Jul 2026 post); Crusoe energy cost lower than grid. Not independently verified. - Revenue: Jul 29, 2026 post says the recycling and refining business "generates nearly a quarter billion dollars in annual revenue". No exact figure, no fiscal year, one business line only. **No full-year company revenue is published.** ## Funding (FACT / SECONDARY) - Series C $700M (2021); Series D >$1B (Aug 2023; nearly $2B equity to date then); Series E $350M (Oct 2025, Eclipse lead, NVentures) -> $425M final close Jan 28, 2026 (Google new; Capricorn, Goldman Sachs Alternatives). (FACT) - Valuation >$6B post-money per a source familiar with the round (TechCrunch, SECONDARY); company did not disclose. Total private capital $2.3B (TechCrunch correction). - DOE: conditional $2B ATVM loan commitment announced Feb 2023 (FACT); Redwood told Axios it walked away fall 2024 (SECONDARY). ## Restructuring (SECONDARY) - ~5% cut Nov 2025 incl. cathode engineers; commercial cathode plant planned for 2024 still incomplete, no opening date (Bloomberg via TT News). - ~135 layoffs (~10%) Apr 2026; Straubel email: materials business "well on its way to profitability" (INFERENCE: not yet making a profit). COO Chris Lister retiring (TechCrunch Apr 23, 2026). ## Not found / not stated - Total company revenue, profit/loss, cash, debt, headcount, customer concentration, pricing, contract structures (fee vs purchase, storage sale vs PPA). None asserted. - Sacra's ~$200M for 2024 is a third-party estimate, not used on the canvas (would not meet the full-year, no-estimate standard). ## Atlas tag Main engine = enterprise-contracts (recycling, materials supply and storage projects are negotiated with OEMs, cell makers and data-center customers; INFERENCE). Expected to be **unranked** (no stated full-year revenue).