Google Backs Tesla Co-Founder’s Redwood at $6 Billion Valuation
(Bloomberg) -- Redwood Materials Inc. added Alphabet Inc.’s Google as an investor in an expanded funding round that values the battery recycling and energy storage startup at more than $6 billion.
The firm, led by Tesla Inc. co-founder JB Straubel, raised a total of $425 million after opening up its Series E financing, Redwood said Wednesday. That’s up from the $350 million it had secured when the round was announced in October, led by venture capital firm Eclipse and NVentures, the venture arm of Nvidia Corp.
The funding round still values Redwood at more than $6 billion, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named because the information is private. Redwood declined to disclose its valuation.
A Google spokesperson confirmed the company’s participation in the round, without offering further details.
Redwood in November cut dozens of jobs — equivalent to about 5% to 6% of the company’s workforce — as it focuses increasingly on tapping demand for grid-scale energy storage batteries. The recent financing is intended to accelerate storage deployments, while also supporting critical minerals and recycling businesses, the company said in its statement.
Founded by Straubel in 2017, Redwood started out with a mission to onshore critical pieces of the electric vehicle battery supply chain by recycling expired packs from aging EVs and consumer electronics. With US EV sales failing to meet expectations and the Trump administration eliminating incentives, the company is now aiming to help fulfill demand for clean, reliable energy to fuel data centers powering artificial intelligence.
“As electricity demand surges — driven by AI, data centers, manufacturing and electrification —energy storage is no longer optional; it is essential infrastructure,” Redwood said in the statement.
Google, along with firms including Amazon.com Inc. and Microsoft Corp., is making investments aimed at securing access to more electricity for data centers. Alphabet in December agreed to buy clean energy developer Intersect Power LLC for $4.75 billion in cash, plus existing debt.
©2026 Bloomberg L.P.
