Redwood Materials, a recycling technology manufacturing and processing company based in Carson City, recently announced a $700 million external investment round. According to a July 28 statement from the company, the round was led by funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. and includes Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Baillie Gifford, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, and Fidelity. In addition, all of Redwood’s Series B investors — Capricorn's Technology Impact Fund, Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund — returned for this round, while Valor Equity Partners, Emerson Collective and Franklin Templeton also participated. “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,” JB Straubel, CEO of Redwood Materials, said in a statement. “We’re 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.” According to the company, Redwood has partnered with Panasonic at the Tesla Gigafactory in Storey County, as well as with Envision AESC in Tennessee and Amazon to recycle EV and other lithium-ion batteries and e-waste from parts of their businesses, among others. “We are excited to begin this investment in the talented and accomplished team at Redwood as they expand their pursuit of building a world-class sustainable, closed-loop battery supply chain for electric vehicles,” Joe Fath, portfolio manager of the T. Rowe Price Growth Stock Fund, said in a July 28 statement. “In our view, the need for these materials will grow exponentially over time as we enter the era of de-carbonization. We believe Redwood is well-positioned to be at the forefront of tackling this emerging and critically important problem.” The investment round comes after the company announced plans in June triple the size of its Carson City facilities to 550,000 square feet; build another site on 100 acres in the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center in Storey County; and create more than 500 additional jobs in the next couple years. This spring, Redwood Materials was one of nine new or existing companies to receive a significant tax break to continue doing business in Nevada.
According to past reports, the $411,599 abatement approved by the Governor’s Office of Economic Development will aid Redwood’s expansion; in return, the company is estimated to make $5.1 million in capital equipment investment and generate $3.7 million in tax revenue over 10 years.
