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Tag: Redwood Materials

  • Redwood attracts Google for its $425M Series E as AI power needs rise | TechCrunch

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    Google is the latest investor to back Redwood Materials as the battery recycling and cathode production startup scales a new energy storage venture to power AI data centers and other industrial sites.

    Redwood Materials, founded by former Tesla CTO JB Straubel, last October raised $350 million in a Series E round led by venture firm Eclipse. The round included a new strategic investment by Nvidia’s venture capital arm, NVentures.

    More investors, including newcomer Google, have piled in since, pushing the Series E to $425 million, the company said. Existing investors Capricorn and Goldman Sachs have also returned with fresh investments.

    The company’s valuation was not publicly disclosed, but a source familiar with the round told TechCrunch its post-money valuation was north of $6 billion, more than a billion higher than its previous valuation. This latest investment pushes Redwood’s total capital raised to $4.9 billion.

    The attraction for Google, Nvidia, and others in this latest round appears to be energy storage — and its ability to power data centers — a newer business venture within Redwood.  

    Redwood Materials was founded in 2017 to create a circular supply chain for batteries. It initially focused on recycling scrap from battery production and consumer electronics like cell phone batteries and laptop computers. Redwood processes that scrap and extracts materials that are traditionally mined, like nickel and lithium. The newly processed materials are then sold to customers such as Panasonic, which use them to make batteries.

    Redwood has continued to expand its business beyond recycling. The Carson City, Nevada-based company added cathode production several years ago, and last summer, launched an energy-storage business that repurposes EV batteries that aren’t quite ready to be recycled and turns them into micro-grids that can supply power to AI data centers and large-scale industrial sites.

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    That new business, called Redwood Energy, got its start as the demand for data centers skyrocketed.

    “As electricity demand surges — driven by AI, data centers, manufacturing and electrification — energy storage is no longer optional; it is essential infrastructure,” the company said in a blog post announcing the new funding.

    And Redwood seems to have the means to power at least some of those data centers. The company said in June it recovers more than 70% of all used or discarded battery packs in North America, many of which can have a second life as energy storage.

    Redwood said last year it had more than 1 gigawatt-hour worth in its inventory and expected to receive another 4 gigawatt-hours over the coming months. The company expects to deploy 20 gigawatt-hours of grid-scale storage by 2028.

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    Kirsten Korosec

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  • 4 Startups Making Money While Helping Mitigate Climate Change

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    Four U.S. companies landed a spot on MIT Technology Review‘s annual list of Climate Tech Companies to Watch. Spanning industries from nuclear and geothermal power to battery recycling and gene editing, these businesses demonstrate resilience and potential to thrive in spite of—or in some cases because of—shifting political and economic forces in the U.S.

    These climate tech companies were selected based on a number of criteria including the likelihood that the technologies can mitigate climate change threats or reduce emissions, and whether they are likely to actually succeed as businesses, according to MIT Technology Review senior editor James Temple.

    This year’s list is also shorter than lists of past years and is much more “geographically diverse,” Temple noted, which reflects the challenges facing these technologies and businesses at large. Alongside U.S. companies, the list includes those from Canada, China, Germany, India, and Sweden.

    Here are the four homegrown climate tech companies featured on MIT’s list:

    Fervo Energy

    Fervo Energy is a Houston-based company applying oil and gas practices to make geothermal energy more cost effective and accessible. Whereas geothermal energy extraction is usually location-specific (think: Iceland), Fervo uses hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling to access the energy source almost anywhere. In June, Fervo landed $206 million, much of it from Bill Gates’s Breakthrough Energy Catalyst, to continue building out the world’s first enhanced geothermal power plant in Utah (and in September got a big shoutout in Gates’s famous blog). 

    When the Trump administration’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed into law in July, it curtailed or eliminated a number of tax incentives for various industries like solar, wind, and EVs. But key Biden-era tax incentives were largely preserved for geothermal and nuclear. Plus, U.S. energy secretary Chris Wright listed geothermal as a priority alongside advanced nuclear, hydropower, and fossil fuels when expanding on Trump’s early, energy-related executive orders. 

    That said, possible risks to the technology’s viability include lengthy permitting processes, and the seismic risks that fracking more broadly can pose, according to MIT.

    Kairos Power

    Alameda, California-based Kairos Power is developing advanced nuclear reactors that executives say can produce reliable and abundant nuclear power more safely and affordably than today’s fission reactors. Kairos’s reactor design uses a robust fuel form that can remain intact at high temperatures, as well as a molten fluoride salt as a coolant, rather than water. The company has backing from Google, with which it struck a deal that is poised to help develop its small modular reactor technology and inked a historic deal in August with a major U.S. utility. 

    Like Fervo, Kairos Power operates in an industry with which the Trump administration’s has taken a comparatively friendlier stance. Kairos aims to kick off commercial operations as soon as 2030, but risks remain. MIT Technology Review noted Kairos isn’t the first to experiment with molten salt reactors—other such projects have failed—plus Kairos’s unique fuel requires specialized uranium that previously was mostly sourced from Russia. 

    Pairwise

    Pairwise applies Crispr gene editing technology to crops. In partnership with biotech giants Bayer and Corteva, the Durham, North Carolina-based startup aims to produce crops that can withstand the increasingly hostile conditions of a planet with a changing climate, according to MIT.

    The company already introduced a less bitter mustard green, and now it is turning its focus toward sturdier corn, high-yield yams, and disease-resistant cacao trees with various partners including the Gates Foundation and global candy company Mars. Pairwise has not yet successfully introduced to market any of its climate optimized foods, and risks remain about how consumers might receive them, MIT noted.

    Redwood Materials

    Carson City, Nevada-based Redwood Materials has already made a name for itself as a U.S. leader in battery recycling. Now it’s moving into battery upcycling, turning end-of-life EV batteries into microgrids that experts believe could be crucial for shoring up the grid amid rising energy demand.

    As more consumers adopt electric vehicles, there’s increasing domestic and global demand for minerals like lithium and cobalt. Redwood says that recycling batteries reduces the need for mining and boosts the domestic supply chain, all while cutting carbon emissions by 70 percent compared with processing mined materials, MIT Technology Review reported. Plus, this new microgrid technology could help quickly meet power needs as data centers demand ever more energy. But as MIT points out, Redwood still has technical and scaling hurdles to clear for its microgrids, and the viability of the business could be threatened if consumer demand for EVs tumbles.

    Check out the full list of Climate Tech Companies to watch here.

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    Chloe Aiello

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  • BMW Unveils iX3 in U.S., Betting on Luxury EV Appeal Amid Slowing Demand

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    German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (L) is introduced to a BMW iX3 car by BMW CEO Oliver Zipse (C) , watched by Bavaria’s State Premier Markus Soeder (R) at the German car manufacturers booth on the opening day of the International Motor Show IAA, Sept. 9, 2025, in Munich, Germany. TOBIAS SCHWARZ/AFP via Getty Images

    At Climate Week NYC, BMW unveiled its new all-electric flagship, the BMW iX3, marking the U.S. debut of its Neue Klasse platform and reaffirming the automaker’s pledge to electrify more than 40 models in the coming years. The launch comes at a time when EV demand appears to be slowing and many automakers are rethinking their electric strategies.

    BMW CTO Joachim Post emphasized that the iX3 is more than just another crossover. “It’s a new era for us,” Post told a small group of media, including Observer, ahead of the event this week. He explained that BMW engineers have merged technology, design and computing power into a single platform adaptable across the lineup, from sports cars to SUVs.

    The iX3 promises about 400 miles of range and can add roughly 175 miles of charge in just ten minutes on a 400kW charger. Inside, it features a panoramic head-up display stretching from pillar to pillar across the windshield and four “superbrain” computers managing everything from vehicle dynamics to navigation and climate control.

    Such advances come as competition in the EV space heats up. Tesla, Hyundai and BYD are rolling out efficient, long-range, fast-charging models at competitive prices. BMW is betting that it can combine performance and luxury while insulating itself from the geopolitical turbulence shaping the global auto industry.

    Part of that strategy is what BMW calls its “local-for-local” footprint, with factories in Hungary, Munich, and Spartanburg, S.C. “Production follows the market and supply chain follows production,” Post said, noting the company’s $1.7 billion investment in U.S. battery and vehicle assembly plants. That approach, he added, allows BMW to adapt regardless of shifting incentives or political headwinds.

    At the same time, BMW is pursuing a “technology open” philosophy. Post stressed that combustion engines and hybrids won’t disappear from the lineup, even as EVs like the iX3 and upcoming electric X5 roll out. “The customer decides which car they are buying,” he said. “Government can make regulations, but the customer will decide what they want.”

    A blue BMW iX3 on stageA blue BMW iX3 on stage
    The BMW iX3 is inspired by the classic BMW 2002 kidney grilles. Sven Hoppe/picture alliance via Getty Images

    The iX3’s look has been met with mixed, but largely positive reviews here in the States. The new design moves away from the oversized “chipmunk” grille, with cues inspired by the classic BMW 2002 kidney grilles. Post dismissed the idea that BMW’s previous bold designs were driven by Chinese demand. “BMW makes designs that work all over the world,” he said, noting that market-specific adjustments, like longer wheelbases in China and sport packages in the U.S., have always been part of the strategy.

    Inside, BMW’s new Panoramic iDrive system aims to restore its driver-centric reputation. Augmented reality projected on the windshield reimagines how drivers engage with their surroundings, addressing criticism that BMW had strayed too far from its performance roots.

    Beyond luxury and design, BMW is sharpening its focus on sustainability. It has partnered with SK On and Redwood Materials (Tesla co-founder JB Straubel’s EV battery company) in the U.S. to develop closed-loop battery recycling. While large-scale recycling is still years away due to the limited supply of used batteries, BMW executives stressed its importance. “EVs are mines on wheels,” said Glenn Schmidt, BMW’s vice president of sustainability. “We need to treat vehicles as resources, where a bumper doesn’t end up as a bottle, but rather a high-value component in a future car.”

    Executives also highlighted BMW’s push toward circularity as a hedge against geopolitical risk. The company is using A.I. to track the lifecycle of vehicle components, and has already mapped the complete carbon footprint of its kidney grilles.

    The iX3’s debut underscores BMW’s commitment to the U.S. market, EVs and the Paris Accords—even as adoption in the U.S. lags behind Europe and China. Post acknowledged American skepticism about EVs but noted that “most customers don’t go back to combustion engines once they’ve tried an EV.” He also pointed to BMW’s sixth-generation battery technology as a path toward affordability without reliance on fading government subsidies.

    In the end, the iX3 is both BMW’s calling card and a test case in an uncertain U.S. EV market. The real question is whether BMW’s strategy of flexibility—in design, powertrains and supply chains—will be enough to win over consumers who remain undecided about electric cars.

    BMW Unveils iX3 in U.S., Betting on Luxury EV Appeal Amid Slowing Demand

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    Abigail Bassett

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