特斯拉联合创始人的电池回收公司Redwood Materials估值接近 50 亿美元

Redwood Materials 正在洽谈融资 7 亿美元，为美国扩张提供资金

Employees at Redwood Materials

特斯拉联合创始人 JB Straubel 的电池回收初创公司正在洽谈融资 7 亿美元，这笔交易将使该公司估值近 50 亿美元，并为该公司在内华达州的第一家大型工厂提供资金。

Straubel 于 2017 年成立了 Redwood Materials ，旨在通过回收电池中的材料并减少开采行业所需的更多矿物来重塑电动汽车的供应链。

自成立以来，Redwood 得到了包括资产管理公司 T Rowe Price、Baillie Gifford 和 Fidelity 在内的主要投资者的支持。据知情人士透露，该公司的几位现有投资者将参与新的融资活动。

Redwood 在 2021 年以 37 亿美元的估值筹集了超过 7 亿美元资金后，今年早些时候获得了美国能源部提供 20 亿美元贷款的有条件承诺。

与这笔贷款一样，新一轮融资旨在帮助 Redwood 在内华达州里诺附近开发电池回收设施，该设施将把报废电池和电池生产废料转化为电动汽车使用的关键材料。

随着美国市场的增长以及拜登总统试图加速该国向可再生能源的过渡，该工厂的满负荷产出预计将支持每年超过 100 万辆电动汽车的生产。

知情人士透露，新的筹款活动尚未最终确定，但表示谈判已取得进展。Redwood拒绝置评。

Straubel是 2004 年特斯拉公司成立一年后的联合创始人，他担任这家汽车制造商 15 年的首席技术官，在帮助创建该公司第一个动力系统和建设其超级工厂方面发挥了关键作用。他最近加入了特斯拉董事会。

拜登设定的目标是，到 2030 年，美国销售的新车中有一半是电动汽车。根据咨询公司 Atlas Public Policy 的数据，截至 6 月底，美国电动汽车销量达到 400 万辆大关。专家表示，特斯拉和福特等公司的降价、为消费者提供高达 7,500 美元的税收抵免以及更大的制造能力等综合因素推动了销量。

去年 12 月，Redwood 宣布计划在南卡罗来纳州查尔斯顿附近开发占地 600 多英亩的下一个工厂，投资额达 35 亿美元。

该集团的现有投资者还包括 Breakthrough Energy Ventures、高盛和亚马逊的气候承诺基金。

Tesla co-founder’s battery recycling start-up closes in on $5bn valuation

Redwood Materials in talks to raise $700mn as it seeks to fund US expansion

Employees at Redwood Materials

Tesla co-founder JB Straubel’s battery recycling start-up is in talks to raise $700mn in a deal that would value it at almost $5bn and help fund the company’s first major plant in Nevada.

Straubel established Redwood Materials in 2017 to reshape the supply chain for electric vehicles by recycling the materials in batteries and reducing the need to mine for more of the minerals the industry needs.

Since it was founded, Redwood has been backed by major investors including asset managers T Rowe Price, Baillie Gifford and Fidelity. Several of its existing investors are set to participate in its new fundraising, according to people familiar with the matter.

After raising more than $700mn at a $3.7bn valuation in 2021, Redwood earlier this year received a conditional commitment for a $2bn loan from the US Department of Energy.

Like the loan, the new fundraising is intended to help finance Redwood’s development of a battery recycling facility near Reno, Nevada, which will turn end-of-life battery and production scrap into critical materials for use in electric vehicles.

JB Straubel established Redwood in 2017

At full capacity, the plant’s output is expected to support the production of more than 1mn electric vehicles a year, as the US market grows and President Joe Biden tries to accelerate the country’s transition to renewable energy.

People familiar with the matter cautioned that the new fundraising had yet to be finalised, but said the talks were advanced. Redwood declined to comment.

Straubel, who is credited with co-founding Tesla in 2004, a year after it was incorporated, was the carmaker’s chief technology officer for 15 years, playing key roles in helping create the company’s first powertrains and building its gigafactory. He recently joined Tesla’s board.

Biden has set a target that half of all new vehicles sold in the US will be electric by 2030. Electric vehicle sales in the US hit the 4mn mark at the end of June, according to data from consultancy Atlas Public Policy.

The sales are being driven by a combination of price cuts at the likes of Tesla and Ford, tax credits worth up to $7,500 for consumers and greater manufacturing capacity, experts say.

In December, Redwood announced a plan to develop its next facility of more than 600 acres near Charleston, South Carolina, including a $3.5bn investment.

The group’s existing investors also include Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Goldman Sachs and Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund.