In recent years, humanity has made advancements in technology which has changed the way we live and created opportunities for millions of people. However, no good thing comes without a cost which is why people are looking for ways to invest in Redwood Materials.
Founded in 2017 by JB Straubel, Redwood Materials aims to become a part of the growth of sustainable energy. This is through recycling gadgets that we use every day into materials that companies can use. Since it was established, Redwood Materials has gained attention with its high-profile leader and its services.
With climate change happening in our environment, there has been a growing need to develop means of sustainable energy that will be useful to the growth of our society without harming our environment.
Let’s take a deeper look at the company and why you need to invest in Redwood Materials.
What is Redwood Materials?
Although it was founded in 2017, Redwood Materials began to gain ground in the EV battery recycling market when JB Straubel officially resigned from his role as a senior executive officer in Tesla to focus on his startup company which he had slowly begun to develop over the years.
Redwood Materials is a startup recycling company that develops sustainable EV battery materials to supply automakers and battery companies that make use of these materials. The company provides these sustainable materials by recycling power banks, power tools, cell phone batteries, laptops, and any type of computer, electric bicycles, scooters, and other electronics that make use of lithium-ion batteries. During recycling, important materials like nickel, cobalt, and lithium are recovered as part of the circular economy.
With a high demand for EV materials, Redwood Materials helps to bring scraps into a reusable state. Also, Redwood Materials helps reduce the impact of the disposal of non-biodegradable waste and mining on the environment, thereby helping the world transition towards the use of sustainable energy. Straubel reiterated this in a talk with CNBC where he stated that ‘we bring the materials back to a clean and sort of fundamental state, so there is no loss in effectiveness.’
As of July 2021, the company is valued at $3.7 billion after receiving $700 million during its recent round of funding. This money will be used to grow the company’s existing projects, which will aid the development of EV battery materials from the recycled materials that the company makes.
Apart from JB Straubel, the startup company is led by Kevin Kassekert, who serves as the COO, and Jason Thompson, who is the CFO. Also, it has its primary location in Carson City, Nevada, and has about 100 employees at the moment.
How you can Invest in Redwood Materials Stocks
At the moment, you cannot buy or sell shares from the startup recycling company because it is a private company. This is why you will not find a ticker symbol for Redwood Materials on any public stock exchange. Instead, the company majorly gets its financing from private investors like Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund and Goldman Sachs. Recently, the company partnered with Ford Motor Company to help the company electrify most of its vehicles.
Redwood Materials has shown no intention of taking the IPO route, but it may do so when the company needs to expand its operations. Although investing in Redwood Materials is a bit difficult, interested retail investors can pre-IPO shares through brokerage companies. When Redwood Materials opens itself up to the public, investors can easily get the stocks through stockbrokers and trading platforms.
Why Redwood Materials is Gaining a Lot of Interest
Here are some reasons why Redwood Materials has been gaining the attention of investors:
1. An Untapped Market
A look at the EV battery market will show you that there are not many businesses in the industry. At the moment, the company’s major competition is American Manganese, a penny stock company with a $268 million market capitalization.
Moreover, according to Allied Market Research, the global electronic vehicle battery recycling market had a valuation of $138.6 million in 2017. It is projected to have a valuation of about $2 272 million by 2025.
2. Increasing the Supply of EV raw materials
Redwood Materials is helping increase EV raw materials in the market. According to CNBC, Sam Jaffe, a managing director at Cairn ERA, noted that the industry would need about 1.5 million tons of granite and lithium, 500,000 tons of battery-grade manganese to meet the world’s need for batteries in the next 10 years.
So, there is a need to make use of the existing battery cells, and Redwood Materials is doing that without harming the environment.
3. Its Partnership with Top Companies
With its focus on recycling existing materials, this company has partners with top companies like Panasonic to recycle scraps and defective products into useable raw products.
In 2020, Redwood Materials also entered into an agreement with Envision AESC to recycle some of its old products. In the same year, the company received funding of about $40 million from Capricorn Investment Group and Breakthrough Energy Ventures.
4. Aspirational Goals and Good Leadership
Although the company has two recycling facilities at its base, it aims to become the topmost company in its industry. It hopes to have facilities in different parts of the world for recycling battery cells from scrap and consumer electronics.
Also, Redwood Materials allows interested persons to directly recycle their consumer devices with lithium-ion batteries. This allows customers to become actively involved in making the little changes our environment needs to thrive.
Let’s not forget that with Straubel and a team of experts leading, the company is in good hands. With high expectations for the company to grow on a global scale, investors are waiting for an opportunity to invest in Redwood Materials.
Want to Invest in the EV Industry?
Although you cannot invest in Redwood Materials right now, there are other companies to look out for. These companies are:
1. Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd: Founded in 2011, the Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd is a Chinese company that manufactures lithium-ion batteries and battery management systems for electric vehicles. This company is one of the main suppliers of batteries to Tesla, and its stock went public in 2018.
2. Ganfeng Lithium Co. Ltd: This company is another Chinese company, and it is based in Xinyu, China. It is majorly concerned with the research and production of lithium batteries and compounds for electric vehicles and other tools that use lithium batteries. The company is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and Shenzhen Stock Exchange.
3. Panasonic Corp: Panasonic Corp is a world-renowned leader in electronics technology and one of the top producers of EV batteries. Since the company has been around for quite some time, it is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
4. Samsung SDI: Samsung SDI is a Korean-based country that is involved in the manufacturing of lithium-ion batteries for electric cars and electronics. This company is currently listed on the Korean Stock Exchange.
Bottom Line
Redwood Materials has quickly risen to the top in its industry, but it does not plan to stop there. Straubel aspires to take the company to greater heights by making it the major producer of cathodes in the U.S.
As the need for battery materials increase, the company is sure to be at the forefront of events. When it does open itself to the public, interested persons will be sure to invest in Redwood Materials.
