Alphabet’s Google Backs Redwood Materials in Round That Values Recycler at $6 Billion

A fresh investment involving Google repositions Redwood Materials as one of the most highly valued firms focused on reclaiming battery constituents, with the company now appraised near $6 billion. The startup, led by the former Tesla engineer J.B. Straubel, targets the recovery and refinement of critical inputs such as lithium, nickel and cobalt from used electric-vehicle batteries and manufacturing scrap. This capital injection arrives as demand for battery materials keeps growing faster than many mining and refining projects can respond, elevating the strategic value of circular suppliers. For Redwood, the new backing should accelerate plans to scale plants, deepen processing capability and move further along the value chain from collection toward finished precursor and cathode materials. For Google, the deployment of capital appears less about immediate profit and more about stabilizing future access to lower-carbon battery feedstock and signaling sustainability commitments to customers and regulators. The market interpretation is straightforward: private investors are rewarding companies that can reduce dependence on primary raw-material extraction and shorten complex supply chains. That optimism, however, rests on execution; moving from pilot-scale recycling to cost-competitive, high-throughput refining demands heavy engineering, steady feedstock flows and navigated permitting. Competitive pressure will intensify as traditional miners, chemical refiners and other recyclers accelerate investments to capture the same economics. Policy shifts, commodity price swings and technological breakthroughs in battery chemistry will all influence whether recycling replaces or simply supplements primary production. In the near term, automakers and cell producers stand to gain bargaining leverage and potential supply resilience if Redwood and peers can reliably deliver recovered materials at scale. For investors, the round reinforces a thesis that circularity in battery supply is investable and potentially defensible against raw-material volatility. The broader implication is that capital—both strategic and financial—is now actively allocating toward companies that can convert end-of-life and scrap streams into feedstock for next-generation batteries. If Redwood can translate this valuation into operational momentum, the company could become a linchpin in North American battery material supply chains; if not, the valuation will reflect a high-risk bet on scalability and market adoption.