By Alan Ohnsman for Forbes
Redwood Materials, a battery recycling startup created by Tesla’s TSLA -4.5% former chief technology officer, is among the first companies to win investment from Amazon’s AMZN -3.1% $2 billion venture fund created to back companies with technology contributing to carbon reduction efforts.
Amazon said its Climate Pledge Fund, launched in June, is focused on backing companies “building technologies, products and services that will help Amazon and other companies accelerate the path to net-zero carbon.” Neither the retail giant and Redwood Materials said disclose how much the fund is putting into Redwood City, Nevada-based startup.
“To fight climate change, we need to solve the impact products have on the environment, Redwood cofounder and CEO JB Straubel said. “We’re honored to be part of the Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund and to build the closed-loop supply chain that will recycle batteries, electronics and other end of life products for Amazon.”
REDWOOD MATERIALS
Straubel, who joined Elon Musk in cofounding Tesla after the two met in 2003, was Tesla’s chief technology officer from its earliest days and was instrumental in helping design the company’s electric motors and other technology. His departure from the electric-car maker came as a surprise announcement by Musk in July 2019 during a quarterly results call. Of Tesla’s five original founders, only Musk still has an active role with the company.
“I’d like to thank JB for his fundamental role in creating and building Tesla,” Musk said on the call. “If we hadn’t had lunch in 2003 Tesla wouldn’t exist, basically.”
With his startup Straub’s focus is developing sustainable materials through “circular supply chains” that reclaim potentially harmful waste before it creates environmental problems. Redwood closed a $40 million funding round this year, its first, with backing from Capricorn Investment Group and Breakthrough Energy Ventures, an environmentally conscious fund backed by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Microsoft Corp. MSFT-1.8% cofounder Bill Gates. It launched a partnership with Panasonic Corp. last year to recycle scrap materials from Panasonic’s portion of the Tesla Gigafactory in Sparks, Nevada, that makes batteries for Tesla vehicles and stationary storage units. Read more from Forbes.
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