New company Ascend is leveraging federal grants to build a new EV battery recycling facility in deep red Kentucky. Great reporting as usual, from CNBC’s Diana Olick.
It’s not the only battery recycling start-up. Redwood Materials is another, started by a Tesla alumnus.
Redwood Materials said on Tuesday it had raised more than $1 billion in new funding as the battery materials firm, founded by former Tesla (TSLA.O) executive JB Straubel, seeks to expand its operations in the United States.
The company in February received a conditional commitment for a $2 billion loan from the U.S. Energy Department to build a $3.5-billion recycling and re-manufacturing complex in Nevada for electric-vehicle battery materials.
The latest funding round for Redwood, founded in 2017 by Straubel, was co-led by Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Capricorn’s Technology Impact Fund and funds advised by T. Rowe Price Associates.
“We will use our Series D funding to continue building our capacity, expanding the domestic battery supply chain and allowing our customers to purchase battery materials made in the US,” Redwood said.
Diana Olick makes me swoon.