Redwood Attracts Google For Its $425M Series E As AI Power Needs Rise
Redwood Materials raises $425M Series E with Google betting on second-life EV batteries to power AI data centers amid surging energy demand.
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Redwood Attracts Google For Its $425M Series E As AI Power Needs Rise
Redwood Materials Lands Google in $425M AI Power Bet Redwood Materials has secured a $425 million Series E funding round with Google joining as a strategic investor to scale energy storage systems for AI data centers. Founded by former Tesla CTO JB Straubel, the Nevada-based startup is repurposing second-life electric vehicle batteries into microgrids that deliver reliable, cost-competitive power exactly when and where artificial intelligence infrastructure needs it most. The expanded round—initially $350 million in October—now pushes Redwood's total capital raised to $4.9 billion as global data center electricity consumption approaches 1,000 terawatt-hours in 2026. Credit: Kirsten Korosec Why Google Just Bet Big on Battery Recycling Google's entry into Redwood's cap table isn't about recycling alone—it's about resilience. As AI workloads strain regional power grids, tech giants face an urgent challenge: how to keep data centers running during peak demand spikes or gri…