Base Power raises $1B Series D at $13B valuation, launches US-built home battery
What's the deal? Base Power has raised $1 billion in a Series D round at a $13 billion post-money valuation. The Austin-based energy company also launched Base Core, a home battery designed to support the grid and now in production at its Factory 1.
The round: Ribbit Capital, Addition, Valor Equity Partners, and JPMorganChase's Strategic Investment GroupDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → led the financing. Altimeter, D1 Capital Partners, Sands CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Coatue, Layer GlobalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and Energy Impact PartnersDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → joined, alongside returning backers including Thrive Capital, a16z, Lightspeed, and CapitalG. Base has now raised over $2.5 billion to date.
How big is that? At $1 billion, this ranks among the largest Series D rounds ever recorded for a US energy company — the top of a sample of 206 comparable deals.
The product: Base Core is one of the largest home batteries on the market at 39.2 kWh, built in America and engineered for rapid deployment. "It installs in under an hour, switches over seamlessly, is built to handle extreme weather," said chief executive officer and co-founder Zach Dell. It is available today to homeowners in select regions of Texas and Illinois.
Why now? US power demand is surging, and traditional generation can't scale fast enough to meet it. Base positions distributed home batteries as a fast, cheaper way to add capacity where the grid needs it most.
The expansion: Over the past year, Base grew its battery fleet to over 500 MWh and moved beyond Texas into Illinois. It also signed utility partnerships with El Paso ElectricDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Austin EnergyDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and CoServDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → for over 200 MW of capacity. The new capital will fund national expansion, more Core installations, and hiring.
The signal: Investor appetite for distributed energy is climbing as the grid strains under rising demand. With domestic manufacturing and utility deals in place, Base is betting that home batteries — not new power plants — are the quickest path to added capacity.
Read more: TechCrunch
Image: Oran Viriyincy / Openverse
