In a stunning display of thinking outside the box (or rather, outside the power plant), Base Power is betting that the future of energy storage isn't vast tracts of land near grid connections, but rather the humble backyard. And apparently, that bet is paying off - to the tune of another $1 billion, because why not? The startup announced today that it has raised a fresh billion dollars less than a year after its last billion-dollar round, valuing it at a whopping $13 billion post-money. That's a lot of zeros for a company that essentially installs giant batteries in people's yards.
Base Power has already installed more than 500 megawatt-hours of storage, which is enough to power a small city or at least a very enthusiastic block party. The company is currently installing about 100 batteries per day, and hopes to double that by year's end, which would be 200 batteries a day - about 8 megawatt-hours of storage daily. That's a lot of juice, people.
To keep up with demand, Base Power has rolled out its new home battery, the charmingly named Base Core. Built at its Austin, Texas factory, this bad boy can store 39.2 kilowatt-hours of electricity, which is significantly more than competitors' offerings. That's enough to keep your Netflix binge going for a day or more during a blackout. Customers can choose one or two batteries, because options are nice.
The company operates in Texas and Illinois, but its timing is impeccable. Electricity demand has been skyrocketing thanks to economywide electrification and the rapid pace of AI data center construction. The U.S. grid, which stagnated for decades, is now straining under the load, especially in PJM, which hosts a bunch of data centers. Portions of Illinois, where Base Power operates, are in PJM's territory, so they're right in the thick of it.
Base Power's business model is as refreshing as a cold drink on a hot day: instead of charging thousands upfront like most home battery installers, they offer a subscription. In the Houston area, for example, you pay $695 for installation, $19 per month, and 13.1 cents per kilowatt-hour - about the going rate. Base Power owns the battery and sells stored electricity back to the grid during peak demand, which can pay handsomely. In regulated markets, they work with utilities to place batteries in homes to ease grid strain. And in both regulated and deregulated markets, homeowners get the peace of mind of backup power during blackouts.
The new round was led by Ribbit, Addition, Valor Equity Partners, and JPMorganChase's Strategic Investment Group, with participation from a veritable alphabet soup of investors: Altimeter, D1 Capital Partners, Sands Capital, Coatue, Layer Global, Energy Impact Partners, Thrive Capital, a16z, Lightspeed, Trust Ventures, CapitalG, and others. Notably absent from the party is Michael Dell, father of CEO Zach Dell, who co-founded the company. Perhaps he's saving his pennies for something else.