The Financing Round Was Led by Ribbit, Addition, Valor Equity Partners and JP Morganchase's Strategic Investment Group

Zach Dell, son of Dell Technologies CEO Michael Dell, co-founded energy startup Base Power with Justin Lopas to install tens of thousands of residential batteries in backyards across Texas and Chicago. The company, which launched three years ago, recently secured $1 billion in funding, boosting its valuation to $13 billion and bringing total raised to over $2.5 billion. The financing round was led by Ribbit, Addition, Valor Equity Partners and JP MorganChase's Strategic Investment Group.

Michael Dell, who recently donated $6 billion to President Donald Trump's Trump Accounts, is not a backer. Base acts as a retail power provider, feeding energy to the grid during high demand or providing backup during outages. U.S. electricity demand hit record levels in 2025, driven by AI data centers.

The company has installed more than 23,000 batteries and does about 100 installations daily, aiming to double that pace by year-end. Its systems, sized like an air conditioning compressor unit, withstand temperatures from -22 to 122 Fahrenheit, flash flooding and submersion to 3 feet. In deregulated markets, Base owns and operates batteries as the customer's electricity provider; in regulated markets, it works with utilities to relieve grid bottlenecks.

Partnerships include El Paso Electric, Austin Energy and CoServ. The company leases a former Austin American-Statesman space and plans to build a factory.