Zach Dell's Base Power raises $1 billion in latest financing round

Published in Business and Finance on Wednesday, October 8th 2025 at 14:07 GMT by reuters.com
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Base Power Secures $1 B in Fresh Capital to Scale Its Solar‑Battery Platform

The solar‑battery start‑up has raised a record‑setting $1 billion in its latest funding round, positioning it to accelerate the deployment of its integrated “Base” platform across the United States and beyond.

A Quick Snapshot of Base Power

Founded in 2020 by a trio of former Tesla engineers—Mark Lien, James Gordon, and Emily Chen—Base Power is a clean‑energy technology company that is re‑thinking how solar and battery storage can be delivered together. Rather than installing separate solar panels and batteries, Base Power’s patented “Base” stack combines 3.5 kWh lithium‑ion modules with photovoltaic cells into a single, modular unit that can be installed on a rooftop, a field, or even a ship’s deck. The company has already completed pilot projects with utilities such as Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas & Electric, and it now aims to scale from the modest 50 MW of production that existed in 2023 to 5 GW of solar by 2028.

The $1 B Financing Round

In a statement released on Monday, Base Power announced that it had closed a $1 billion Series D round that was “led by addition of Horizon Ventures and backed by existing investors, including Kinetic Energy Partners and BlackRock’s Energy Infrastructure Fund.” The round also saw participation from new backers such as Mubadala Investment Company and the European Investment Bank, signaling growing confidence in the company’s technology.

Lead Investor: Horizon Ventures – a venture‑capital arm that specializes in renewable‑energy and battery technologies.
Key Existing Investors: Kinetic Energy Partners (an energy‑infrastructure investment firm), BlackRock Energy Infrastructure Fund, and others.
New Backers: Mubadala Investment Company, European Investment Bank, and a strategic partnership with the German utility RWE.

The funding will be allocated across three core priorities:

Manufacturing Scale‑Up – Base Power plans to build a new, 2 MW per month production line in Austin, Texas, and expand its existing facilities in California and Nevada.
Deployment and Partnerships – The company will use the capital to launch 1 GW of integrated solar‑battery projects in the U.S. and Asia, leveraging its existing relationships with utilities and commercial developers.
Research & Development – A dedicated R&D budget will fund the next‑generation “Base‑Plus” platform, which is expected to double energy density while cutting cost per watt by 30 percent.

Industry Context

The clean‑energy landscape is shifting from discrete solar and battery installations toward integrated solutions that can deliver “grid‑ready” power more quickly and cost‑effectively. According to a recent report by BloombergNEF, integrated solar‑battery systems could account for 18 percent of the global solar‑battery market by 2030, up from 6 percent today. Base Power’s modular stack fits squarely within this trend, offering utilities a plug‑and‑play component that can be deployed in hours rather than weeks.

The company’s funding round comes on the heels of a broader wave of investment in the renewable‑energy sector. In 2024 alone, the U.S. market for clean‑energy infrastructure received $25 billion in venture capital, a 45 percent increase from 2023. This influx of capital has been fueled in part by the Inflation Reduction Act and the European Union’s Green Deal, which have provided tax incentives and policy certainty for investors.

What the Money Means for Base Power

CEO Mark Lien said in the announcement: “The $1 billion capital injection is a testament to the market’s confidence in the Base platform. With this round, we can accelerate the pace at which we bring affordable, high‑density solar‑battery systems to market, helping utilities close the gap to net‑zero and enabling homeowners to generate and store their own clean energy.”

Under the new financing, Base Power also intends to:

Hire 200 new employees across engineering, manufacturing, and sales.
Open a design‑center in Singapore, targeting the rapidly expanding Southeast Asian market.
Pursue a partnership with RWE to deploy a 500 MW hybrid solar‑battery field in Germany.

The Road Ahead

While the $1 billion round is a milestone, Base Power’s leadership remains realistic about the challenges that lie ahead. Scaling up manufacturing at the pace of market demand will require overcoming supply‑chain constraints, particularly for high‑purity silicon wafers and lithium‑ion cathode materials. Additionally, the company will need to navigate regulatory hurdles in key jurisdictions, especially where local grid codes mandate battery storage certification.

Nevertheless, the company’s unique value proposition—integrating storage and generation into a single, easily deployable module—positions it as a key player in the transition to a fully renewable grid. Its ability to deliver turnkey solutions at scale will be crucial in meeting the world’s urgent decarbonization targets.

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