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Energy startup Base Power raises $1 billion series C round

fresh funding

Base Power, founded by Justin Lopas and Zach Dell, has closed one of the largest venture capital deals of the year. Photo courtesy Base Power.

Austin-based startup Base Power, which offers battery-supported energy in the Houston area and other regions, has raised $1 billion in series C funding—making it one of the largest venture capital deals this year in the U.S.

VC firm Addition led the $1 billion round. All of Base Power’s existing major investors also participated, including Trust Ventures, Valor Equity Partners, Thrive Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Altimeter, StepStone Group, 137 Ventures, Terrain, Waybury Capital, and entrepreneur Elad Gil. New investors include Ribbit Capital, Google-backed CapitalG, Spark Capital, Bond, Lowercarbon Capital, Avenir Growth Capital, Glade Brook Capital Partners, Positive Sum and 1789 Capital Management.

Coupled with the new $1 billion round, Base Power has hauled in more than $1.27 billion in funding since it was founded in 2023.

Base Power supplies power to homeowners and the electric grid through a distributed storage network.

“The chance to reinvent our power system comes once in a generation,” Zach Dell, co-founder and CEO of Base Power, said in a news release. “The challenge ahead requires the best engineers and operators to solve it, and we’re scaling the team to make our abundant energy future a reality.”

Zach Dell is the son of Austin billionaire and Houston native Michael Dell, chairman and CEO of Round Rock-based Dell Technologies.

In less than two years, Base Power has developed more than 100 megawatt-hours of battery-enabled storage capacity. One megawatt-hour represents one hour of energy use at a rate of one million watts.

Base Power recently expanded its service to the city of Houston. It already was delivering energy to several other communities in the Houston area. To serve the Houston region, the startup has opened an office in Katy.

The startup also serves the Dallas-Fort Worth and Austin markets. At some point, Base Power plans to launch a nationwide expansion.

To meet current and future demand, Base Power is building its first energy storage and power electronics factory at the former downtown Austin site of the Austin American-Statesman’s printing presses.

“We’re building domestic manufacturing capacity for fixing the grid,” Justin Lopas, co-founder and chief operating officer of Base Power, added in the release. “The only way to add capacity to the grid is [by] physically deploying hardware, and we need to make that here in the U.S. ... This factory in Austin is our first, and we’re already planning for our second.”

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Austin-based Base Power has opened an office and warehouse in Katy. Photo via basepowercompany.com.

Austin energy startup Base Power opens Katy office & expands Houston service

power move

An Austin startup that pairs electricity with backup power has started doing business in Houston.

Base Power announced this spring that it was entering the Houston market, with an initial focus on Cy-Fair, Spring, Cinco Ranch and Mission Bend. Now, Base Power is offering its service to households within the city of Houston.

To support its growth in the Houston area, Base Power has opened an office and warehouse in Katy. More than 30 people now work there. Plans to expand the Katy location are underway.

Base Power provides electricity that’s complemented by home backup power. Homes don’t need to be using solar power to sign up for Base Power’s service.

The startup said its service automatically supplies power to a home when the electric grid fails.

“Unlike traditional backup systems with high upfront costs, Base earns revenue by providing services to the grid — enabling Houstonians to get reliable backup and real savings,” Base Power said.

In addition to its standard service, Base Power has begun offering technology known as the Generator Recharge Port. This component allows a portable generator to plug into the Base battery system to recharge batteries during extended power outages.

“Houston has long been the energy capital of Texas, yet it has also endured some of the nation’s most painful lessons about unreliable power,” said Zach Dell, co-founder and CEO of Base Power. “We see Houston not just as a place to expand, but as a proving ground for how the future of energy should work — resilient, dependable, and built to serve homeowners when it matters most.”

Dell is the only son of Austin tech billionaire Michael Dell, a Houston native.

Base Power’s expansion in Houston adds to its Texas presence. The company now serves homeowners in the Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth and Austin areas. A partnership with homebuilder Lennar and collaborations with two utilities, GVEC and the Bandera Electric Cooperative, are helping drive Base Power’s business.

Base Power has raised more than $270 million in funding since its founding in 2023. This includes a $200 million series B round that will help finance construction of the company’s first factory in Texas and help fuel Base Power’s national expansion.

The startup’s investors include Andreessen Horowitz, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Valor Equity Partners, Thrive Capital, Altimeter, Terrain and Trust.

Base Power, founded by Justin Lopas and Zach Dell, closed a $200 million series B and plans to expand in Texas and around the country. Photo courtesy Base Power.

Texas energy startup closes $200M round to fund first factory in the state

fresh funding

Base Power, an Austin-based startup that provides battery-powered home energy services and just entered the Houston market, has raised $200 million in series B funding.

The money will help finance the construction of Base Power’s first factory in Texas. A site for the factory hasn’t been announced. The cash will also go toward the national expansion of Base Power’s services.

Andreessen Horowitz, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Valor Equity Partners co-led the round, with participation from existing investors such as Thrive Capital, Altimeter, Terrain, and Trust.

As part of the fundraising, Lee Fixel of Addition and Antonio Gracias of Valor Equity Partners are joining Base Power’s board of directors.

Last year, the startup landed $68 million in a series A funding round.

Base Power, founded in 2023, specializes in developing battery storage for energy that it provides to residential customers. Its partners include homebuilder Lennar and the Bandera Electric Cooperative, which supplies power to customers in seven Hill Country counties. Earlier this year it began serving the Houston-area territory serviced by CenterPoint Energy.

“Our rapid expansion has allowed us to power up thousands of Texans in just a few months, while driving their energy costs down and power reliability up,” Zach Dell, co-founder and CEO of Base Power, says in a news release. “With this investment, we will continue to innovate on new grid solutions, establish our domestic manufacturing capabilities, and accelerate adoption nationally.”

Dell’s father is Austin tech billionaire Michael Dell. He founded the company with Justin Lopas.

Justin Lopas and Zach Dell founded Base Power in 2023 and are now expanding the company's electricity and backup battery offerings to Houston. Photo courtesy Base Power.

Austin energy startup expands to Houston, offering electricity with backup batteries

power move

An Austin startup that sells electricity and couples it with backup power has entered the Houston market.

Base Power, which claims to be the first and only electricity provider to offer a backup battery, now serves the Houston-area territory served by Houston-based CenterPoint Energy. No solar equipment is required for Base Power’s backup batteries.

The company is initially serving customers in the Cy-Fair, Spring, Cinco Ranch and Mission Bend communities, and will expand to other Houston-area places in the future.

Base Power already serves customers in the Austin and Dallas-Fort Worth markets.

The company says it provides “a cost-effective alternative to generators and solar-battery systems in an increasingly unreliable power grid.”

“Houston represents one of the largest home backup markets in the world, largely due to dramatic weather events that strain the power grid,” says Base Power co-founder and CEO Zach Dell, son of Austin tech billionaire Michael Dell. “We’re eager to provide an accessible energy service that delivers affordable, reliable power to Houston homeowners.”

After paying a $495 or $995 fee that covers installation and permitting, and a $16- or $29-per-month membership fee, Base Power customers gain access to a backup battery and competitive energy rates, the company says. The startup is waiving the $495 setup fee for the first 500 Houston-area homeowners who sign up and make a refundable deposit.

With the Base Power backup package, electricity costs 14.3 cents per kilowatt-hour, which includes Base Power’s 8.5 cents per kilowatt-hour charge and rates charged by CenterPoint. The average electric customer in Houston pays 13 cents per kilowatt-hour, according to EnergySage.

“Base Power is built to solve a problem that so many Texans face: consistent power,” says Justin Lopas, co-founder and chief operating officer of Base Power and a former SpaceX engineer. “Houstonians can now redefine how they power their homes, while also improving the existing power grid.”

Founded in 2023, Base Power has attracted funding from investors such as Thrive Capital, Valor Equity Partners, Altimeter Capital, Trust Ventures, and Terrain. Zach Dell was previously an associate on the investment team at Thrive Capital.

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$21.5 billion merger will create Houston-based energy powerhouse

Major Merger

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma-based Devon Energy has agreed to buy Houston-based Coterra Energy in a $21.5 billion all-stock deal, forming an energy powerhouse that will be headquartered in Houston. The combined company, boasting an enterprise value of $58 billion, will adopt the Devon brand name.

Revenue for the two publicly traded companies totaled nearly $18.8 billion in the first nine months of 2025. Devon is a Fortune 500 company, but Coterra doesn’t appear in the most recent ranking.

The deal, already approved by the boards of both companies, is expected to close in the second quarter of 2026. Once the transaction is completed, Devon shareholders will own about 54 percent of the combined company and Coterra shareholders will own 46 percent.

“This transformative merger combines two companies with proud histories and cultures of operational excellence, creating a premier shale operator,” says Clay Gaspar, Devon’s president and CEO.

The combined company will be one of the world’s largest shale producers, with third-quarter 2025 production exceeding 550 thousand barrels of oil per day and 4.3 billion cubic feet of gas per day. A significant presence in the Delaware Basin, encompassing hundreds of thousands of acres, will anchor the company’s operations. The 10,000-square-mile Delaware Basin is in West Texas and southeastern New Mexico.

The new Devon also will operate in the Permian Basin, located in West Texas and New Mexico; Marcellus Shale, located in five states in the East; and Anadarko Basin, located in the Texas Panhandle, Colorado, Kansas, and Oklahoma.

Gaspar will be president and CEO of the combined company, and Tom Jorden, chairman, president, and CEO of Coterra, will be non-executive chairman.

Houston climatech startup closes $5M seed round to scale copper alternative

seeing green

Houston-based material science and climatech startup DexMat has closed a $5 million seed round.

The round was led by non sibi ventures, with participation from Governance Partners, Tailwind Futures, BetterWay, Capital Factory and other investors. The company additionally announced that it has secured $3 million of non-dilutive funding.

DexMat plans to use the recent round to commercially scale Galvorn, its carbon-based conductive fiber. The high-performance copper alternative, originally developed at Rice University, is made from carbon nanotube (CNT) fibers, which are less energy- and CO2-intensive to produce.

The company says it will grow its technical and commercial teams and advance pilot-scale production to meet demand from new and existing customers in aerospace, defense and manufacturing industries.

"We’re seeing clear customer pull, particularly in wire and cable applications, as manufacturers look for conductive materials that are less dense, more durable, and resilient at scale,” Bryan Guido Hassin, CEO of DexMat, said in a news release. “This funding allows us to meet near-term demand and expand production capabilities in response to evolving supply-chain constraints."

The recent funding comes after a year of impressive growth. According to the news release, DexMat more than doubled its production and sales of Galvorn in 2025 compared to the previous year.

“We consistently hear the same message from customers: the material performs really well, and they need more of it at a lower cost,” Dmitri Tsentalovich, co-founder and CTO of DexMat, added in the release. “This round supports the production scale-up and cost reductions required to move Galvorn into broader commercial use.”

DexMat raised $3 million in funding in a round led by Shell Ventures in 2023. The company reports a 20-fold increase in capacity since its pre-seed round, along with a 96 percent reduction in production costs.

DexMat's technology was originally developed in the Rice University lab of co-founder Matteo Pasquali, who also serves as director of Rice’s Carbon Hub. According to previous reports, the company was built on over $20 million in non-dilutive funding—including grants from the Air Force Research Laboratory, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, U.S. Department of Energy, NASA, Advanced Functional Fabrics of America and the National Science Foundation—with Rice University included in the list of original investors.

Here are 5 must-attend Houston energy events for February 2026

Mark Your Calendar

Editor's note: The second half of February is buzzing with must-attend events for those in the Houston energy sector. We've rounded up a host of events to put on your calendar for the month, with topics ranging from AI in energy to emissions management for a sustainable future. Get the details below, and register now.

Feb. 18-20 — NAPE Summit Week 2026

NAPE is the energy industry’s marketplace for the buying, selling, and trading of prospects and producing properties. NAPE brings together all industry disciplines and companies of all sizes, and in 2026 it will introduce three new hubs — offshore, data centers, and critical minerals — for more insights, access, and networking opportunities. The event includes a summit, exhibition, and more.

This event begins Feb. 18 at George R. Brown Convention Center. Register here.

Feb. 23-25 — AI in Energy Summit

The third annual AI in Energy Summit will bring together 200 senior leaders from the utilities, oil and gas, power generation, and renewables sectors for three days of conversation in Houston, the heart of energy innovation. Attendees will hear directly from operators who’ve taken AI projects from proof of concept to full deployment; learn how make data AI-ready and align AI with business goals; and discover what’s working in GenAI, ML Ops, Agentic AI, and more.

This event begins Feb. 23 at Norris Conference Center. Register here.

Feb. 24-26 — 2026 Energy HPC & AI Conference

The 2026 Energy HPC & AI Conference marks the 19th year for the Ken Kennedy Institute to convene experts from the energy industry, academia, and national labs to share breakthroughs for HPC and AI technologies. The conference returns to Houston with engaging speaker sessions, a technical talk program, networking receptions, add-on workshops, and more.

This event begins Feb. 24 at Rice University's BRC. Register here.

Feb. 25-26 — Energy Emissions Management Conference

The fifth annual Energy Emissions Management Conference is the premier gathering for energy leaders who are committed to staying ahead of the rapidly evolving emissions landscape. The conference aims to foster collaboration, drive technological innovation, and strengthen transparency, supporting organizations in meeting their regulatory obligations and sustainability goals.

This event begins Feb. 25 at Hilton Houston Westchase. Register here.

Feb. 26 — February Transition on Tap

Mix and mingle at Greentown Labs' first Transition on Tap event of the year. Meet the accelerator's newest startup members, who are working on innovations ranging from methane capture to emissions-free manufacturing processes to carbon management.

This event begins at 5:30 pm on Feb. 26 at Greentown Labs Houston. Register here.

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