Base Power Company's $13 billion valuation is 3.25 times that of its previous $1 billion round
Base Power Company raised $1 billion at a $13 billion post-money valuation, according to Not Boring, whose author is an investor in the company. The account covers one firm, so it prices Base without measuring home storage as a category.
The Investor · Invest desk
Key figures: a tenfold return on a stake bought in Base's Series D, ignoring later dilution, requires a company worth $130 billion. The Series D raised $1 billion, and that $1 billion investment buys about 7.7% of the company.
| Figure | Value | Note | Claim |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base value needed for a tenfold Series D return | $130 billion | illustrative; ignores later dilution | 9 |
| Series D raised | $1 billion | 2 | |
| Stake the $1B buys, about | 7.7% | 7 |
What happened
- The Series D was co-led by Ribbit, Valor Equity Partners, Addition and JPMorganChase's Strategic Investment Group.
- Zach Dell and Ribbit's Micky Malka agreed terms on a Friday night earlier this summer, and by Sunday the round was oversubscribed by multiples, the author wrote.
- The author ranks Base, less than three years old, as the second most valuable energy startup behind Helion and the most valuable one selling a product today.
Why it matters
- What it costs cost The new money buys about 7.7% of Base, so a tenfold return before later dilution needs a company worth $130 billion.
- Who's exposed exposure The author describing the round has invested in Base, and the price is 43.3 times the $300 million at which he first covered it.
- What doesn't add up contradiction The author says Base's ambition rose in step with its price; Dell told him he does not necessarily think about it that way and could not recall the $400 billion remark.
The $1.3 trillion figure comes from a ratio the author built on a recollection. He recalls Dell telling a small group at Thrive Capital's office last November, "Base can become a $400 billion company" [12], and $400 billion over the $4 billion valuation then on the books is 100 [19]. The same multiple on $13 billion gives $1.3 trillion [20], the figure the author put to Dell in a conversation last week [17]. Set against the $130 billion a tenfold return would take [9] (the tenfold hurdle is our assumption, or rather a round number chosen for illustration), $1.3 trillion is ten times larger [10].
Dell's own answer was a ranking. According to the author, he described stack-ranking the largest energy companies by market cap and asking whether Base would crack the list [14]. Dell said: "I think we will crack that list and I think we can be near the top over time. I think we will be at the top." [15]
The sector claim needs more than this. The author's comparisons are SpaceX and Anduril, and his thesis is that Base can win a large, old, incumbent-dominated market [16]. The excerpt does not include revenue, margin or unit figures.
The counter-thesis is that a round oversubscribed by multiples [3], with a bank's strategic investment group among four co-leads [2], shows institutional comfort with the whole category. We think it shows comfort with Base, a company less than three years old that the author places behind only Helion among energy startups [21]. We would revise that if a second home-storage or distributed-power company priced a round at a comparable step-up from its last (Base's is 3.25 times [8]), or if Base's next round came in flat or below $13 billion [1].
What to watch
- A second home-storage or distributed-power company pricing a round at a step-up near Base's 3.25 times would support reading this as a category signal.
- Base's next priced round: flat or below $13 billion would say the Series D price ran ahead of the business.
- Revenue or unit volumes from Base, including from the Chicago expansion the author mentions, since the excerpt gives none.
Information, not investment advice. This story is general information about companies and markets, drawn from cited reporting. It is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any security; check the cited sources before acting.
Clarity's read
What the record supports and how the coverage leans. The claims behind it follow.
Reality
- Evidence35
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+45
- Incentives75
- Confidence50
Claim ledger
Ranked by verification strength, evidence, and original report placement.
- [1]
Base Power Company announced that it has raised $1 billion at a $12 billion pre-money valuation, bringing its valuation to $13 billion.
- [2]
The round was a $1 billion Series D at a $13 billion post-money valuation, co-led by Ribbit, Valor Equity Partners, Addition and JPMorganChase's Strategic Investment Group.
- [3]
CEO Zach Dell and Ribbit Capital founder Micky Malka agreed terms on a Friday night earlier this summer; the round was fully subscribed by Saturday and multiples oversubscribed by Sunday.
- [4]
The author has invested in Base Power Company and plans to keep writing about it through and beyond an IPO.
- [5]
Base had closed a $1 billion round the month before last November's Thrive Capital event that valued the company at $4 billion.
- [6]
The author first wrote about Base when it was valued at $300 million (Chapter 1) and again when it was valued at $1 billion (Chapter 2).
- [7]
A $1 billion investment at a $13 billion post-money valuation buys about 7.7% of the company.
- [8]
The $13 billion valuation is 3.25 times the $4 billion valuation of Base's previous $1 billion round.
- [9]
A tenfold return on a stake bought at a $13 billion post-money valuation, ignoring later dilution, requires a company worth $130 billion (the tenfold hurdle is an illustrative assumption).
- [10]
$1.3 trillion is ten times the $130 billion needed for a tenfold return on the Series D.
- [11]
The $13 billion valuation is about 43.3 times the $300 million at which the author first wrote about Base.
- [12]
The author recalls that last November, at a fireside at Thrive Capital's office in New York, Zach Dell said: "Base can become a $400 billion company."
- [13]
Dell did not remember saying $400 billion at Thrive and said he does not necessarily think about it that way.
- [14]
Dell described stack-ranking the largest energy companies by market cap and asking whether Base will crack that list and where on it the company would sit.
- [15]
Dell said: "I think we will crack that list and I think we can be near the top over time. I think we will be at the top."
- [16]
The author's working thesis is that Base can do to energy what SpaceX did to space and Anduril is doing to defense, namely win a large, old, incumbent-dominated market.
- [17]
The author asked Dell last week whether, now that investors had valued the company at $13 billion, Base was a $1.3 trillion company in the limit.
- [18]
The author says Base's ambition grew along with its valuation 'at exactly a 100:1 ratio' between the $4 billion round and the $13 billion round.
- [19]
$400 billion divided by the $4 billion valuation at the time of the Thrive remark is 100.
- [20]
Applying the same 100x multiple to the $13 billion valuation gives $1.3 trillion.
- [21]
Base is less than three years old and, in the author's words, is now the second most valuable energy startup in the world, behind Helion, and the most valuable that is selling a product today.
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Sources
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notboring.co
1 article · October 13, 2026
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