Base Power has announced the release of one of the most powerful and large home batteries, named Base Core. This launch coincides with the company raising $1 billion, which will be directed towards placing batteries in residential homes across the United States.
The current US energy system is under significant strain due to growing demand driven by artificial intelligence data centers and the widespread adoption of electric vehicles. Building new gas power plants will take a long time, creating a problem for utility companies. Base offers a solution to this problem by installing batteries directly in people's homes.
The Base Core has a capacity of 39.2 kWh, making it one of the largest home batteries on the market. When two such units are connected, the total capacity reaches 78.4 kWh, allowing the house to be powered for several days. Besides its size, the Base Core is not just a backup device; it is originally designed for integration into the main power grid.
The Base Core home battery performs two functions simultaneously: it provides lighting during power outages and helps maintain grid stability during sudden increases in consumption. This is achieved through three key features: installation takes less than an hour, simplifying scaling without needing many electricians; the system automatically switches over during a power loss; and it can withstand extreme weather conditions. The product is also noted for its accessibility.
Core production takes place in America, specifically at Base Plant 1 in Austin. According to the company, residents can expect to receive thousands of units monthly. Since production is located in the US, buyers do not have to face supply chain issues or long delivery waits.
Base has been working on the Core product for about a year. Over 500 kWh has already been installed, and the company's operations have expanded beyond Texas into Illinois. Furthermore, Base has secured partnerships, such as with El Paso Electric and CoServ, providing over 200 MW of capacity.
The company's revenue is generated from two sources: the sale and installation of batteries, and receiving payments from utilities for operating these systems. For homeowners, the appeal lies in protection against outages and reduced bills, while for utilities, it represents the opportunity to gain megawatts immediately rather than in the future.
The $1 billion funding round is atypical for energy sector equipment, as is the company's valuation. This funding round was led by Ribbit, Addition, Valor Equity Partners, and JPMorganChase Strategic Investments Group. Other participants include Altimeter, Coatue, a16z, Thrive, and Lightspeed.
JPMorgan's participation is particularly noteworthy because they are investing through their Security and Sustainability Initiative. Their approach focuses not on consumer technology but on infrastructure. Distributed batteries fall under the category of power lines and substations. The total amount raised by Base exceeds $2.5 billion. These funds will be used to create more Core units, hire additional specialists, and expand operations into new cities.
Convex has raised $57 million in a Series B funding round. These funds are planned to be used to scale the development of its backend platform, which is specifically designed for artificial intelligence. The financing was led by Insight Partners, with participation from Etna Labs and all previous investors, including a16z and Spark Capital.
Thanks to this Series B round, Convex's total raised capital has reached $110.5 million. The company stated that it intends to use this money to improve its core platform, enhance tools for agentic development, and increase its staff in its San Francisco office.
Founded in 2021 by former Dropbox infrastructure engineers, Convex offers developers a fully integrated backend platform. This platform combines databases, functions, workflows, search, synchronization, authentication, and file storage into a single solution built for software development.
The fundraising comes amid the trend towards AI-powered coding and autonomous development tools. Convex believes that developers need infrastructure capable of handling the increasing complexity of applications while maintaining a high level of reliability.
The company posits that traditional backend infrastructure struggles to support the growing use of AI coding agents. According to the company, AI-generated applications based on standard databases can subtly introduce data errors that only manifest after deployment.
Internal testing revealed that 90% of AI-built applications running on traditional databases encountered data corruption in real-world operating conditions. In comparison, applications developed on the Convex platform passed the same tests without any failures.
Convex's backend includes built-in ACID transactions, end-to-end type checking, real-time subscriptions, and TypeScript support. These features reduce the need for manual integration of multiple services for developers and increase application reliability. Furthermore, Convex packages search capabilities, workflow automation, authentication, file storage, and retrieval-augmented generation functions, allowing AI applications to be enriched with organization-specific knowledge.
The platform has gained significant traction among developers building AI-based software. Convex currently supports nearly two million applications created by about 500,000 developers worldwide. The company also reported over 1.2 million weekly downloads from npm.
Convex's clients include OpenAI, Tripadvisor, Solana, Zapier, and Reducto. These organizations use Convex to simplify backend development while ensuring scalable, reliable performance for their applications.
Insight Partners noted that the growing adoption of AI coding assistants has exposed weaknesses in traditional software infrastructure. The investment firm believes that Convex provides developers with a more robust foundation where backend components function cohesively without the need for complex configuration.
Convex plans to use the new funding to accelerate product innovations amidst the transformation of software engineering influenced by AI. The company will direct funds toward creating new tools that simplify application development for both developers and AI agents that build software.
The company will continue to provide highly reliable backend products supporting increasingly complex AI-based applications globally. Convex is convinced that stable backend infrastructure is becoming critically important as artificial intelligence generates large volumes of application code.
Instead of combining disparate components, Convex offers a single unified platform, which effectively reduces complexity and prevents software bugs. The raised funds will strengthen Convex's engineering team and significantly expand its global developer ecosystem and platform capabilities. With fresh capital and a growing customer base, Convex aims to solidify its position in the evolving AI development infrastructure market, making the creation of reliable software faster and easier for both human developers and AI agents.
Delightree, a company that develops an artificial intelligence-based operating system for industries with multiple points of sale (such as franchises), has raised $25 million in funding. These funds will be used to accelerate the growth of the company's team in engineering, product development, and general operations.
The investment round was led by Accel, with support from existing investors Emergent, Timber Grove Ventures, and Innovius. The Denver-based company plans to use the new capital influx to expand its AI platform and enter new vertical markets, including restaurants, fitness, wellness, retail, healthcare, and home services.
The Delightree platform integrates processes such as training, compliance, communication, audits, and new location launches. This ensures greater consistency between the central team's work across all on-site operations and uniform execution of tasks throughout the network of businesses.
Franchise businesses are actively implementing artificial intelligence to assist in various aspects of their operations, many of which rely on it to consolidate disparate processes such as training, communication, compliance, and reporting.
Since its launch just over two years ago, the Delightree platform has demonstrated rapid demand growth globally. The company reported that revenue has increased nearly twentyfold during this period, indicating a high level of product adoption by customers and overall growth.
Currently, the company's software is used in over 6,000 locations across the United States. Delightree's clients include solidcore, Dunn Brothers Coffee, JETSET, Five Star Franchising, MOOYAH Burgers, and Beem Light Sauna.
The platform replaces numerous individual systems with a single operational layer. Businesses use it to manage employee training, operational standards, communications, checks, regulatory compliance, and new site openings.
Delightree will continue to strengthen its capabilities in artificial intelligence for business automation platforms and operational management on a global scale. Future AI assistants will be able to automatically identify issues, assign tasks, track progress, and suggest improvements in operations everywhere.
The new funding will support further investments in product innovation and artificial intelligence. Delightree intends to develop new features that reduce operational complexity for growing franchise businesses. The company believes that AI can help operators open new locations faster while reducing administrative burden.
According to Delightree, clients using the platform can open locations two to three months earlier than when using traditional methods, meaning a reduction in launch times of more than 25%. Furthermore, businesses report that on-site employees free up up to 30% of their working time thanks to workflow automation and centralized operations.
Co-founder Madhulika Mukherji stated that the company's long-term goal is to provide small franchise operators access to complex operational technologies that were previously only available to large corporate chains.
The company sees significant growth opportunities in industries where millions of people work on-site. Its platform is designed to simplify the management of multi-branch businesses while increasing operational transparency.
Delightree is convinced that artificial intelligence can transform growth without the need to add additional layers of management in distributed companies. Artificial intelligence automates back-office operations while maintaining uniformity of operational standards across all business locations.
Delightree aims to strengthen partnerships with franchise brands striving for standardized operations in fast-growing global networks. The platform combines AI-based automation with workflows, significantly reducing management complexity and improving location consistency.
The company plans to use the funds to add AI-powered operational analytics for franchise owners, managers, and on-site employees. Delightree's goal is to become the operating system for multi-location enterprises implementing faster, smarter, and more efficient automation methods globally.
Criminals managed to withdraw approximately $130 million in cryptocurrencies from holders of the Coldcard physical wallet, manufactured by Coinkite. This theft occurred after hackers exploited a flaw in the device's recovery phrase generation mechanism.
The incident was detected by several blockchain security companies that monitor transactions. The attack, which came to light on Tuesday (04), affected people who used wallets considered extremely secure for storing Bitcoin, since these remain isolated from internet connection.
Investigators indicate that the intruders were able to recreate the private keys without needing physical access to the devices. The analysis points out that multiple groups may be involved in these intrusions, taking advantage of an existing vulnerability in the code used to create the recovery keys. This discovery allowed the intruders to calculate possible combinations and consequently transfer the assets stored in the compromised wallets.
The Coldcard functions as a hardware wallet designed to keep the user's secret key away from the network. In this model, although Bitcoins remain registered on the blockchain, access to the funds depends on a recovery key stored on the device itself. This system is classified as a 'cold' wallet, as opposed to 'hot' wallets, which are connected to the network via apps, browser extensions, or cryptocurrency trading platforms.
According to Galaxy Research, it is estimated that at least 12 distinct attackers are targeting users of these devices. The company reported that the total accumulated damage reached about $130 million, a figure that Tom Robinson, co-founder and chief scientist at Elliptic, considers close to reality.
This event is notable because the main guarantee of a physical wallet is precisely to provide an extra layer of protection. Users who kept their keys offline and followed rigorous security protocols were victimized because the problem resided in the initial phase of creating these keys.
Block researchers identified that the flaw was linked to the method used to generate these keys in certain versions of the equipment. Thus, criminals did not need to hack the devices or obtain protected information; they simply replicated the key creation process.
Jonathan Goodman, a user who reported losing $1.6 million, described the situation as unacceptable, given that all security recommendations had been followed. In a post on the social network X, he clarified that he never shared his key and kept the devices disconnected from the internet. According to Goodman, the implemented safeguards did not prevent the loss because the origin of the problem was in the code responsible for generating the recovery keys.
Coinkite, the manufacturer of the Coldcard, issued a warning about the issue and advised customers to update their devices. The company also suggested that affected users move their funds to a new key.
