Mentioned:
Walmart is making a bet on something new: residential batteries.
What’s happening:
- Walmart (NASDAQ: WMT) has made a strategic equity investment in residential battery and power company Base Power
Why it matters:
- Walmart’s investment in Base Power is a part of a larger partnership in which Walmart will sell Base Power’s home batteries through its Walmart and Sam’s Club stores in Texas
Going deeper:
- Base Power’s flagship battery known as Base Core is capable of powering a home during grid outages as well as lowering energy costs by charging when power is cheap
- Base Power has raised more than $2.5B USD in venture capital funding and is backed by a16z, Thrive, Lightspeed, Addition and Ribbit
The fine print:
- The exact size of Walmart’s equity investment in Base Power has not yet been publicly disclosed
