Austin startups have already raised more than all of last year

The Boring Co., Elon Musk's tunneling company with operations in Pflugerville and Bastrop, is planning to build a high-speed tunnel to connect downtown Nashville to Tennessee's largest airport. The Boring Company already has one tunnel system in operation in Las Vegas.

Austin startups once again recorded their strongest quarter of private fundraising in history, raking in at least $5.6 billion in venture capital, largely driven by an Elon Musk company.

It was the region's strongest quarter of all time, surpassing the $4.2 billion mark set in the first quarter of this year.

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Opportunity Austin, the region's independent economic organization, calculated the $5.6 billion total. That's more than 600% higher than the previous quarter and more than 250% higher than the third quarter of last year.

Austin-area startups have raised more than $10.5 billion this year, already surpassing last year's total of more than $7.8 billion.

Here’s a look at the third quarter’s biggest deals:

Musk's The Boring Company raises $3B

Elon Musk's properties on FM 1209 in Bastrop include SpaceX, the Boring Co., social media platform X, a housing community dubbed "Snailbrook" and a convenience store — the Boring Bodega.

Musk's tunnel startup shattered the Austin-area funding record, a mark that has been broken three times this year, with its $3 billion funding round in September.

The massive round was led by investments from the United Arab Emirates and affiliated entities.

A significant portion of the funding will be used for hiring. It currently has more than 40 open roles out of its Bastrop headquarters, with additional openings in San Antonio, Dubai, Nashville and Las Vegas.

Musk has recently resurfaced the idea of creating a “simple, precursor Hyperloop tunnel between Austin and San Antonio” that would carry passengers at more than 200 mph.

The Boring Company currently runs an underground Las Vegas system carrying passengers in Tesla vehicles.

Musk has floated the idea since 2013, saying passengers would travel through low-pressure or near-vacuum tubes underground. If the project were a true Hyperloop, it would be the world's first.

Zach Dell's Base Power rakes in $1B to scale battery manufacturing

Home power back-up battery company Base Power operates shipping and manufacturing from the former Austin American-Statesman building off South Congress Avenue.

Base Power previously set the record for a single funding round in 2025 when it raised $1 billion for its battery business.

And though that record was broken by Austin-based Saronic Technologies earlier this year and again by The Boring Company, Zach Dell's battery business isn't slowing down.

The company raised another $1 billion in August to boost manufacturing and put more batteries in homes. The round pushed the company's valuation to $13 billion. Base Power has now raised more than $2.5 billion to date.

Battery power has grown increasingly popular across the U.S. as artificial intelligence and data centers stress the grid. Base Power, founded by the son of Dell Technologies Inc. founder Michael Dell, has stuck out as a leading company. The company's home battery storage service was recently made available to Austin Energy customers.

Base Power is currently building a plant in South Austin at Met Center business park near Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.

Chris Link installs a backup battery system for Base Power on Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025 in Houston. Base Power is making home battery systems accessible to homeowners at a much-reduced cost, because the company owns the systems and uses them to sell power back to the grid during times of grid stress.

Austin newcomer Fab2 raises $500M

New to the Austin region, Fab2 plans to mass produce computer chips thanks to its most recent $500 million funding round.

Formerly called Atomic Semi, the company announced its $500 million raise in September. The company is now valued at $3.7 billion and has prior backing from significant firms including Sam Altman's OpenAI.

CEO Sam Zeloof announced in April that his company was moving from California to Austin. Neither Zeloof nor company representatives has responded to repeated requests for comment about the move and the company's Austin-area plans. According to the company's social media accounts, Fab2 is currently constructing its third chip facility in Austin and has hired hundreds of employees.

The company's website says it operates a 120,000-square-foot chip plant in Austin and a roughly 30,000-square-foot facility in Lockhart, about 30 miles south of Austin. Officials for Lockhart and Caldwell County have told the Austin American-Statesman they know of no such facility.

While some reports have placed the company's Caldwell County operations at Proto-Town Innovation Hub, the facility's website does not list Fab2 among the startups operating at the campus. Caldwell County approved an economic development agreement with Proto-Town in August 2025.

Fab2 was founded in 2022 by Zeloof and Jim Keller, a veteran chip designer behind several advanced computer chips for AMD and Apple. He also was a lead designer of the chips used for Tesla's Autopilot driving system.