One embodiment of the invention is a hybrid boost regulator that includes a conventional boost regulator chip that operates when its input voltage is above 2.5 volts and a pre-boost circuit that operates when its input voltage is above 1 volt. A single 1.5 volt battery may be used to power the hybrid boost regulator. The pre-boost circuit is connected to the voltage input terminal of the boost regulator chip. The pre-boost circuit boosts the battery voltage (e.g., 1.5v) at an output terminal of the hybrid boost regulator to approximately the minimum operating voltage (e.g., 2.5v) of the boost regulator chip. Since this pre-boosted voltage is applied to the voltage input terminal of the boost regulator chip, the boost regulator chip will become operational when the ramping output voltage of the hybrid boost regulator exceeds about 2.5 volts. Once the boost regulator chip is operational, the pre-boost circuit is then turned off, and the boost regulator chip runs off the 1.5 volt power supply to ramp up the output voltage to the full regulated voltage.