COSMOS Lab Closes $15.7M Series A to Scale Non-Flammable Non-Lithium Battery Production

COSMOS Lab, a South Korean advanced battery startup developing next-generation non-lithium cells, has closed a Series A round of approximately ₩22 billion ($15.7 million) with participation from Smilegate Investment and undisclosed domestic and international institutional and strategic investors.

The company announced the funding August 12 and expects final closing later this month.

COSMOS Lab is developing aqueous zinc-halogen batteries that use water-based non-flammable electrolytes and zinc and halogen-based materials. Unlike conventional zinc-bromine flow batteries and vanadium flow batteries that require external electrolyte tanks and circulation pumps, COSMOS Lab’s core technology applies halogen reaction chemistry in an integrated cell architecture without auxiliary fluid systems. This approach maintains the high safety profile of aqueous cells while maximizing energy density and volumetric efficiency.

The company develops cathode, anode, separator, electrolyte, charge-discharge control technology, cell structure, and manufacturing processes in an integrated platform. The strategy is to rapidly transition aqueous zinc-halogen chemistry from laboratory development to large-scale commercial cells and mass-production-ready products.

Proceeds will be allocated to deepening the technology stack of aqueous zinc-halogen batteries and building mass-production and global commercialization infrastructure to address demand in AI data centers and next-generation energy storage system (ESS) markets. COSMOS Lab plans to strengthen domestic R&D capabilities and secure reproducibility and productivity in large-scale cell manufacturing processes. The company will also enhance safety, cycle-life, and energy-density validation and progressively pursue test evaluation and certification tailored to ESS and AI data-center environments. It intends to verify module, rack, and system integration and establish products and production foundations that global customers can deploy in live installations.

COSMOS Lab is also pursuing commercialization partnerships in domestic and international markets. The company is conducting joint development with SoftBank to mass-produce aqueous zinc-halogen battery cells, with a target of starting production in 2027. Together they are developing next-generation ESS technology for AI data centers. COSMOS Lab is in parallel discussions with AI and data-center companies in North America, Asia, and Europe regarding pilot deployment.

The company plans to expand application beyond AI data centers into renewable-energy-linked ESS, industrial energy storage, and distributed-grid markets.

As the center of gravity in the global battery market shifts from electric vehicles toward AI data centers and grid-scale ESS, government policy finance and private capital are rapidly concentrating on non-lithium long-duration energy storage (LDES) technologies that can complement lithium-ion cells. The enactment of the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act and the European Critical Raw Materials Act has made supply-chain resilience and environmentally sustainable manufacturing core competitive factors, a backdrop that strengthens momentum for non-lithium battery technologies. COSMOS Lab is developing high-energy-density cells with high installation efficiency, grounded in the supply-chain resilience of zinc-halogen chemistry and the safety of aqueous systems.

A company representative said, “This investment represents a critical milestone in transforming our R&D achievements into a global mass-production product,” and added, “We will grow into South Korea’s leading non-lithium battery company in the AI data-center and grid ESS markets and further define a new standard in the global power infrastructure market.”