This content was translated by an AI-powered translation tool.
It may contain inaccuracies due to the limitations of machine translation.
Copyright © DongA Science. All rights reserved.
Hanwha Systems spin-off secures ₩30 billion in total funding and leads ₩10.7 billion tandem module R&D project over 5 years
Next-generation space solar cell company Flexell Space has raised ₩25 billion in Series A funding approximately two years after its founding, bringing its cumulative investment to ₩30 billion. The capital will be used to commercialize its space solar cells and to internalize core manufacturing processes and establish mass-production infrastructure.
Flexell Space said on the 14th that it has completed its ₩25 billion Series A round in just two years. Existing investors Intervest, L&S Venture Capital, and Quad Ventures participated as follow-on investors.
New investors include Mirae Asset Venture Investment, Mirae Asset Capital, IBK Industrial Bank of Korea, NH Venture Investment, IBK Securities, Seoul ZV, Korea Investment & Securities, and the Korea Credit Guarantee Fund.
Flexell Space began as an in-house venture at Hanwha Systems. After being spun off, it raised about ₩5 billion in a pre-Series A round from Hanwha Systems, LK Chem, Intervest, L&S Venture Capital, and Quad Ventures. Including the latest round, its cumulative funding now stands at around ₩30 billion.
The new funding will be used to introduce key equipment, upgrade its pilot manufacturing facilities, and validate product reliability. The company plans to provide samples to global customers, conduct joint evaluations and additional space demonstrations, and expand overseas business development.
Flexell Space is developing high-efficiency, ultra-lightweight, flexible solar cells based on perovskite and copper indium gallium selenium (CIGS). According to the company, its technology offers lower weight, better suitability for large-area production, and lower cost compared with conventional gallium arsenide solar cells used in space.
The solar cells are described as more flexible and lighter than silicon solar cells, while maintaining strong resistance to space radiation, extreme temperatures, and atomic oxygen. The company aims to deploy them across space and aerospace applications, including communication and Earth observation satellites, high-altitude unmanned aerial vehicles, space stations, space data centers, and lunar exploration vehicles.
Flexell Space is carrying out space demonstrations using the Nuri rocket and the International Space Station, and is verifying product reliability through space-environment testing such as radiation and thermal vacuum trials. It is also expanding technology and business collaborations with global defense contractors, satellite manufacturers, and space systems companies to strengthen its foundation for entering overseas markets.
Recently, the company was selected as the lead organization for the research and development project “Development and Validation of Low-Cost, High-Efficiency Tandem Modules for Space Applications,” promoted by the Ministry of Climate and the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning. The project will run for five years with a total budget of ₩10.7 billion.
Flexell Space plans to establish a full-scale mass-production system after 2028, gradually expanding the supply of space solar cell cells and modules, sample evaluation and co-development with overseas customers, and responses to future space infrastructure markets.
Lee Geosan, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Flexell Space, said, “This Series A financing is a recognition from the market that Flexell Space’s technology and business have entered the full-fledged stage of commercialization and mass-production readiness,” adding, “It is deeply meaningful that we have secured large-scale funding from major domestic investment institutions in just about two years since our founding.”
He continued, “With the recent acquisition of a major national R&D project, we can now simultaneously pursue technology development, space-environment verification, and mass-production infrastructure based on private investment and government R&D funding,” and added, “We will accelerate commercialization so that our R&D results lead directly to product supply and revenue.”
