Swiss clean technology company Unbound Potential develops membrane-free redox flow batteries to enhance long-duration energy storage capabilities | Top 100 Swiss Innovators
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Swiss clean technology company Unbound Potential was founded in 2023. The company is committed to researching and developing membrane-free redox flow batteries. This battery abandons the costly and failure-prone membrane components in traditional redox flow batteries and uses two immiscible electrolytes for ion exchange to create an economical, efficient, and scalable stationary energy storage system.
Unbound Potential is a spin-off company of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, co-founded by David Taylor, Anetta Platek-Mielczarek and others. David Taylor is the CEO of the company. He holds a doctorate in microsystems and microelectronics from the University of Applied Sciences. During his postdoctoral research at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, he was responsible for developing the concept of membrane-free redox flow batteries and making early prototypes. Anetta Platek-Mielczarek is the CTO of the company. She holds a doctorate from Poznan University of Technology and has conducted postdoctoral research at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich.
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The current clean energy transition process is accelerating. By 2040, the global battery demand will be three times the current supply. Early pilot projects carried out by artificial intelligence data centers, electric vehicle operators, and grid participants have confirmed the authenticity and urgency of market demand. However, in this process, energy storage has become a major obstacle. Power generation methods such as wind and photovoltaic can produce a large amount of renewable energy, but it cannot be effectively stored at the right time and place. There is a lack of long-term, scalable, safe, and economical energy storage technologies. Currently, the lithium battery solutions adopted in the market have problems such as short lifespan, high cost, and difficulty in large-scale production expansion. At the same time, they are highly dependent on key raw materials and the global supply chain, making them relatively vulnerable.
Most energy storage batteries are difficult to scale up on a large scale, mainly because of their complex core structures, which lead to slow manufacturing, high costs, and a fragile supply chain. Flow batteries can store energy in storage tanks, enabling the separation of power and capacity. By increasing the amount of stored liquid, the energy storage scale can be increased. Therefore, they are naturally suitable for long-term energy storage. However, they usually rely on ion exchange membranes to separate the positive and negative electrolytes and conduct ions. The traditional battery stack uses a stacked structure composed of hundreds of layers of membranes, which is not only fragile but also costly and difficult to mass-produce, becoming the main bottleneck for large-scale development.
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Unbound Potential has developed a membrane-free redox flow battery. This battery does not require expensive membrane components and complex battery stacks. It can complete ion exchange and achieve energy storage only by relying on two immiscible water-based electrolytes and a small amount of hardware.
The membrane component accounts for 30% of the overall capital expenditure of the battery. The design of Unbound Potential significantly reduces the manufacturing complexity and production cost of the battery. Eliminating the membrane can also reduce the internal resistance of the battery, enabling the ion exchange efficiency to reach up to 85%. At the same time, the battery further simplifies the traditional battery stack into two sturdy components, reducing the sealing surface by about 90%. Enterprises can directly use existing industrial processes for rapid and cost-effective production without relying on special raw materials, thus maintaining low costs during the production expansion process and reducing the carbon footprint by 30%.
In addition, Unbound Potential uses non-flammable water-based electrolytes, so there is no fire hazard, and there is no need to set a minimum safety distance like traditional batteries. Moreover, it does not rely on the mineral supply chain required by existing batteries and is compatible with different chemical systems, which helps to ensure the resilience and independence of stable production and reduce supply chain risks.
Unbound Potential's battery can withstand more than 20,000 usage cycles and is suitable for stationary long-term energy storage scenarios. It can be applied to various scenarios such as industrial parks and data centers. In October 2024, the company reached a cooperation with Amazon and will provide membrane-free redox flow battery services for one of its logistics centers in Europe to solve the problem of limited utilization of on-site photovoltaic power under all-weather operation and increase the proportion of renewable energy used in the logistics center. In addition, the company is also in talks with FlexBase, which is developing the largest redox flow energy storage project in Europe. The two sides are evaluating the feasibility of using Unbound Potential's membrane-free redox flow battery technology in this large-scale energy storage scenario. The first pilot plant will be put into operation at the site of the local pilot partner in the middle of 2026.
In October 2025, Unbound Potential completed a pre-seed financing of 14.4 million euros, including 8 million euros of non-dilutive funds and 6.4 million euros of equity investment. This round of financing was led by Founderful, Kvanted, and the Cantonal Bank of Zurich (ZKB). The funds will be used to accelerate the development and large-scale verification of membrane-free redox flow battery technology and promote the implementation of early pilot projects.
Unbound Potential is a company on the list of "TOP100 Swiss Startups" in 2025. The "TOP100 Swiss Startups" brings together the best Swiss-made startups and growing technology innovation companies. It is the most internationally influential benchmark list in the field of Swiss technology innovation. Since 2011, the list has selected 100 of the most innovative and market - promising Swiss innovation companies and 25 Swiss growing companies with the most unicorn potential across Switzerland every year, covering fields such as life sciences, engineering machinery, robotics, information and communication, low - carbon technology, and food technology. The "TOP100 Swiss Startups" and its series of brand activities are iconic activities in the Swiss innovation ecosystem, representing the highest level of Swiss innovation and the forefront of international investment and financing.
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