LBS team wins grand prize in INNOVA Europe 2025 Competition

London Business School’s entry in this year’s INNOVA Europe Competition has won the grand prize in the Rising Stars category.

The winning team, AcouBatt, founded by Arthur Fordham and Chris Haoxin Xu, develops acoustic sensors and machine learning technology that can “listen” to batteries. Their innovation optimises the formation process, reduces scrap rates, which annually costs the industry $20bn, and enables more sustainable large-scale production. AcouBatt’s success earned them €20,000 in prize money and a year of incubation support services.

Now in its third year, INNOVA Europe is a pan-European coalition promoting responsible entrepreneurship among students and alumni. It hosts Europe’s leading academic startup competition, conducts research, and organises initiatives that empower the next generation to tackle pressing global challenges.

Reflecting on the significance of the award, Luisa Alemany, Associate Professor of Management Practice and Academic Director of the Institute of Entrepreneurship and Private Capital (IEPC) at LBS, observed:

“AcouBatt’s journey began in our ‘Innovation to Market’ experiential elective just last January. In the course, we bring leading 'deep tech' researchers from across the UK, such as Arthur from UCL and The Faraday Institution, to partner with LBS students to commercialise the technology. To see Arthur and Chris develop such a strong venture in such a short time, and now receive recognition on a European stage, is a source of immense pride.”

The founders themselves expressed both pride and excitement at receiving the INNOVA Europe prize. Arthur reflected on the origins and evolution of the project, noting:

"After starting this venture during my PhD four years ago, meeting Chris at the LBS Innovation to Market course enabled commercialisation to become possible. Since then, we have been growing, and the INNOVA competition has given us the opportunity to branch into Europe, which is both exciting and transformative for our project. We are very proud of what we have achieved so far and look forward to the next steps."

Chris emphasised the scale of the challenge their venture seeks to address, explaining:

"We are trying to solve the biggest challenge in the battery manufacturing space – cell formation and aging. Long formation time and high scrap rate is wasting battery makers billions every year, and every battery scientist in our network stresses the need for a more robust formation monitoring system. We believe we hold the key to the puzzle."

This year’s competition, hosted by ESMT, brought together leading European business schools to showcase innovative and sustainable solutions to contemporary challenges.

Founded in 2022 by EDHEC Business School, POLIMI Graduate School of Management, and ESMT, the INNOVA Europe competition fosters entrepreneurship focused on environmental transition, empowerment and inclusion, and healthy living.