Better Futures Wins ABB 2025 Startup Challenge Award
- Better Future receives $30,000 prize and contract with ABB to bring the challenge use case to market in the next 6 months
Better Futures, an Irish AI-focused start-up, is among five pioneering start-ups from around the world, and the only one from Ireland, to have been named Award winners of ABB’s 2025 Startup Challenge.
At the final Better Futures pitched that ABB’s engineering RFQ and product configuration process could be up to 80% automated using EVATM, the company’s AI Assistant Platform.
Now in its sixth year, the ABB Startup Challenge is an annual competition to develop novel solutions to our most pressing energy challenges. The winners were announced following pitches by 15 finalists in 5 Award categories to a panel of ABB and industry experts at an event held in Bilbao, Spain. At the pitches the finalists showcased how their innovative approach could help make energy use smarter in industry, buildings, power grids and utilities.
Better Futures won the Distribution Solutions Award category with EVATM (Engineering Verification Assistant), the first AI assistant platform built for engineers that automates up to 80% of the relay configuration and validation process. Engineers spend up to 50% of their time on documentation, verification and knowledge retrieval and Better Futures’ EVATM platform automates these tasks, allowing engineers to focus on high-value work to boost productivity.
Selected from more than 155 applicants from 37 countries, each of the 5 Award winners, including Better Futures, will receive US$30,000 for a collaboration project with ABB to co-develop a solution for potential commercialization.
ABB experts will work with the winners to develop a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) with the opportunity to launch a global solution for ABB’s customers and partners. As well as the collaboration project, winners receive mentoring from Microsoft and Synerleap’s startup advisors, ABB’s startup accelerator.
Anthony Mc Loughlin, CEO and founder (centre), Better Futures announced as the winner of the Distribution Solutions Award category at the ABB 2025 Startup Challenge.
Better Futures, headquartered at NovaUCD in Dublin, was founded in 2023 by Anthony Mc Loughlin.
Anthony Mc Loughlin, CEO and founder, Better Futures said, “We are all absolutely thrilled to win and are excited now to partner with ABB over the next 6 months to bring the use case to market together. I believe this use case has the potential to be a lighthouse not only for ABB and their customers but for Generative AI in engineering globally, as it has the potential to free thousands of engineers from paperwork so they can focus on innovation and building a better more sustainable world. This story is why we founded Better Futures, so I can’t say it enough, thank you to ABB for your innovation leadership and for placing your trust in us.”
He added, “We are currently in the process of closing a €1.5 million to €2 million seed funding round to expand our team to build our next generation platform and get us to Series A. Winning this prestigious Award, and securing another Fortune 500 customer, will I believe now enable us to close this round shortly.”
“The ABB Startup Challenge enables us to identify talented entrepreneurs and nurture the fresh thinking that is needed to address key energy issues. ABB and startups have complementary capabilities, so we can support each other with insights and expertise to develop new and innovative solutions and business models,” said, Massimo Muzzì, Head of Strategy, Business Development and Sustainability, ABB Electrification.
“We are actively seeking long-term collaborations and investment with startups as part of our open innovation strategy. Our startup challenges are incredibly important to ABB. More than a quarter of the US$80m ABB Electrification has invested in startups since 2020 has been spent on solutions that we’ve identified and developed through our annual competitions.”
The other four ABB Startup Challenge 2025 Award winners are;
Smart Power Award Category - Emissium from Switzerland won with their proposal for a comprehensive software platform designed to bring real-time intelligence and AI-powered optimization to Distribution System Operators.
Smart Buildings Award Category - Lookthrough from Switzerland proposed an AI-powered software tool for real estate decarbonization that seamlessly integrates with the ABB energy management ecosystem.
Motion System Drivers Award Category - Contextere from Ottawa, Canada pitched ‘ABB Madison DrivePilot’, an AI tool designed to provide immediate insights of drive performance in an operational environment. maintenance of motion drives.
Electrification Service Award Category - Eatron Technologies, UK won with their AI-powered Battery Optimization Software that enhances battery safety, longevity and performance.
ENDS
14 April 2025
For further information contact Micéal Whelan, Communications and Media Relations Manager, UCD Research and Innovation, NovaUCD, e: miceal.whelan@ucd.ie or Anthony Mc Loughlin, e: anthony@betterfutures.ai.
Editors Notes
Better Futures believes the physical world is our home and future. We believe that digitalisation and AI should be a means, not an end, to improve our physical world. We need better cleaner cars to bring us together, rather than the metaverse to keep us apart, we need cleaner energy solutions rather than more micro trading, we need to thus empower engineers and manufactures with AI, so they can build a better physical world and future. https://www.betterfutures.ai/
For further information on the ABB Startup Challenge visit https://www.collaborateandcommercialize.com/abb-startup-challenge-2025