ABB Startup Challenge India 2025 winner advances smart drive technology with AI innovation

• ABB India announces Cloudworx as the winner of the ABB Startup Challenge India 2025, selected from over 100 visionary startups
• Seven finalists pitched their innovative AI-powered solutions that can help simplify drive and motor selection, commissioning, and troubleshooting
• By collaborating with Cloudworx, ABB Motion’s Drive Products division will help customers integrate ABB drives seamlessly, advancing smart drive technology

BENGALURU, India, Nov. 4, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — ABB India, in partnership with Microsoft and SynerLeap, announced Cloudworx as the winner of the ABB Startup Challenge India 2025, contributing to reshaping how Indian industries adopt ABB’s drives and accelerating energy efficiency. ABB experts will directly work with Cloudworx, which offers AI-powered 3D visualization, to develop a market-ready solution with the opportunity to launch it globally for ABB’s customers and partners.

Driving the next wave of industrial innovation, the Bengaluru, India-based startup’s winning AI-powered solution enables the creation of dynamic, AI-driven replicas of business processes for real-time monitoring, simulation, and continuous improvement. This solution will simplify motor and drive selection and enable easier commissioning and maintenance by leveraging data-driven intelligence. The winner was awarded a $30,000 project prize and will receive mentoring from Microsoft and ABB’s startup accelerator, SynerLeap’s startup advisors, and a six-month membership to SynerLeap.

With the theme of ‘Advancing smart drive technology with AI innovation,’ the competition invited visionary startups to explore how AI can analyze drive data and application needs to equip original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) with the ideal ABB motor-drive match, meeting their unique needs.

“At ABB India, we see startups as vital partners in shaping the future of industrial technology. With India’s rapidly evolving industrial landscape and growing focus on energy efficiency, enabling seamless adoption of drives is more important than ever,” said AR Madhusudan, President and Local Division Manager, Drive Products, ABB India. “The quality of applications and the insightful pitches truly highlighted the strength of India’s startup ecosystem, and we are proud to co-create solutions with visionary startups through this platform.”

Kicked off earlier this year, some of the most innovative startups were part of the pitching process in the challenge. The challenge received over 100 applications, out of which seven finalists pitched their solutions in Bengaluru. Hosted for the first time in India, the challenge is in its sixth year and has been implemented in parts of Europe and United States.

As ABB marks 50 years of LV (low voltage) drives globally and two decades of drives production excellence in India, the challenge reflects ABB’s continued efforts to promote open innovation and create scalable, local solutions for global sustainability while offering a rich legacy of technology and innovation.

ABB is a global technology leader in electrification and automation, enabling a more sustainable and resource-efficient future. By connecting its engineering and digitalization expertise, ABB helps industries run at high performance, while becoming more efficient, productive and sustainable so they outperform. At ABB, we call this ‘Engineered to Outrun’. The company has over 140 years of history and around 110,000 employees worldwide. ABB’s shares are listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (ABBN) and Nasdaq Stockholm (ABB). www.abb.com 

ABB Motion, a global leader in motors and drives, is at the core of accelerating a more productive and sustainable future. We innovate and push the boundaries of technology to contribute to energy efficient, decarbonizing and circular solutions for customers, industries and societies. With our digitally enabled drives, motors and services we support our customers and partners to achieve better performance, safety and reliability. To help the world’s industries outrun – leaner and cleaner, we deliver motor-driven solutions for a wide range of applications in all industrial segments. Building on over 140 years of domain expertise in electric powertrains, our more than 23,000 employees across 100 countries learn and improve every day. go.abb/motion   

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