Wasome wins ABB Startup Challenge China 2026 with AI-powered automation solution
ABB has named Chinese startup Wasome the winner of its ABB Startup Challenge China 2026, recognising its AI-powered approach to making industrial automation engineering faster and more accessible.
The competition, organised by ABB in partnership with its open innovation platform SynerLeap, was held in China for the first time in its seven-year history. Wasome will receive a project prize of CNY 200,000 and support from SynerLeap to help accelerate its growth and raise its profile.
As part of the award, Wasome will work directly with experts from ABB’s Drive Products division to develop its solution into a market-ready offering, with the potential to be launched for ABB customers and partners.
The challenge invited startups to explore how artificial intelligence could support engineers across the automation lifecycle, including system programming, commissioning, troubleshooting and maintenance. The aim was to reduce the complexity of engineering tasks and make specialist technical knowledge more widely accessible.
Seven finalists presented their solutions in Nanjing following strong interest from startups across China. ABB said it would also explore potential collaborations with the other shortlisted companies.
“Open innovation is at the core of how we operate,” said Tuomo Hoysniemi, division president of ABB Drive Products. He added that bringing the challenge to China reflected the strength of the country’s startup ecosystem and the potential to develop solutions that address customer needs and can scale both locally and globally.
The initiative forms part of ABB’s wider strategy to collaborate with emerging technology companies to accelerate innovation in industrial automation. By integrating AI into engineering workflows, such solutions could help manufacturers and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) improve productivity, streamline operations and make automation expertise more accessible.
ABB is a global technology company specialising in electrification and automation, with approximately 110,000 employees worldwide. Its Motion business develops motors, drives and related digital services designed to improve energy efficiency, reliability and performance across industrial applications.
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