London-based deeptech startup AcouBatt has raised £1.1 million in pre-seed funding to develop its battery diagnostics technology and advance industrial pilots with battery manufacturers. The round was led by Creator Fund, with participation from Ada Ventures.
Spun out of UCL Ventures, AcouBatt was founded in 2025 by Dr Arthur Fordham and Chris Haoxin Xu. The company is developing a battery diagnostics system that uses acoustic emission sensing and AI to monitor processes inside battery cells during manufacturing. Its technology is based on Fordham’s PhD research at University College London’s Electrochemical Innovation Lab, supported by the Faraday Institution as part of the SafeBatt project.
The company is targeting challenges in lithium-ion battery manufacturing, particularly during the formation process, when manufacturers have limited real-time visibility into cells. According to AcouBatt, this can lead to production bottlenecks, high rejection rates and difficulties detecting defects.
AcouBatt uses acoustic sensors and AI to analyse signals generated inside battery cells and identify changes in their behaviour in real time. By combining acoustic and electrochemical data, the technology can determine when key formation processes are complete, potentially reducing formation time by up to 30 per cent, while detecting faults and process deviations before an affected batch is completed.
According to Dr Arthur Fordham, co-founder and CEO of AcouBatt, the growing role of batteries in modern infrastructure is increasing the need for better diagnostics and greater visibility into their condition and performance:
That is why advanced diagnostics are the next major frontier. AcouBatt provides a diagnostic tool that not only saves massive amounts of time on the factory floor but helps manufacturers and operators truly understand and look after their battery systems from the moment they are formed to the end of their working life.
Beyond manufacturing, AcouBatt is exploring the use of its technology in battery energy storage systems, where it could help operators identify underperforming or failing cells before they lead to safety incidents or unplanned downtime. The company says the underlying technology could eventually be applied to other battery-powered systems, including electric vehicles, to monitor battery health throughout a cell’s operational life.
Our technology opens the door for manufacturers to drastically cut waste, optimise their processes, and bring safer, better batteries to the market more quickly,
said Chris Haoxin Xu, co-founder and Commercial Director of AcouBatt.
AcouBatt’s sensors are currently deployed at the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre (UKBIC), where the company is benchmarking its diagnostics ahead of plans to roll out commercial-scale products to the wider industry next year.
The company will use the new funding to expand its technical team, further develop its AI models and advance its industrial pilot programme with battery manufacturers.
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