Students bring old batteries back to life
FABBS, a new startup from the Eindhoven University of Technology, is working on an innovative battery management system.
Published on April 1, 2025
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Phones, electric cars, laptops: society runs on batteries. FABBS, a new startup from the Eindhoven University of Technology, is working on an innovative battery management system that monitors each battery cell. “We breathe new life into old, discarded batteries,” says co-founder Wouter Brans.
Batteries. We rely on them frequently for the energy transition. We use them to store energy from the sun and wind. We use them to travel ever-longer distances in our electric cars. And last but not least, they ensure we can use our laptops and smartphones anytime, anywhere.
One battery cell is often sufficient for smaller devices, but systems with higher voltages require several in a series. Electric vehicles, for example, require up to 200 cells. A battery management system is essential to ensure that cells work together safely and efficiently. This system monitors the status of each cell, including the temperature, voltage, and charging capacity.
This is crucial because, over time, one cell may charge or discharge faster than the other. This causes inefficiencies because the battery stops charging as soon as the first cell is full. Battery manufacturers now often solve this problem with 'passive balancing'. This involves removing excess energy from cells with a higher charge, usually as heat via resistors, Brans explains.
With active balancing, energy is actively moved from fuller cells to less full cells to equalize the voltage level. That is exactly what Brans, together with three other students, is focusing on in his brand-new company FABBS, which incidentally stands for Fast Active Balancing Battery System. “This system is particularly useful in old cells. They sometimes seem to be at the end of their life. However, with our system, we can breathe new life into them.”
Co-founder Justin van den Hurk recently won a prestigious award for the idea: he was named the Most Innovative Student of the Netherlands 2024.
An entrepreneurial spark
The entrepreneurial spark ignited while the students were still involved with InMotion, a student team focused on electric racing and fast-charging innovations. Co-founder Mika van Kempen: “We learned a lot about how batteries work and had close contact with companies active in the battery market. Although we found it extremely interesting to participate in this team, a new idea emerged that was more about management than about fast charging. That's how it started.”
Fire safety in parking garages
Together with the Northeast Gelderland Safety Region, the students are now looking at how the management system can best be applied. “We are investigating whether we can use our system externally, for example in charging stations under parking garages. This way, we can help prevent fires in electric vehicles,” says Van Kempen.
Before the summer, the focus will be on testing the prototype. At the same time, the students will be talking to battery manufacturers, both inside and outside the InMotion network, to see how they can optimize the system further.
The Gate to the rescue
In recent months, the students have received support from incubator The Gate: a platform where tech start-ups can get a head start in the first phase of their existence. “We took part in the TU/e contest, which was organized by The Gate and TU/e Innovation Space. From that moment on, we took our idea seriously and developed it further. After the competition, we were in close contact with Bart van Grevenhof, whose advice was very valuable. We were also given access to a flexi-workspace and later even our own office. We are secretly quite proud of that,” says Van Kempen.
The four students do not intend to camp out there. Brans concludes: “We are urgently looking for electrical engineers. Our ambition is to eventually conquer the Dutch market for battery management systems, and we really won't be able to do that with four people,” he says with a laugh.
Numerous enterprising students
Besides FABBS, there are many more entrepreneurial students at TU/e, says Beaudine Moll, business developer at The Gate. “I have been working at The Gate for over a year now and have seen a significant increase in the number of students signing up.” They mainly come from TU/e Innovation Space: the center of expertise for challenge-based learning, which includes entrepreneurship.
The Gate and Innovation Space work closely together. Innovation Space focuses mainly on the early phase, where students with a good idea experiment and discover whether they want to pursue it further. The Gate comes into the picture as soon as students decide to turn their idea into a start-up. “Students use the facilities that best help them at that moment, whether that is for prototyping in Matrix at Innovation Space, or guidance from The Gate in the Alpha building.”
She also sees the growth in student entrepreneurship in the number of students who have registered for the TU/e Contest this year: 160.
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