On September 12, 2025 (local time), the Europe Regional Finals of the 2025“Next Star” Global Entrepreneurship Competition with a Million-Dollar Prize were successfully held in London, UK. The event brought together numerous industry leaders and academic experts, including Fabian Blake, the Head of the Shenzhen Nanshan Innovation and Development Promotion Center, Vice President of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China; Maxime Hoze, Associate Director at UBS; Yitian Xu, Chief Solutions Architect at Alibaba Cloud; Dr. Chen Yifan, Associate Professor of Finance and PhD Supervisor at Norwich Business School, University of East Anglia; Prof. John Finch, Professor of Marketing at Adam Smith Business School and Associate Dean for East Asia Affairs at the College of Social Sciences, University of Glasgow; Megan Wang, UK Representative of the China Electronics Chamber of Commerce; and Prof. Carlos Galera Zarco, Associate Professor of Project Management and Business Analytics at The Bartlett, University College London, among other distinguished guests and invited judges.
The event opened with a warm welcome and heartfelt thanks from the head of the Shenzhen Nanshan Innovation and Development Promotion Center to all guests, participating teams, and partners. He introduced Nanshan’s exceptional innovation and entrepreneurial environment and strong industrial foundation, and gave a comprehensive overview of the 2025 “Next Star” Competition with a Million-Dollar Prize. He sincerely invited outstanding entrepreneurs worldwide to seize the historic opportunities presented by the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and join Nanshan’s innovation ecosystem.
After fierce competition, AINOSTICS, an AI-powered neuro-diagnostics solutions provider, won the First Prize. Allye Energy, an intelligent energy management platform, and Axiom Therapeutics, a machine learning–based covalent drug discovery platform accelerating physical simulations, shared the Second Prize. SPIN Analytics, an AI-based risk modeling and compliance platform; OXVALUE.AI LIMITED, an AI-driven valuation platform; and KHOTT BIOTECH, a new wearable device company, were awarded the Third Prize. These outstanding projects will advance to the Global Finals in Shenzhen’s Nanshan District at the end of the year, where they will compete with top innovators from around the world for the million-dollar grand prize. Winning teams will receive priority incubation support in funding, workspace, market access, and other dimensions from Nanshan District, accelerating their expansion into China and global markets.
As the first overseas event of the 2025 “Next Star” Global Entrepreneurship Competition, the successful conclusion of the Europe Regional Finals has laid a solid foundation for the series of international contests. The upcoming North America Regional Finals in Silicon Valley and the Asia-Pacific Regional Finals in Singapore promise even more excitement ahead.
