Water Discovery Challenge (Discovery)
Ofwat About the Challenge
The Water Discovery Challenge (Discovery) is a £7.5 million competition to accelerate the development and adoption of promising new innovations for the water sector to benefit customers, communities and the environment. It aims to achieve this by directly supporting organisations with bold, early-stage solutions and facilitating their engagement with water companies.
In particular, we are inviting innovators from other sectors – including energy, construction, agriculture, aerospace and Tech/AI – to bring fresh thinking to the urgent challenges facing the water sector in England and Wales.
Discovery is a 20-month competition that brings together a blend of seed funding, non-financial support and sector mentorship to support innovations to launch and succeed in the water sector in England and Wales.
Who can enter
The Water Discovery Challenge 2 welcomes entries from any sector and all types of organisations, domestic or international.
To be eligible to enter, organisations must:
- Be a UK incorporated entity
- Hold a UK business bank account upon entry
- Comply with the terms and conditions
- Not be a regional, water or wastewater company in England and Wales
What’s on offer
20 successful entries will be progressed to a Finalists’ stage in July 2026, receiving up to £100,000 in seed funding and a tailored package of non-financial support and sector mentorship to develop their solutions.
10 winning teams will go on to be awarded up to £550,000 of funding in April 2027 to further progress their solutions. An additional package of non-financial support and sector mentorship will be available to help innovators attract the investment and support they need to succeed in the water sector.
Finalist and winning teams retain all intellectual property rights and equity in their organisation. Entries can be entered into the Challenge confidentially.
Dates and more information
Join webinars in January, February and March to help improve your application. Applications must be submitted by 8 April 2026 at 1pm.
Full information for applicants, including timelines and FAQs, can be found on the Water Innovation website.
You can see other open funding calls in our Funding Finder.
Fund Overview
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