Water Scarcity InnoWise Challenge Lab

The Spanish finale where top-notch startups present their innovative solutions for water scarcity for Southern Europe.

The InnoWise Challenge Lab in Málaga, Spain, is one of the three final competitions for startups with the goal of finding innovations for water scarcity in Southern Europe. This InnoWise Challenge Lab will take place during the annual Smart Agrifood Summit – a major event on innovation and entrepreneurship in the agrifood sector.

After three months of intensive training and specialized workshops from the agrifood and water industry’s finest experts, a total of ten startups will be put to the test. These companies will hear from keynote speakers, participate in a round-table on “Rethinking the Water Scarcity Innovation” and, of course, network with their peers and with the industry’s top professionals.

Finally, the event will culminate in a live “pitching competition”; the startup that wins the first place will receive a 10,000€ award. Second place winner will receive a 5,000€ prize.

This is set to be a high-profile and incredibly exciting event. We can’t wait to see you all there!

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Please note that the in-person event spaces are limited due to COVID-19 restrictions. The event will also be live-streamed, with the link shared nearer the time for free open access to all.

The top ten startups competing here are comprised of:

• Fata Morgana – Facility for desalinating sea water by means of thermal solar energy.
• Vesitigia Blockchain – Blockchain platform for managing the operation and reputational risk in the supply chain.
• BrioAgro – An intelligent irrigation platform.
• Graniot – Precision farming with satellite imagery.
• Savia Atmospheric Fountains and Rivers – Water-from-Air systems based on Ice-Chilled-Waters-Peltier chips.
• Detektia – Groundwater monitoring with a single click.
• FS Group Consulting – Accessible precision technological solution to water scarcity.
• Groots – Sustainable, urban, vertical farming.
• Métrica6 – IoT WAISENSE for water control in intelligent constructions
• Spherag Teck IoT – Bidirectional AI powered cloud based agritech solution.

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This event will be led by several amazing industry leaders:

• Begoña Perez Villarreal -The current director of EIT Food CLC South, Begoña has 33 years of experience in R&D&I activities and technology transfer within the agrifood industry.
• Gonzalo Delacámara – The head of the Water Economics Department at IMDEA Agua, Gonzalo specializes in environmental economics, innovations, circular economy, and climate change adaptation.
• Jose María Mateo – On the Advisory Board for the Panda Agriculture and Water Fund, Jose advocates for the importance of water within the agrifood industry.
• Francisco Gálvez – Currently the manager and CEO of Galpagro, Fransisco focuses on providing innovative agricultural solutions to farmers in order to help lower their overall costs.
• Carlos Fernandez-Jauregui – Ph.D. in Engineering and Hydrology, with specialisation in water resources management. Director of the Water Assessment and Advisory Global Network (WASA-GN), an International Organization focused on water governance issues of multidisciplinary nature.
• Patricia Pastor – The managing director at GoHub Innovation, Patricia works together with main actors of Valencia in positioning the city as an international hub for innovation.
• Antonia Lorenzo – The CEO at Bioazul, Antonia is a specialist in technologies for the minimization and up-grading of agro-food residues and wastewater treatment.
• Daniel Escacena Ortega – Project Director of the Agencia Andaluza del Conocimiento, including the promotion of Andalusian R & D & I at the international level, through Horizon 2020, the Transfer of Technology at the regional, national and international level, advanced training and the Unit for Public Procurement of Innovation in Andalusia.
• Elvira Domingo – The RIS Program manager at EIT Food, Elvira’s expertise lies in working with entrepreneurs and startups within the agrifood industry.