“We are very honoured to have the opportunity to launch the EIT Water KIC together with this significant donation from the Grundfos Foundation. This will enable us to actively engage with the water ecosystem and to focus on the KIC partners already in 2026,” explains Eskild Holm Nielsen, Dean of Faculty of Technical Sciences - Aarhus University, Denmark, key representative of the Coordinator of EIT Water.

With 140 core partners across 29 countries, a Head Office in Denmark and 8 Co-location Centres across Europe, EIT Water will begin work in 2026 by bringing industry, academia, the public sector and innovators into one central hub, creating the conditions for startups, new technologies, education programmes and innovation projects to grow around Europe’s most urgent water challenges.

In 2026, EIT will provide a 5 million EUR grant to establish the KIC and to develop EIT Water’s Strategic Agenda and first Business Plan. Complementing this, the PDJF funding will enable early pilot activities that bring together industry, academia and the public sector to test new approaches for water resilience, circularity and sustainable water management. These pilot activities will include open innovation calls, mapping of European demonstration sites and mentors, strategic planning efforts, and a series of entrepreneurial education activities such as hackathons across Europe. A significant share of the PDJF donation is also earmarked for open calls that support collaboration between researchers and industry.

“The Grundfos Foundation wishes to strengthen collaboration between research environments and industry within the water sector, providing a significant lift to European innovation in water technology. That is why EIT Water will directly support new cross-sectorial innovation partnerships,” explains Kim Nøhr Skibsted, Executive Director, Grundfos Foundation.

For more information, please contact communications@eitwater.eu