Water Challenge

waterchallenge.eu ↗ ·Sevilla ·Other

Water Challenge is a Spanish deeptech startup founded in 2020 that develops ASEC (Adiabatic Sonic Evaporation and Crystallization), a patented Zero Liquid Discharge technology that treats contaminated industrial fluids in a single continuous physical process, recovering 100% of the water as reusable/potable water plus dry crystallized solids that can be valorized — with no chemicals or consumables and energy consumption below 20 kWh/m³. It operates from Dos Hermanas (Seville) with a modular, containerized design deployable on-site, and in February 2025 presented its first pilot plant at the Port of Huelva to treat dredging sediments, stormwater and MARPOL waste. Its only disclosed backing is EU public funding (EIC Accelerator, up to €3.5M blended finance), not a private VC round.

Founded

2020

Founders

Total funds raised

—

Rounds

Investors

SectorsWater technology, Zero Liquid Discharge, Industrial wastewater treatment, Cleantech, Circular economy, Deeptech Start-up MapEnergy & Climate › Water & waste treatment

Suggest a correction

Founders

Susana García Fernández de Cañete

Co-founder & CEO

Global models 4

Gradiant

United States · www.gradiant.com ↗

Sells proprietary industrial wastewater treatment and brine-concentration/ZLD systems that recover water from hard-to-treat industrial fluids.

$330MComparable

Oasys Water

United States

Developed forward-osmosis-based zero liquid discharge systems for treating and recovering water from industrial brines.

$70MComparable

Membrion

United States · www.membrion.com ↗

Supplies novel treatment technology to industrial customers for high-salinity, hard-to-treat wastewater and water recovery.

$30MComparable

Saltworks Technologies

Canada · www.saltworkstech.com ↗

Builds modular brine-concentration and crystallization plants delivering zero liquid discharge for industrial wastewater.

$20MComparable

In the same niche 19 others

See all in the Start-ups Map →

Bollullos de la Mitación

No stage disclosed · €8M

Cimico

San Sebastián

Series A · €7.8M

Plastic Repair System

+13 more →

Notes: Most funded first

Investors 1

Open as list →

EIC Fund

eic.ec.europa.eu/eic-funding-opportunities/eic-fund_en

Investor Luxembourg

Funding rounds

No announced rounds on record.

News 5

Open as list →

Published	Article
2025-02-25	El puerto de Huelva acoge la planta de Water Challenge para el tratamiento sostenible de fluidos ↗ El Mercantil 2025-02-25
2025-02-25	Water Challenge unveils its first pilot plant at the Port of Huelva for zero-discharge dredging treatment ↗ Water Challenge (press release) 2025-02-25
2025-01-24	El Puerto de Huelva y Water Challenge activarán una planta piloto con vertido cero para dragados y aguas ↗ Huelva Hoy 2025-01-24
2024-04-02	Water Challenge, una tecnología disruptiva y sostenible que convierte residuos en recursos ↗ CONAVALSI 2024-04-02
2023-10-05	Water Challenge – Adiabatic Sonic Evaporator and Crystallizer (ASEC): securing EIC Accelerator funding ↗ Evolution Europe 2023-10-05