Abu dhabi: The Mohamed bin Zayed Water Initiative and XPRIZE Foundation today announced 37 Semifinalist teams advancing to the next stage of the XPRIZE Water Scarcity, marking a major milestone in the competition and reflecting growing global momentum to accelerate breakthrough technologies that can help address the challenge of water scarcity.
According to Emirates News Agency, launched in March 2024 in partnership with XPRIZE Foundation, the five-year XPRIZE Water Scarcity competition is a $119 million global competition made possible by a $150 million contribution from The Mohamed bin Zayed Water Initiative, marking the Initiative's first priority project.
The competition is designed to help expand access to clean water by enabling seawater desalination solutions to be more reliable, affordable, and sustainable. This aligns with the Initiative's mission to accelerate innovation, raise awareness and understanding of global water scarcity, and support the development, testing, and deployment at scale of solutions that can help create a world in which water is accessible, affordable, and sustainable for all.
Semifinalists have advanced through a rigorous judging process during the Qualified Teams Testing phase and were evaluated for technical merit, feasibility, and operational performance in two competition tracks; Track A and Track B. A total of 20 teams focusing on System-Level Innovation in Track A will receive $5 million funding in total, while 17 teams focusing on Novel Materials and Methods in Track B will receive up to $300,000 in total to further advance and test their solutions.
Commenting on the announcement, Ayesha Al Ateeqi, Executive Director of The Mohamed bin Zayed Water Initiative, emphasized the commitment to accelerating the development and deployment of transformative solutions to the emerging global water scarcity crisis. The partnership with XPRIZE Foundation aims to advance next-generation desalination technologies that are more affordable, scalable, and sustainable.
Anousheh Ansari, Chief Executive Officer of XPRIZE, highlighted that the XPRIZE Water Scarcity competition is reimagining possibilities for millions who lack access to safe and reliable water by unlocking bold, transformative solutions to ensure clean water is available worldwide.
Lauren Greenlee, Executive Vice President of Food + Water + Waste at XPRIZE, noted that the Semifinalist announcement marks a significant milestone of the competition's first physical testing stage and reflects a growing movement toward scalable, adaptive, and resource-efficient seawater desalination systems.
Semifinals testing will take place in 2026, followed by the announcement of finalists in early 2027. Finals testing will then be conducted from 2027 to 2028, with winners announced in 2028. The competition aligns with the vision of The Mohamed bin Zayed Water Initiative to support creativity and innovation aimed at addressing the challenge of global water scarcity.
In parallel with XPRIZE Water Scarcity, the Initiative continues to advance innovation through complementary programmes, including the Al Miyah Challenge for Agriculture, a prize competition designed to accelerate the development and deployment of solutions that reduce water use in agriculture while maintaining or increasing crop yield, with potential adoption in the UAE and other water-scarce regions.
