XPRIZE Water Scarcity — Active Phase
Supports water-solvers advancing desalination systems and infrastructure for severe scarcity conditions.
Eligibility · Global — open worldwide
⚠ This may reflect a past cycle — verify the current call on the funder's site.
XPRIZE Water Scarcity is a $119 million prize competition launched March 1, 2024, sponsored by the Mohamed bin Zayed Water Initiative, to advance desalination technology capable of addressing global water scarcity. The competition runs through 2028 across two parallel tracks. Track A ($108 million total purse) challenges teams to generate at least one million liters of potable water per day from seawater at lowest cost over a one-year demonstration period. Track B ($10.9 million) targets novel desalination materials or methods that treat seawater to potable quality and demonstrate an operational lifetime of ten or more years.
Registration for both tracks is now closed (Track A: March 31, 2025; Track B: May 31, 2025). As of September 2025, 143 teams had qualified. The Track B Qualified Testing Deadline was March 20, 2026; Semifinals Testing for both tracks is scheduled for Q4 2026. Grand prizes for Track A are $40 million (1st place), $20 million (2nd), and $10 million (3rd); Track B grand prizes are $8 million (1st), $1 million (2nd), and $500,000 (3rd). Track A also includes up to 20 Semifinalist Milestone Awards of $250,000 each and up to 5 Finalist Milestone Awards of $2 million each. Winners for Track B are expected Q4 2027; Track A winners Q4 2028.
Eligibility is open globally to startups, universities, companies, student groups, and individuals, provided teams own or hold appropriate license rights to submitted technologies. The competition is void in countries prohibited by U.S. law under OFAC or EAR regulations. Teams already registered are in active testing phases; new entrants are no longer accepted. The strongest competing teams will demonstrate not only technical performance in controlled testing but also cost competitiveness and a credible plan for scaling to industrial-level water production.
Track A ($108M): generate ≥1M litres/day of potable water from seawater at lowest cost over one year. Track B ($10.9M): novel desalination material/method treating seawater to potable quality with 10+ year operational lifetime.
Sign up free to see the funding breakdown
Sign up free to see the industries in scope
Sign up free to see the full eligibility
Sign up free to see how to apply
Sign up free to see what you submit
Sign up free to see the timeline