Desalination on a Giant Buoy Powered by Sea Motion

Global Startup Competition Awards Innovative Solutions at Africagua Canarias 2025

The ninth edition of Africagua Canarias concluded with the presentation of the Global Startup Competition awards, capping two days dedicated to knowledge exchange and the promotion of innovative water‑ and energy‑related solutions.

The competition results were announced at an event that gathered cutting‑edge proposals from several countries, highlighting the high quality and strong interest generated by the finalist projects.

Startups Awarded in the Global Startup Competition

• First prize – €10,000 – awarded to Ocean Oasis (Spain). The project, presented to the jury by Sebastian Feimblatt, proposes an offshore desalination system driven by wave energy, capable of producing clean water in a sustainable, scalable, and affordable manner.
• Second prize – €5,000 – awarded to O’Nadif (Chad). The proposal, presented by Abakar Mahamat, focuses on high‑impact social benefits and applicability in vulnerable contexts. It relies on innovative, eco‑friendly nano/ultrafiltration filters that deliver potable water without electricity or chemicals.

Institutions Value the Forum’s Closure

During the closing ceremony, Juan Jesús Rodríguez Marichal, President of the Fuerteventura Chamber of Commerce, emphasized Africagua’s role as a platform for international cooperation and thanked all delegations, institutions, and companies for their participation. He highlighted the importance of the Global Startup Competition within the forum:

“The Global Startup Competition is consolidating as a key driver for water and energy innovation, and it will now serve as a benchmark within Africagua for attracting talent and generating new opportunities.”

Nuria Cabrera, Councillor for Finance and Economic Promotion, underscored the strategic relevance of hosting Africagua on an island where water and energy are critical challenges:

“We close this ninth edition satisfied that we have once again positioned Fuerteventura as a reference island for other territories, with initiatives that foster energy self‑sufficiency and responsible management of our natural resources.”
“This forum has again shown that when we share experiences, we can turn challenges into opportunities.”

Javier Franco Hormiga, Director of the Canary Islands Agency for Research, Innovation and the Information Society (ACIISI), congratulated the president and his team for surpassing previous editions and stressed Africagua’s role in elevating Fuerteventura’s innovation profile:

“Today Fuerteventura takes another step forward in innovation, technology, and the application of renewable energy to a resource as valuable as water, and it is a pleasure to share this progress internationally.”
“The challenge now is to keep advancing: Africagua demonstrates that Fuerteventura can compete at the highest level and that innovation is part of its future trajectory.”

Two Days of Cooperation and Shared Advances

Africagua Canarias 2025 ends this edition as a strategic meeting point for Africa, the Canary Islands, and Europe, bringing together institutional representatives, international organizations, companies, technology centers, and startups to jointly tackle water, energy, and sustainability challenges.

During the two‑day forum, a highly specialized working environment facilitated the exchange of experiences, the presentation of innovative initiatives, and the strengthening of technical and business cooperation.

The B2B space once again proved to be one of the most valued program elements, fostering new alliances, identifying business opportunities, and enabling direct connections between companies, public entities, and international institutions. These meetings have paved the way for potential joint projects and opened new collaboration channels among participants.

The organization highlighted the high technical level of the interventions, the broad international participation, and the strong interest shown by delegations, all of which endorse Africagua as an essential gathering to boost innovation, reinforce inter‑regional collaboration, and promote sustainable solutions tailored to current challenges.

Africagua reaffirms its role as a reference international forum for addressing global water, energy, and sustainability challenges in island territories and regions with similar climatic conditions. This edition again demonstrated the forum’s capacity to generate specialized knowledge, foster exchange among institutions and companies, and drive initiatives that contribute to sustainable development and the energy transition.