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Entry and assessment
Information about the Discovery process

The Water Discovery Challenge opened for entries on Wednesday 25 January 2023 for approximately 10 weeks, with entrants selected for participation by late Spring 2023.

Watch the Launch webinar recording

The Entry Process

Stage 1

  • Entries are submitted via a written form;
  • Entries are scrutinised by expert assessors and a sector review is undertaken;
  • Expert assessor scores and sector recommendations are shared with Ofwat;
  • Ofwat makes the final decision on which entries are awarded seed grants.

Stage 2

  • Entry via a written submission together with a live pitch;
  • Sector reviews takes place ahead of judging;
  • Judge’s scores and recommendations from the sector are shared with Ofwat;
  • Ofwat makes the final decision on which entries are awarded follow-on development grants.

Please note, only stage 1 participants are eligible for stage 2 

Assessment criteria

All eligible entries will be assessed against each of the four assessment criteria:

Funding award

Funding will be awarded in pounds sterling (GBP) and the recipient is responsible for payment of any applicable taxes and other charges. At Stage 1 this will be up to £50,000 in seed funding and in Stage 2 this is up to £450,000 in development funding.

Entrants are expected to spend the funding within 6 months of the end of the Challenge.

If you are selected as a winner either at stage one or at stage two of Discovery you will be required to enter into a competition award agreement before funds will be awarded. This agreement confirms compliance with the terms and conditions of the Challenge and sets out that funds awarded by the competition must only be used to fund the initiative described in your entry. Further detail on what this entails will be published when Discovery launches.

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