AquaInSilico (AIS) has been awarded a non-reimbursable grant of €202,499.69 under the programme line "AI in SMEs" (Notice No. 03/C05-i14-.01/2025), managed by Banco Português de Fomento within Portugal's Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) and co-financed by NextGenerationEU. The grant covers 75% of the total eligible investment of €269,999.59 and will fund the project AquaInSilico.AI, running from February 2026 to September 2027.
Funding impact
The AquaInSilico.AI project marks a decisive step in scaling AquaInSilico's expertise from project-by-project delivery into a continuous, scalable SaaS platform. This investment embeds advanced AI and automation directly into UPWATER™, enabling seamless, automatic connectivity between simulation outputs and client infrastructure, allowing operators and managers to see the real-time impact of different operational strategies on environmental and economic KPIs — with no manual setup required from AIS. Expected outcomes: 40% reduction in project execution time, 30% increase in simultaneous client capacity, and 2 new specialist hires in AI and data science.
Strategic context
The global wastewater treatment services market is valued at approximately €95 billion. UPWATER™ already demonstrates overall operational cost reductions of 20 to 50%, and nutrient removal improvements exceeding 50% in deployed facilities. The AquaInSilico.AI project accelerates the delivery of these outcomes at scale, enabling AIS to serve a significantly larger number of utilities.
“This investment is a turning point for AIS. The AI integration funded by this grant brings our company to a next level of digital transformation that will bring more value to our clients. Furthermore, this funding will remove one of the key constraints on our growth, enabling us to transition from delivering bespoke solutions to operating a scalable digital platform that can serve many clients simultaneously.”
About AIS
AIS is a Portuguese deep-tech company and spin-off from NOVA University Lisbon, co-founded with Frontier IP Group. AIS powers UPWATER™ and UPWASTE — AI-powered digital twin platforms for organic waste and wastewater treatment facilities, turning complex biological processes predictable, efficient and profitable.