EIT InnoEnergy
EIT InnoEnergy is a pan-European, EU-backed investor and innovation engine for the clean-energy transition, founded in 2010 and based in Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is an energy and cleantech fund, not a water specialist: water turns up in just 2 of its roughly 200 portfolio companies, both where energy meets water. As of January 2026, Sebastien Clerc leads it as CEO.
Compiled by Antoine Walter, (don't) Waste Water, from official filings and direct intelligence in Leviathan.
The take
EIT InnoEnergy is not a fund in the ordinary sense. It was set up in 2010 as one of the European Union's first Knowledge and Innovation Communities, or KICs, the EU's bet that putting universities, industry and investors under one roof would industrialise clean technology faster than any of them could alone. Today EIT InnoEnergy sits behind roughly 200 energy and cleantech companies across Europe, half investor and half innovation engine.
EIT InnoEnergy operates at a scale no dedicated water fund comes close to. In 2025 its portfolio companies closed 76 funding rounds and raised over a billion euros between them, and the firm is steering a plan to mobilise up to 160 billion euros of clean-tech investment by 2030. As of January 2026, Sebastien Clerc, the former chief of renewables developer Voltalia, took over as CEO from founding boss Diego Pavia.
For a water reader the headline is the small print, and in my read of the data it is the most telling part: EIT InnoEnergy is an energy investor, and water reaches its books only when it carries an energy story. Its two water-tagged bets prove the rule. AQUABATTERY, a Dutch company InnoEnergy backed early, stores electricity in nothing more exotic than table salt and water, a long-duration battery that happens to run on brine. Empyrio, out of Latvia, recovers energy from the sludge left over at small municipal wastewater plants.
EIT InnoEnergy is not the fund a pure-play water founder pitches first; its mandate runs the energy value chain, from battery cells to green hydrogen to grid storage. But the two deals it has made mark out where a water company can fit: when the technology is really an energy play wearing water's clothes, a brine battery or a sludge-to-power unit, this is the kind of investor that will write an early institutional cheque.
Water Commitment Score
Compiled from official filings, third-party records, and direct intelligence from investors and founders, in Leviathan · recomputed monthly · as of Jun 2026.
How they invest
Portfolio · 2 water companies
Invests alongside
Highlighted = profiled on (don't) Waste Water.
Frequently asked
- What does EIT InnoEnergy invest in?
- EIT InnoEnergy invests across the clean-energy value chain: battery cells, green hydrogen, solar manufacturing, grid storage and energy-efficient industry. It is an energy and cleantech investor created by the European Union, not a water fund, and water appears in only two of its roughly 200 portfolio companies.
- Is EIT InnoEnergy a water fund?
- EIT InnoEnergy is not a water fund. It is a pan-European energy and cleantech investor, and water reaches its portfolio only through an energy angle: AQUABATTERY, a saltwater long-duration battery, and Empyrio, which recovers energy from wastewater sludge. (don't) Waste Water still rates its water commitment Committed.
- Who runs EIT InnoEnergy?
- EIT InnoEnergy has been led by Sebastien Clerc, former CEO of renewables firm Voltalia, since January 2026, when he succeeded founding chief Diego Pavia. Its investment team includes Benelux and UK director Roel Van Diepen, who covers the region where its Dutch water bet AQUABATTERY sits.
- Where is EIT InnoEnergy based?
- EIT InnoEnergy is headquartered in Eindhoven, Netherlands, and was created in 2010 as one of the European Union's first Knowledge and Innovation Communities. It runs regional offices across Europe, including France, Iberia, Germany, Benelux, Central Europe and Scandinavia, reflecting its pan-European mandate.
- What water companies has EIT InnoEnergy backed?
- EIT InnoEnergy has backed two water-related companies, both at the energy-water nexus. AQUABATTERY, based in the Netherlands, stores electricity in salt water as a long-duration battery; Empyrio, based in Latvia, recovers energy from sewage sludge at small municipal wastewater plants. Both are seed-stage bets.