Demo Day 2026

The event

The Demo Day marks the end of the first year of Water-Smart Agrifood Systems, the EIT Food Accelerator Network for startups that put water at the heart of agrifood innovation: efficiency, reuse and risk management, in the field and in processing.

Isola Catania is one of the programme’s six European innovation hubs. Since September, the eleven startups of the 2026 cohort, from ten countries, have been working with mentors, corporates and research centres, first at the bootcamp in Sicily and then throughout the acceleration phase.

The afternoon opens with the Startup Expo, where each startup has its own stand: you can see the solutions up close and talk to the people who developed them. This is followed by two pitch sessions, separated by a panel discussion, before an audience of investors, companies and institutions. The evening ends with a networking aperitivo and light dinner.

Programme

Supported by

EIT Food, co-funded by the European Union (opens in a new tab)

Organised by

Isola Catania

With the support of

Fondazione CDP (opens in a new tab) Fondazione Sicilia (opens in a new tab)

This activity is supported by EIT Food, the innovation community on food of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union under Horizon Europe, the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation.