AQYSTA HOLDING BV

Their core work

AQYSTA is a Dutch cleantech SME that developed and commercialized the HyPump — a hydro-powered irrigation pump that extracts energy from flowing canal water to pump that same water onto agricultural fields, requiring no electricity or fuel. Their core innovation eliminates the energy cost of irrigation in canal-irrigated farming regions, targeting markets where electricity infrastructure is unreliable or expensive. The company successfully progressed through the EU SME Instrument from feasibility study to full product development and market entry, suggesting a hardware-focused startup with a commercially validated product by 2020. Their work sits at the intersection of water management, renewable energy harvesting, and precision agriculture.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

AQYSTA's entire H2020 trajectory is a single, focused product journey: the HyPump concept was validated in Phase 1 (2016–2017) and then fully developed and brought to market in Phase 2 (2017–2020). There is no visible pivot or diversification — the organization stayed completely on one technology. This is consistent with a deep-tech startup that found a specific product-market fit and executed against it rather than exploring adjacent areas.

AQYSTA appears to have completed their primary EU-funded R&D cycle by 2020 and is likely in a commercial phase; future collaboration potential would be as a technology provider or licensing partner rather than an R&D consortium member.

How they like to work

AQYSTA coordinated both of their H2020 projects independently, consistent with the SME Instrument model which funds individual companies rather than consortia. No consortium partners are recorded, meaning they executed their EU-funded work as a standalone entity. For future collaborations, they are more likely to engage as a technology or product provider brought into a larger project than as a consortium architect.

AQYSTA has no recorded consortium partners from their H2020 participation, which is expected given the solo-applicant nature of the SME Instrument. Their geographic footprint within EU research networks is effectively limited to their home base in Delft, Netherlands.

What sets them apart

AQYSTA occupies a narrow but defensible niche: a product company with a working, EU-validated hydro-powered irrigation pump, which is rare in a field dominated by electric pump manufacturers and generic irrigation equipment suppliers. Their Phase 2 grant of nearly €1.8M signals that independent EU evaluators considered the technology commercially viable and scalable. For consortia targeting water-stressed agricultural regions — particularly in Southern Europe, Africa, or South Asia — AQYSTA offers a ready hardware component rather than a research promise.

Highlights from their portfolio

• HyPump
  Secured the full SME Instrument Phase 2 grant of €1.78M — one of the most competitive EU funding instruments for individual SMEs — validating both the technology and the commercial case for canal-powered irrigation.
• HyPump
  The Phase 1 feasibility grant (2016) represents the starting point of a rare complete SME Instrument progression, from concept validation through a multi-year development programme, all under the same product name and mission.