Winegrid and the EIC Accelerator: Wine Sensors Bought by Enartis

Watgrid wants winemakers to follow fermentation without drawing samples by hand. The company, based in Aveiro, Portugal, sells Winegrid: fibre-optic sensors placed inside tanks, barrels and presses that send data on density, turbidity, colour, temperature and alcohol to an online platform, according to its EU-funded SME Instrument project, which said the system would replace costly manual sampling.

The EU paid Watgrid €50,000 for a feasibility study in 2018 and €1,594,119 for a development project from July 2019 to March 2022, for which it was selected at the 3 April 2019 cut-off of the EIC SME Instrument Phase 2, part of the Horizon 2020 EIC pilot. At the March 2022 cut-off the EIC Accelerator selected it for blended finance, for a platform that would adjust vinification automatically. No Horizon Europe grant for that award appears on CORDIS. In November 2023 Enartis, the oenology division of Italy's Esseco Group, bought a majority of the company for an undisclosed price.

Where Winegrid Stands Now

After a distribution agreement in February 2023, Enartis took majority control in November 2023. Enartis's general manager, Samuele Benelli, called it "a milestone in the evolution of Enartis". Since then Winegrid's news page has announced launches in Chile, Argentina and Spain, a US presence, trade shows alongside Enartis, and industry awards in 2025. Watgrid names installations of more than 200 sensors at Rodney Strong Vineyards in California and more than 50 at Quinta Nova in Portugal on its highlights page. No figures on revenue or total installations have been published.

The Technology: A Window Into the Tank

The phase 2 project, also named Winegrid, had a total cost of €2,277,312.50 and set out to miniaturise the sensor units, develop a control unit that connects to winery automation equipment, upgrade the AI tools and produce 200 systems for end-user trials. Its final report, to March 2022, says the density and alcohol sensors were upgraded "however not miniaturized", an AI tool was integrated into the dashboard, development of the control unit was "ongoing", and in-house assembly was scaled to 50 tank sensor units and 100 barrel sensors a week. The EIC Accelerator proposal went a step further: using the data to adjust fermentation parameters automatically.

What the EIC Award Promised, and What CORDIS Shows

The EIC's list of selected companies names Watgrid for the Winegrid project, "a path toward sustainable precision vinification", with blended finance. CORDIS has no grant agreement, budget or report for it, and neither Watgrid nor Enartis has announced EIC money or an EIC Fund investment. Whether the award was ever signed, and what happened to the automatic adjustment it described, cannot be checked.

1. Automatic vinification controlUnknownNo project on CORDIS.
2. Sensor platform (earlier grant)Partly deliveredSME Instrument report.
3. Global distributionVia EnartisAcquisition, 2023.
4. Report on the 2022 awardNoneNo CORDIS entry.

The Money

The EU's recorded support for Watgrid is €1.64 million across the two SME Instrument grants. The price Enartis paid has not been disclosed. Watgrid publishes no revenue figures that we could find.

What Cannot Be Checked

Why Europe Should Care

The EU funded Watgrid's technology through two grants, and in November 2023 an Italian group bought a majority of the company. The EIC's 2022 selection, however, leaves no public record of what, if anything, it paid for.

The Verdict

Watgrid, Enartis and the EIC have not been asked for comment for this article. It is based entirely on public records and published statements, linked throughout.