Who’s behind this?
Europe has the talent, the research heritage and the values to lead in frontier technology, from AI and robotics to the science they make possible. What has been missing is the infrastructure to turn those strengths into companies and breakthroughs. That is what SPRIND was built to change.
A pan-European effort run by SPRIND
SPRIND is the German Federal Agency for Breakthrough Innovation. Think of us as a state-backed deep-tech fund and company builder: we deploy public money with a venture mindset, take real technical risk, and are explicitly mandated to try things that can fail. We are here to back wildly ambitious projects that are too bold for conventional funding.
Challenges are one of our funding instruments which puts teams in direct competition to solve the hardest technological problems of our time. Funding follows progress rather than paperwork, and teams keep full ownership of what they build. Around each challenge, SPRIND coordinates a wider European coalition of state actors, industry partners, providers and investors, alongside an independent jury of leading experts in the field. That backing extends to the highest political level, with our work supported by governments and European institutions.
Where we see real breakthrough potential, our support does not stop when a challenge ends and many times join follow-on funding rounds led by private venture capital firms.
An initiative by
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Whether you're curious about partnership opportunities, our structure or how decisions get made, get in touch.