SPRIND Challenges

SPRIND Challenges

Runs SPRIND Challenges to fund German solution builders with mission focused support for complex deep tech development.

Eligibility · EU member states + EEA

SPRIND (Bundesagentur für Sprunginnovationen) is Germany's Federal Agency for Breakthrough Innovation, a GmbH wholly owned by the Federal Republic of Germany and operating under the SPRIND-Freiheitsgesetz (Freedom Act). The act grants SPRIND exceptional flexibility to structure bespoke funding arrangements that fall outside standard German grant law, positioning the agency as a DARPA-inspired funder for technologies with potential to fundamentally transform industries or society. The Challenges programme is SPRIND's primary funding mechanism: a rolling series of themed competitions that invite teams to solve defined scientific and technological problems across SPRIND's sector taxonomy of Advanced Materials, Agriculture, Aviation, Computing, Energy, Life Sciences, Manufacturing, Mobility, Security, and Software and AI.

Challenges are multi-stage competitions. Early-stage Funke awards provide initial grants for concept development, while subsequent Challenge stages scale funding as teams demonstrate technical progress. Individual stage awards range from EUR 500,000 to EUR 3,000,000, with total R&D support reaching up to EUR 35,000,000 per Challenge on a success-conditional repayment basis. Intellectual property generated remains with the participants; SPRIND retains only a non-exclusive usage right for state-aid compliance. Eligibility is open to SMEs, large companies, research centres, universities, and individual researchers from Germany, EFTA states, and, for many challenges, EU, EEA, UK, and Israeli participants. Consortia are permitted. The acceptance rate across SPRIND programmes is below 10 percent.

New challenges open on a rolling basis throughout the year. As of May 2026, open Challenges include Next Frontier AI (deadline 1 June 2026), Continuous Hormone Monitoring (deadline 26 June 2026), Orbital Bioworks, QuantumSense Exploration, and Quantum-Driven Intelligence. Several further challenges are in progress across later stages, including Anti-Drone Response 2.0, Fully Autonomous Flight 2.0, Circular Biomanufacturing, and Composite Learning. The live challenge list and individual scopes are published at sprind.org/en/challenges.