SPRIND Challenges

SPRIND Continuous Hormone Monitoring Challenge — Stage 1

Funds teams in Germany through a continuous hormone-monitoring challenge for advanced sensor development.

Eligibility · EU member states + EEA

⚠ This may reflect a past cycle — verify the current call on the funder's site.

The SPRIND Continuous Hormone Monitoring Challenge is a multi-stage funding competition run by SPRIND (Bundesagentur für Sprunginnovationen), the German Federal Agency for Breakthrough Innovation, targeting a significant gap in women's health diagnostics. The challenge funds teams developing biosensor technology capable of continuously measuring at least four hormones simultaneously over seven consecutive days from non-invasive bodily fluids — specifically interstitial fluid, sweat, or saliva. Applications closed on 26 June 2026 at 18:00 CEST.

Stage 1 awards up to €1.5 million per team over 12 months, with Stage 1 funding expected to begin in July 2026. Milestone-gated progression continues to Stage 2 (up to €2 million, 12 months) and Stage 3 (up to €2.5 million, 12 months), making the total program duration three years. Eligible applicants are teams or individuals from EU, EFTA, UK, or Israel; individual team members may be based outside these regions. No incorporation is required at application, but teams that are not already a legal company must establish a spin-off entity by the time Stage 2 funding is disbursed. SPRIND covers 100% of each stage award with no co-financing obligation.

Applications are submitted online via sprind.org. SPRIND does not apply standard guidelines — each funded project receives a bespoke cooperation agreement. The challenge operates independently of SPRIND's rolling R&D grant track; teams that narrowly miss the biosensor challenge can still pursue SPRIND's other instruments. IP stays with the applicant team under SPRIND's standard terms. Stages 2 and 3 are invitation-only progressions and not open calls.