Your Challenge:
Next Frontier Robotics
Hello, innovators! We need technological breakthroughs to unlock the next S-curve of multi-purpose robotics made in Europe. We need bold approaches and the ambition to move from demos to real-world impact. We need you.
While robots today master repetitive tasks in controlled settings, they still fundamentally struggle with novel tasks, changing conditions or unstructured environments. Widening demographic shifts, a growing labor shortage, and rising competitiveness urgently drive the need for robotics systems that can tackle physical tasks reliably while safeguarding safety and sovereignty.
Global competitors in the US and China are investing billions into closed robotics systems, placing Europe at risk of strategic dependence without its own frontier innovations. While Europe retains a world-class manufacturing foundation and research footprint, shaping the next era of robotics demands immediate action to scale next-generation hardware and the intelligent systems to operate them. The SPRIND Challenge Next Frontier Robotics
accelerates this leap by backing exceptional teams with moonshot approaches that move beyond incremental optimizations to deliver true capability leaps.
Together, we are building a modular, interoperable European robotics ecosystem ready to adapt to the complexity of real-world tasks.
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The Challenge: Develop full-stack robot platforms that handle complex physical tasks in real environments or novel robotic hardware components with breakthrough capabilities.
The challenge covers two complementary paths: Track 1 ‘Integrated Platforms’ challenges teams to orchestrate sub-components into complete multi-purpose robots which can tackle complex, commercial use cases. Track 2 ‘Hardware Components’ focuses on novel hardware such as gripping systems, sensors, or joints that achieve a radical performance leap over the state of the art.
Both tracks start by separately testing their approaches in lab environments (Stage 1) prior to moving into the real world (Stage 2), then focus on integration and interoperability into one system (Stage 3) before working on interoperability between different systems (Stage 4). As the challenge progresses, teams are expected to collaborate with complementary challenge participants or external partners to foster the development of standards. This sets the foundation for an interoperable ecosystem, enabling teams (and later customers) to tackle their selected use cases with the best-suited hardware and models under actual operating conditions, moving robotics from the lab into real-world scenarios.
The primary focus is on terrestrial, physically interactive applications in industrial and societal settings such as logistics, care support and construction.
We support:
Potential breakthrough innovations
The challenge runs for 36 months across four sequential stages. A jury of recognized experts supports SPRIND in selecting and evaluating participating teams. SPRIND provides financial backing as an individual fixed-price contract based on the team's cost estimate, offering up to €7,200,000 per team.
Beyond funding, SPRIND provides continuous venture development support, coaching, and direct access to new collaboration partners, first customers, and potential investors. Where significant potential for breakthrough innovation is identified, SPRIND may continue providing financial support even after the challenge ends.
SPRIND’s mandate is to support technology transfer. Therefore, teams shall aim to incorporate a company, ideally before the challenge starts and show commitment to build an eventually self-sustaining business.
The Competition
Detailed information can be found in the call for submission and the participation agreement.
Application
The application period runs from August 17 until October 22, 2026, at 18:00 (CEST). All applications submitted by this deadline will be considered.
Webinar
Learn more about the SPRIND Challenge and get your questions answered during our upcoming webinars on September 3 and October 1. Follow our LinkedIn channel for regular updates.
FAQ
Do you have any questions about the challenge? Write to us at challenge@sprind.org.
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