Get to know Sprind

We look forward to the future – and want to help shape it. SPRIND is therefore looking for answers to the social, ecological and economic challenges of our time.

Our goal is to create new breakthrough innovations from Germany. That means products, services and systems that make all our lives noticeably and sustainably better.


To achieve this, we bring together new thinkers from science and business, people with outstanding ideas, special expertise and passion.

We create spaces in which people can take risks and think in a radically different way, and we build up an entrepreneurial environment that makes ideas become reality.

Our support is comprehensive. We finance, help put together teams and link them with the right networks from science, business and politics.

We only support innovators and innovations that are based on fundamental humanistic values.

What we believe in

  1. Innovation is created through passion

    We do what we do because we love it. We want to support innovators who also think the same way with their work and progress. This also means, for example, that we do not focus on control, but on common goals and values.

  2. The focus is on people and the common good

    We believe in humanist values – in freedom, self-determination and democracy. The common good and social challenges are at the forefront of our work.

  3. The future can be shaped

    Seeing and using opportunities, developing and implementing visions. We have a great desire to tackle things and get something done. The future is what we make of it.

  4. Progress requires entrepreneurial thinking and action

    We want to transfer ideas into products and services that bring long-term benefits for Germany and Europe. That is why we always think and act entrepreneurially – with the agility of a start-up.

  5. Failure is an integral part of the process

    Curiosity is the force that drives us. We burn to solve the big problems and take conscious risks to accomplish this. Nobody wants to fail, but we are not afraid to do so.

  6. Success calls for personality and teamwork

    We create an environment in which personalities can unfold, focus on their strengths and collaborate with fellow innovators.

Funding

Statistics on funding and submissions
Breakthrough innovations need tailored support – through the SPRIND Freedom Act, we have been given the opportunity to provide potential disruptive innovations with even more flexible, agile and individualized financing. After a successful analysis and assessment process, projects in which we recognize breakthrough innovation potential may be eligible for various financing instruments to implement the breakthrough idea. During the assessment process, validation contracts can be given for an in-depth examination of individual content-related questions.

Through start-up funding, we support young companies that are not yet able to acquire sufficient funding from private sources. We use the start-up funding to build up the company, develop the technology and, if necessary, take the first steps towards commercialization. Funding is provided up to EUR 1 million.

If the private venture capital market does not offer sufficient financing, we can invest directly in start-ups. New private investors must provide at least 30% of the financing round and, as lead investor, negotiate the terms on which SPRIND will then invest on an equal footing. We can use equity investments, convertible loans and any other instruments similar to equity investments.

We support disruptive innovations during capital-intensive research and development stages and fund part of the development costs. The remaining costs are covered by private investments. Our funding is typically in the single-digit million euro range, although it can reach up to EUR 35 million in individual cases. SPRIND funding only has to be repaid in the event of success, in other words, if the start-up goes public, is sold or begins to distribute profits.

In the SPRIND Challenges, teams with disruptive innovation potential currently receive between EUR 500,000 and three million per competition stage. Funding is provided as a pre-commercial contract for research and development.

Every SPRIND Funke can be a small step towards great transformations. Like the challenges, the Funken (German for sparks) are innovation competitions for pioneers with world-changing ideas – but even faster. Currently, teams receive up to EUR 350,000 per competition stage. As with the SPRIND challenges, funding is provided via pre-commercial contracts.

SPRIND WANTS TO BUILD THE BRIDGE BETWEEN THE SPIRIT OF RESEARCH AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP.

Team SPRIND

Join our team

In a time when interdisciplinary collaboration and constant learning are essential, our network creates valuable opportunities for outstanding innovation. The exchange with other experts from different disciplines and institutions makes it possible to expand knowledge and develop new, groundbreaking research ideas.

Discover the diverse opportunities and benefit from the extraordinary innovation potential offered by our professional network of experts.

As an optimist and reader of 'Factfulness', I want to help ensure that the trend of recent decades toward improving the quality of life for the vast majority of people continues into the future.

Rafael Laguna de la Vera 

Rafael Laguna de la Vera 
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