5/7/2026
THE VISION: THREE FRONTIER AI LABS FOR EUROPE
SPRIND launches biggest Challenge yet – apply now for Next Frontier AI
The next leap in artificial intelligence will not come from polishing today’s models. It will come from the teams willing to step beyond them. With the Next Frontier AI Challenge, SPRIND is opening the door to those teams, and applications are now live.
This is the largest Challenge SPRIND has ever launched. Over 24 months and three stages, €125 million equity-free capital will go to the teams behind the most credible disruptive approaches: new model architectures, novel training paradigms, unfamiliar modalities, systemic multi-agent systems. Incremental optimisations of existing architectures are deliberately out of scope. The Challenge is searching for the leap to the next S-curve of artificial intelligence: the kind that will fundamentally surpass the capabilities of today’s systems, what today's systems can do and currently leading AI Labs ship in the months to come.
The strategic goal is unambiguous: at least three European Frontier AI Labs that can stand on the international stage technologically, operationally and financially.
Europe produces top AI talent, but has so far failed to translate technological expertise into world-leading AI companies. The ’Next Frontier AI’ Challenge aims to create an environment in which technological expertise, entrepreneurial excellence and funding combine to ensure the next generation of leading AI companies comes from Europe,
explains Jano Costard, Head of Challenges at SPRIND.
Selected teams will be pushed to their full potential. SPRIND provides individualised support at every stage, from financial backing and direct access to a network of experts and potential collaborators, through to a dedicated coaching and company-building programme. An international jury of Frontier Lab veterans, leading researchers and deep-tech investors will assess progress at the end of each stage and decide which teams advance.
In Stage 1, up to ten teams can each receive up to €3 million to demonstrate the viability of their approach. Up to six teams advance to Stage 2, with funding of up to €8 million per team. Up to three champions reach Stage 3, with up to €15.5 million per team, positioned to raise scale-up rounds and become Europe’s next defining technology companies.
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The Challenge is technology- and application-agnostic, and is open to teams from across Europe, including non-EU member states like the UK or Switzerland. What matters is the frontier hypothesis, the team, and the determination to build. SPRIND is calling on builders, researchers, and the unconventional minds who see possibility where others see limits.
If you're convinced you can outpace the frontier, the SPRIND Next Frontier AI Challenge is built for you.
Applications run until 1 June 2026, 12:00 CET. Detailed information is available in the call for submissions and the participation agreement on the Challenge page.
Questions about the Challenge can be sent to nfai@sprind.org.
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