Federal Agency for Disruptive Innovation (SPRIN-D)

Research into practice

Revolutionary ideas deserve a chance. They can give rise to developments that make our world a better place. SPRIND enables such disruptive innovations to break through.

Opportunities

Disruptive innovations enhance our quality of life. Just think of smartphones, the Internet or electric vehicles. They all have revolutionized our everyday lives.
Our goal is to foster disruptive innovation that is developed in Germany, and for Germany to remain a competitive hub of ideas and innovation.
The Federal Agency for Disruptive Innovation (SPRIND) offers visionary thinkers the opportunity to get their radically new – disruptive – innovations to market.
SPRIND provides tailored funding, counselling, networking and expertise for all.

Disruptive innovations can

radically change existing markets,
create entirely new markets, or
solve major technological, social or ecological issues.

We need more revolutionary ideas and disruptive innovations in Germany, for example for the protection of our climate, for our healthcare, and for the transport system.

SPRIND

That’s why the Federal Agency for Disruptive Innovation, or SPRIND, was established in Leipzig in December 2019. The acronym SPRIND stands for disruptive innovation in Germany. The agency is a fast and flexible public funding tool with the Federal Government as the sole shareholder.

SPRIND is managed by two directors:

Rafael Laguna de la Vera (founding director) and
Berit Dannenberg (commercial managing director).

The Chair of the Supervisory Board is Dr.-Ing. E. h. Peter Leibinger (of TRUMPF SE + Co. KG).

SPRIND is the tool of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) to accelerate the search for visionary ideas, their development and market launch.

SPRIND Challenges – finding the best ideas

The best ideas often arise from competition. That’s why SPRIND has set up the Challenges, innovation competitions that are aimed at finding solutions to the most pressing challenges facing society. The competitions are structured into several stages. Since the first Challenge in summer 2021, competitions have been launched on a number of topics, for example carbon-to-value, energy and data storage, and the circular economy.

SPRIND subsidiaries – fostering agile entrepreneurship

The foundation of subsidiary companies is another of SPRIND’s funding instruments. Starting a subsidiary enables innovators to speed up their projects. The aim is for the SPRIND subsidiaries to become established in the market within five years. The projects currently funded in this way cover innovations ranging from a novel drug to defeat Alzheimer’s disease to an innovative solution for removing microplastics from water bodies. Click here to read more detailed reports about the projects that have already started.

Project proposals can be submitted at any time on the SPRIND website which also provides further details on the submission process.

SPRIND Freedom Act provides more flexibility

To achieve these goals, the SPRIND Freedom Act was adopted on 30 December 2023 to give the Agency more flexibility.

SPRIND has been assigned state functions in order to enable it to be more agile in its provision of funding and investment without having to go through the Federal Government.
Moreover, SPRIND has now been exempted from the prohibition of applying different pay levels which allows the Agency in justified cases to recruit qualified staff in what can be a highly competitive market.
In addition to previous funding instruments, SPRIND is now able to also use private-law financing instruments and to become a shareholder in companies and company start-ups.
The new law also enables SPRIND to manage its resources more flexibly. All of this taken together means less bureaucracy and more direct powers for SPRIND to become faster, more targeted and better at enabling the breakthrough of disruptive innovations.

Innovation policy support and internationalization

SPRIND stands for a new kind of funding for visionary ideas. As with any innovation, it is important for SPRIND to continue to reflect its own doings and development. That’s why its strategies and instruments for funding disruptive innovation are subject to continuous evaluation and optimization.
International and, in particular, European cooperation is essential for Germany to maintain its global competitiveness. International partners such as the European Innovation Council (EIC) and international initiatives therefore play an important role.

From idea to innovation

Project submission

Any good idea that has the potential to radically change our world and serves civil purposes can be submitted to SPRIND at any time. A guiding questions catalogue includes the most central questions.
Evaluation

SPRIND will record your submission. The idea will be assessed in a process involving several selected experts. All necessary documents will be considered.
Project idea

If the idea is considered to be potentially disruptive, the team of experienced SPRIND Innovation Managers will support the strategic development of the idea.
Selection decision

The idea is handed to the decision-making committee at SPRIND. If the committee’s decision is positive, the idea will be presented to the SPRIND Supervisory Board which will take the final decision as to whether and in what form cooperation is to be established.
Project support

SPRIND does not provide traditional grant funding, but uses flexible funding instruments. It will develop a tailor-made support plan covering financing, counselling, start-up establishment, team building and networking.
Time frame

The selection process usually takes about 12 weeks from the project’s submission to the final decision of the Supervisory Board. A SPRIND decision to become involved in a project is a multi-year commitment.

Editorial deadline for this text: 01.11.2024