Sprind’s founder is consulting with both countries to see whether they could copy the German model
Sprind’s founder Rafael Laguna de la Vera. Photo credits: Sprind
France and the Netherlands are mulling setting up their own versions of Germany’s Sprind innovation agency, which organises multi-stage competitive challenges to invent new technologies and promises to deliver money much faster than conventional funders.
The French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs has for the past year seconded one of its employees to Sprind to see how it operates, and Sprind’s founder is now co-leading a task force to scope out how France could adopt its model.
Meanwhile, Sprind agreed earlier this year to launch joint technology challenges with the Swedish innovation agency Vinnova. And the Dutch are also thinking of setting up their own Netherlands Agency for Disruptive Innovation (NADI).
“The initiatives with France and the Netherlands and Sweden, they are not just ideas. They're real,” Sprind’s founder Rafael Laguna de la Vera…
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