10/16/2025
ACCELERATING BREAKTHROUGH INNOVATION TOGETHER
Bpifrance and SPRIND enter into a strategic partnership
Bpifrance, the state-owned investment bank for the financing of projects by French companies, and the Federal Agency for Breakthrough Innovation will strengthen their cooperation in the field of disruptive innovations. On October 15, 2025, the two institutions signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to this effect in Berlin.
The agreement was signed by Paul-François Fournier, Executive Vice President for Innovation at Bpifrance, and Rafael Laguna de la Vera, Director General of SPRIND, in the presence of François Delattre, French Ambassador to Germany, and is part of the Franco-German Economic Roadmap.
The MoU illustrates the will of our two countries to combine agility and ambition to bring forward breakthrough technological solutions in Europe. Through this partnership, we aim to strengthen our financing mechanisms to accelerate the development of European leaders in the technologies of tomorrow.
– Paul-François Fournier, Executive Vice President for Innovation, Bpifrance
Together, we establish a common ground for cooperation in the field of deep tech and breakthrough innovation, supporting companies and innovation projects with joint financing mechanisms to make them European leaders as to strengthen the competitiveness and sovereignty of Europe.
– Rafael Laguna de la Vera, Director of SPRIND
This partnership between two major European players for disruptive innovation is an important step in the implementation of our bilateral cooperation agenda announced at the Franco-German Council of Ministers last August. Together, France and Germany play a leading role in the emergence of tomorrow’s technologies, serving European technological sovereignty.
– François Delattre, Ambassador of France to Germany
To initiate this cooperation, Bpifrance and SPRIND will, over the course of 2026, work on establishing bridges between their flagship programs in artificial intelligence – Pionniers de l’IA for Bpifrance and the AI Challenge for SPRIND.
The goal is to foster complementarity between the French and German approaches, aligning these programs within a shared roadmap for AI. This collaboration will focus on sharing expertise, aligning selection criteria, cross-participation of experts and jury members, and organizing networking activities in both countries.
Beyond AI, this agreement reflects a shared ambition to strengthen the networking of European innovation actors. Bpifrance is already pursuing this goal through bilateral collaborations and partnerships with other European agencies in order to promote the expansion of national ecosystems and build a more integrated and effective European innovation landscape.
Beyond AI, this agreement reflects a shared ambition to strengthen the networking of European innovation actors. Bpifrance is already pursuing this goal through bilateral collaborations and partnerships with other European agencies in order to promote the expansion of national ecosystems and build a more integrated and effective European innovation landscape.
Find further information here.
