XPRIZE began with what some thought was a crazy idea: that incentive competitions could unlock breakthroughs for humanity’s future. Today, it’s a proven model fueling industries, capital, and solutions worldwide.

Inspired by the 1927 Orteig Prize that spurred Charles Lindbergh’s historic transatlantic flight, our founder, Peter H. Diamandis, envisioned a similar spark for private spaceflight. In 1996, XPRIZE launched the $10 million Ansari XPRIZE, challenging teams to build and fly a reusable spacecraft. Eight years and 26 teams later, Mojave Aerospace Ventures won the competition. This historic victory launched the $596 billion commercial space industry and prompted the FAA to rewrite its rules.

The Ansari XPRIZE proved our model: incentive competitions can unleash global ingenuity, de-risk bold ideas, and deliver measurable outcomes. With the right structure, ambitious targets, and a clear finish line, the impossible becomes inevitable.

Since then, our prize model has accelerated breakthroughs in climate, health, education, food security, and beyond——pushing boundaries and proving that innovation doesn’t need permission. It needs ambition, urgency, and a bold target. 

Today, the XPRIZE model drives exponential impact at scale. We’ve launched 30 competitions, engaged more than 35,000 innovators across 173 countries, and turned $519 million in prize capital into $31 billion in measurable economic and social value.

We don’t fund ideas—we fund proof. 

We don’t wait for breakthroughs—we engineer them. 

Our mission is simple: unlock a future of equitable abundance, one prize at a time.

Over three decades, XPRIZE has transformed moonshots into movements—scaling our model across 30 prize competitions to address an ever-growing set of global challenges. Our prizes have mobilized over 58 million hours of R&D, catalyzed the creation of 9,745 patents, and generated more than 20,000 jobs across the innovation economy. 

Each prize is designed with precision: clear outcomes, bold targets, and real-world validation that unlock solutions once thought impossible. As the stakes rise, from climate collapse to the rapid advance of AI, we’ve aimed our efforts where breakthroughs matter most. 

We’ve seen what’s possible when bold incentives meet bold ideas in our impact engine. The path forward isn’t incremental. It’s exponential. The future demands more—XPRIZE accelerates the breakthroughs to deliver it.

XPRIZE exists to turn bold ideas into real-world impact. Through our incentive competitions, we test solutions, fund proof, and accelerate breakthroughs. We evolve with the world, but our mission remains the same: to architect a better future for all.