Past Challenges

Digital Learning Challenge

Prize Purse: $1 Million Phase: Concluded

The goals of the $1M Digital Learning Challenge are to modernize, accelerate, and improve the ways in which we identify effective learning tools and processes that improve learning outcomes.

Next-Gen Mask Challenge

Prize Purse: $1 Million Phase: Awarded

The $1M Next-Gen Mask Challenge aims to reimagine protective face masks used to prevent the spread of COVID-19 by making them more comfortable, functional, accessible, and even stylish. 

Pandemic Response Challenge

Prize Purse: $500k Phase: Awarded

The Pandemic Response Challenge is a $500K, four-month challenge that focuses on the development of data-driven AI systems to predict COVID-19 infection rates and prescribe Intervention Plans (IPs) that regional governments, communities, and organizations can implement to minimize harm when reopening their economies.

The future of lunar landing.

Prize Purse: $2 Million Phase: Awarded

Manned lunar exploration used to be the exclusive purview of governmental agencies until the $2M Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander XCHALLENGE paved the way for a new class of lunar vehicles. Through a unique public–private partnership between Northrop Grumman, NASA and XPRIZE, the winning teams proved that private industry could build, fly, launch, hover and land spacecraft suitable for lunar exploration for a fraction of what the government spends.

Transforming personal health.

Prize Purse: $2.25 Million Phase: Awarded

The $2.25 million Nokia Sensing XCHALLENGE aimed to stimulate the development of a new generation of health sensors and sensing technologies that can drastically improve the quality, accuracy and ease of monitoring a person’s health. Improvements in these technologies will empower individuals to effortlessly monitor and collect their own real-time health data, providing both consumers and healthcare providers convenient access to critical information whenever and wherever they need it.

Removing oil from the sea.

Prize Purse: $1.4 Million Phase: Awarded

The Wendy Schmidt Oil Cleanup XCHALLENGE was a $1.4 Million competition designed to inspire a new generation of innovative solutions that will speed the pace of cleaning up seawater surface oil resulting from spillage from ocean platforms, tankers, and other sources. The one-year competition culminated in the fall of 2011, with competitive demonstrations taking place at OHMSETT, the National Oil Spill Response Research & Renewable Energy Test Facility.