The Boehringer Ingelheim Foundation

What The Boehringer Ingelheim Foundation does

The Boehringer Ingelheim Foundation (legal name: Boehringer Ingelheim Stiftung) is an independent, non-profit foundation established in 1977 under civil law by Hubertus Liebrecht (1931-1991), a member of the Boehringer Ingelheim shareholder family. It is legally and organizationally separated from the pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim, registered in Rhineland-Palatinate, headquartered in Mainz at Schusterstrasse 46-48, and supervised by the Aufsichts- und Dienstleistungsdirektion Rheinland-Pfalz. The foundation operates from an endowment bequeathed by Liebrecht and is a registered charitable organization exempt from corporate and trade taxes. It is governed by an Executive Committee chaired by Christoph Boehringer and managed operationally by Managing Directors for Science & Research (Dr Stephan Formella) and Finance & Administration (Marc Wittstock), with Felix Gutsche appointed to assume the chairmanship effective 1 September 2026.

The foundation promotes excellent basic research in medicine, biology, chemistry, and pharmacy through three principal mechanisms: individual funding programmes (Exploration Grants, Plus 3, Rise up!, CoMove, Cheiron Fellows, Scientific Conferences), scientific awards (Heinrich Wieland Prize valued at up to EUR 250,000, Boehringer Ingelheim Prize, Dissertation Prizes Mainz), and institutional funding initiatives. The institutional portfolio includes the Institute of Molecular Biology at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (EUR 154M cumulative), the Leibniz Institute for Resilience Research, the EMBL Imaging Centre in Heidelberg (EUR 12M cumulative across two rounds), and two large biomedical AI initiatives launched in 2024: the EUR 150M AITHYRA Institute at the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna and the EUR 20M BioAI Dresden division at the Center for Systems Biology Dresden.

The foundation's revenue model is expenditure-focused rather than profit-oriented: it disburses from its endowment to fund grants, awards, and institutional research programs. In 2025, total expenditures reached EUR 30.7 million, of which EUR 29.6 million supported science promotion (approximately EUR 23.5M for new funding initiatives, EUR 5.7M for ongoing programs, EUR 0.4M for awards) and EUR 1.1 million covered administration. Recipients are reached through the foundation's website, email newsletters, scientific symposia, the annual Heinrich Wieland Prize ceremony in Munich, and the Boehringer Ingelheim Prize ceremony in Ingelheim am Rhein. International impact is enabled through co-funding with national agencies and partners such as the AMR Action Fund (USD 50M commitment, 2021), Max Planck Society, TU Dresden, Free State of Saxony, and the Federal Ministry and City of Vienna.

Name

The Boehringer Ingelheim Foundation

Legal name

Boehringer Ingelheim Stiftung

Website

https://boehringer-ingelheim-stiftung.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1977

Operating status

Operating

Short description

The Boehringer Ingelheim Foundation is an independent non-profit foundation established in 1977 that promotes basic research in medicine, biology, chemistry, and pharmacy through individual grants, scientific awards (Heinrich Wieland Prize, Boehringer Ingelheim Prize), and institutional funding initiatives across Germany, Austria, and globally.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Philanthropic Science Foundation

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211)

akta.pro primary industry

Research & Science Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAI)

Keywords

• Scientific research funding
• Life sciences grants
• Basic research awards
• Biomedical research funding
• Philanthropic science foundation

Headquarters

HQ city

Mainz

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Others

Revenue model

1. Foundation Endowment: The foundation operates from an endowment established by Hubertus Liebrecht (1931-1991), a member of the Boehringer Ingelheim shareholder family. Proceeds from this endowment fund the foundation's activities. As a registered charitable organization, the foundation is not profit-oriented but expenditure-focused.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Boehringer Ingelheim Stiftung is a non-profit foundation that promotes excellent basic research in medicine, biology, chemistry, and pharmacy. It funds individual scientists through grant programmes (Exploration Grants, Plus 3, Rise up!, CoMove, Cheiron Fellows), recognizes outstanding research through scientific awards (Heinrich Wieland Prize, Boehringer Ingelheim Prize, Dissertation Prizes Mainz), and supports major institutional funding initiatives (AITHYRA Institute, BioAI Dresden, EMBL Imaging Centre, Institute of Molecular Biology, Leibniz Institute for Resilience Research).

Product overview

The Boehringer Ingelheim Stiftung is a non-profit foundation that promotes excellent basic research in medicine, biology, chemistry, and pharmacy. Its product portfolio consists of funding programmes (CoMove, Exploration Grants, Plus 3, Rise up!, Scientific Conferences, Cheiron Fellows), scientific awards (Heinrich Wieland Prize, Boehringer Ingelheim Prize, Dissertation Prizes Mainz), and institutional funding initiatives (AITHYRA Institute, BioAI Dresden, EMBL Imaging Centre, Institute of Molecular Biology, Leibniz Institute for Resilience Research). The foundation functions as a grant-making organization providing financial support, not as a technology product company.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• AITHYRA Institute: Research institute for biomedical AI established at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, funded with EUR 150 million by the foundation
• BioAI Dresden
• Institute of Molecular Biology (IMB)
• EMBL Imaging Centre
• Boehringer Ingelheim Prize
• Heinrich Wieland Prize
• Rise up!
• Exploration Grants
• Plus 3 (Perspectives Programme Plus 3)
• CoMove
• Cheiron Fellows

Products and services

• CoMove CoMove is a funding programme offered by the Boehringer Ingelheim Stiftung that supports scientists during critical career stages, including through research mobility. It is targeted at individual scientists in medicine, biology, chemistry, and pharmacy.
• Exploration Grants Exploration Grants is a funding programme that offers exploratory research grants for independent group leaders pursuing innovative basic research in medicine, biology, chemistry, and pharmacy.
• Perspectives Programme Plus 3 Perspectives Programme Plus 3 is a funding programme that supports excellent scientists by providing freedom to realize their scientific potential, targeted at independent group leaders in basic research fields.
• Rise up! Rise up! is a seed grant programme for newly appointed W2 professors at German universities, providing financial leeway for creative research in basic life sciences.
• Cheiron Fellows Cheiron Fellows is a funding programme offered by the Boehringer Ingelheim Stiftung that supports researchers in the life sciences.
• Scientific Conferences Funding Scientific Conferences is a programme that supports scientific conferences worldwide to promote dialogue between different generations of scientists in basic research.
• Heinrich Wieland Prize The Heinrich Wieland Prize is an internationally renowned scientific award worth EUR 250,000 given to distinguished scientists worldwide for groundbreaking research in chemistry, biochemistry, and physiology of biologically active molecules.
• Boehringer Ingelheim Prize The Boehringer Ingelheim Prize is an award for outstanding early-career researchers in the Rhine-Main region of Germany. The new format (from 2026) features three finalists each receiving EUR 5,000 personal awards for outstanding publication, with one receiving the main prize of EUR 55,000 research funding.
• Dissertation Prizes Mainz Dissertation Prizes Mainz are awards endowed by the Boehringer Ingelheim Stiftung and presented by the University of Mainz to excellent PhD students.
• AITHYRA Institute The AITHYRA Institute is a research institute for AI in biomedicine at the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna, funded with EUR 150 million by the Boehringer Ingelheim Stiftung. It develops AI-based research approaches for biomedical advances.
• BioAI Dresden BioAI Dresden is a research division at the Center for Systems Biology Dresden that combines biomedical AI with biology, funded with EUR 20 million over 10 years by the Boehringer Ingelheim Stiftung.
• EMBL Imaging Centre The EMBL Imaging Centre is a state-of-the-art imaging technology centre at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, providing access to cutting-edge optical and electron microscopy, supported by the Boehringer Ingelheim Stiftung.
• Institute of Molecular Biology (IMB) The Institute of Molecular Biology (IMB) is a research institute at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz focusing on molecular developmental biology, epigenetics, and DNA repair research, established with EUR 100 million funding from the foundation.
• Leibniz Institute for Resilience Research The Leibniz Institute for Resilience Research is a research institute focused on understanding and enhancing resilience, supported by the foundation.

Quantifiable outcome

• 29.6 million EUR spent on science promotion in 2025
• +2 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.

• European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 22 July 2025BIS committed EUR 7 million to continue supporting the EMBL Imaging Centre in Heidelberg. This is the second round of BIS funding for this facility, which provides cutting-edge imaging technologies to researchers worldwide.
• Max Planck SocietyflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 27 November 2024BIS provides EUR 20 million (half of EUR 40 million total) for BioAI Dresden research programme. Max Planck Society co-funds and hosts the initiative at the Center for Systems Biology Dresden alongside TU Dresden and the Free State of Saxony.
• TU DresdenflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 27 November 2024Co-financing partner in BioAI Dresden (EUR 40 million total project, BIS provides EUR 20 million). TU Dresden co-hosts the Center for Systems Biology Dresden where BioAI research will be conducted.
• Free State of SaxonycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 27 November 2024Co-financing partner in BioAI Dresden, providing funding alongside BIS, Max Planck Society, and TU Dresden.
• Austrian Academy of Sciences (OeAW)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 18 September 2024BIS is funding the AITHYRA Institute with EUR 150 million over 10 years. This is a joint initiative to establish an institute for biomedical AI at the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna. Michael Bronstein (DeepMind Professor at Oxford) serves as founding director. The Federal Ministry and City of Vienna provide additional housing funding.
• Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 6 February 2009BIS has provided EUR 100 million (2009-2019) plus additional EUR 54 million for the Institute of Molecular Biology (IMB) at JGU. Also donated EUR 50 million in 2013 for life sciences faculty realignment. One of the largest private donations to a German public university.
• Geschwister Boehringer Ingelheim Stiftung für GeisteswissenschaftenminorOthersSister foundation focused on humanities funding, providing printing subsidies for dissertations and habilitations.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Wellcome Trust: One of the world's largest biomedical-focused charitable foundations, funding basic and applied research in medicine and life sciences through grants, institutional support, and scientific programmes. Highly comparable to BIS in mission, scale, and grantmaking approach.
• Howard Hughes Medical Institute: Major US non-profit biomedical research organisation that funds individual scientists, runs research facilities, and supports fundamental life science research. Closely parallels BIS's model of funding both individual researchers (HHMI Investigators ~ BIS Plus 3/Exploration) and institutional programmes.
• Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI): US-based philanthropic organisation funding biomedical research, including major bets on biomedical imaging and AI-driven biology. Comparable to BIS in its mix of individual grants, institutional initiatives, and growing focus on AI-for-biology.
• Simons Foundation: US-based charitable foundation supporting basic research in mathematics, physics, and life sciences through grants and research initiatives. Comparable in funding basic science via competitive grants and institutional support to elite research institutions.
• Kavli Foundation: US-based foundation funding basic research in astrophysics, nanoscience, neuroscience, and theoretical physics through institutes and individual grants. Comparable in focus on long-term, high-risk basic science funding.
• Else Kröner-Fresenius-Stiftung: Germany's largest foundation dedicated to medical research, funding both individual scientists and institutional projects in medicine and life sciences. Directly comparable in scope, geography, and grantmaking activity to BIS's medical research focus.
• Volkswagen Foundation: German non-profit foundation funding research in science, engineering, and humanities through competitive programmes. Operates with similar scale and structure to BIS, also based in Germany, and supports both individual researchers and institutional initiatives.
• Robert Bosch Foundation: Major German corporate-linked foundation funding research, education, and international relations. While broader in mission, it shares BIS's German origin, corporate-foundation lineage, and grantmaking structure for research programmes.

Broad incumbents

• Gates Foundation: The world's largest philanthropic foundation, with significant global health and life sciences research funding programmes. Operates at much greater scale but shares BIS's mission of advancing basic and applied biomedical science through grantmaking.
• Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG): Germany's central public research funding organisation, supporting basic research across all disciplines. While much larger and government-funded, DFG is the dominant funder of the German basic research ecosystem in which BIS operates as a complementary private grantmaker.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles15 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments1 record

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Frequently asked questions about The Boehringer Ingelheim Foundation