The Vector Stiftung, based in Stuttgart, was established in 2011 by the founders of Vector Informatik GmbH—Eberhard Hinderer, Martin Litschel, and Dr. Helmut Schelling—as a corporate-linked foundation. It holds 60 percent of the shares in the software company, which they started in 1988 near Stuttgart to develop tools for automotive electronics. The foundation draws its funding from dividends, supporting around 650 projects and donations annually with about 12 million euros. Since inception, it has allocated over 100 million euros to public-benefit initiatives in Baden-Württemberg.
Its activities center on three areas: engineering research, STEM education from primary school to university, and social integration. In research, it backs innovative projects at institutions like the University of Stuttgart and Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. Recent grants up to 100,000 euros each went to 15 ventures, including electricity harvesting from atmospheric water vapor, origami-inspired microrobotics for surgery, and high-power rolled fuel cells for energy transition.
Education efforts include "MINT2gether," offering project days on renewable energy and health tech to students in grades 7-11 at Stuttgart-area schools, reaching 232 institutions in one year. Social programs target homelessness and youth unemployment, such as the Social Impact Lab's stipends for startups aiding vulnerable youth, WelcoMEntor pairings of 6,000 encounters between longtime and new Stuttgart residents, and learning workshops for refugee teens.
The founders, who stepped back from company management in 2014, now focus primarily on the foundation's work. Critics note its emphasis on tech fields aligns closely with the parent firm's interests in automotive innovation.