The ones I know about are the X-Prize and the NASA Lunar Lander Challenge. In both cases, the prize helped motivate and secure funding for something that the competitors wanted to do anyway, for their own tech-development purposes. While the amount spent exceeded the prize, the cost to meet the prize goals rather than simply do what they wanted to do anyway was much less (I have no good estimate for how much less).
The prize also helps the companies get investment, since now you have a source of revenue that only has the risk of “a competitor will do it better”, and doesn’t have the additional risk of “we’ll be the best, but no customers will show up”.
The ones I know about are the X-Prize and the NASA Lunar Lander Challenge. In both cases, the prize helped motivate and secure funding for something that the competitors wanted to do anyway, for their own tech-development purposes. While the amount spent exceeded the prize, the cost to meet the prize goals rather than simply do what they wanted to do anyway was much less (I have no good estimate for how much less).
The prize also helps the companies get investment, since now you have a source of revenue that only has the risk of “a competitor will do it better”, and doesn’t have the additional risk of “we’ll be the best, but no customers will show up”.