Financial support/ Funding programs

Startup funding in Germany.

Several national financial support programs for startups have been established. These programs range from early investments and scholarships for founders to investments for innovation projects in SME. In the following tables you will find overviews of selected startup funding programs from the European Union (EU) as well as from different national sources.

EU funding programs

Relevant funding programs

EU funding programs can usually be accessed through national and regional authorities; see also on eu.europa.eu.

National funding programs

Relevant funding programs

Startups also receive funding at the federal level. The following table shows the different framework conditions for this.

Program name	Amount	For whom & conditions
ERP-Gründerkredit	Up to 125,000 (80%)	pre-seed, seed & SE < 5 years old
EXIST-Gründerstipendium	up to 3,000 per month, up to 30,000 material expenses, 5,000 coaching, max. 1 year	Founder teams up to max. 3 persons, students, graduates, scientists with a business idea
EXIST-Forschungstransfer	Up to 250.000	pre-seed & seed Research team of max. 3 persons + person with business competence
High-Tech Gründerfonds	1 million - 3 million	seed < 3 years old, Industrial & Digital-Tech, Life Sciences, Chemie
BMWi-Innovationsgutscheine (go-inno)	Covers up to 50% of the company's expenses for external consulting services	SME Companies with < 100 employees & < 20 million annual sales
Zentrales Innovationsprogram Mittelstand (ZIM)	max. 420,000 to 2.3 million	SME Individual & cooperation projects, Innovation networks
ERP-Mezzanine für Innovation	Up to 5 million	SME 2 years old

Federal-State Funding Programs

Relevant funding programs

Financial support for startups is also available from the state level. Since the Rhine-Neckar region is located in three federal states, there are different programs depending on where your company is located. In addition, the funding requirements differ slightly between the federal states. In Hessen and Rheinland-Pfalz, a legal entity must be local and the funding should be used in the respective states. In Baden-Württemberg, the startup's headquarters must be located in the state.

The experts in our network can advise you on suitable programs and how to apply. Below you will find an overview about various relevant programs per state and links to further relevant information (in German).

Federal state Baden-Württemberg

Program name	Amount	For whom & conditions
BW Pre-Seed	50.000 - 200.000	Startups in early founding phase Not yet financed by third parties
Innovationsgutschein BW	Up to 7,500 euros subsidy with a funding rate of 50 percent	SMEs & entrepreneurs Companies with < 100 employees & < 20 million prior year sales (R&D)
Innovationsgutschein Hightech Start-up BW	Up to 20,000 euros subsidy with a funding rate of 50 percent	pre-seed & seed < 5 years old, companies with 100 employees max. & < 20 million previous year`s revenue
Innovationsgutschein Startup BW	Up to 20,000 euros subsidy with a funding rate of 50 percent	SME Companies with 100 employees max. & 20 million turnover (R&D)
BW Startfinanzierung 80	Up to 125.000 per person & 500.000 per company	SMEs & entrepreneurs < 5 years old Companies with < 250 employees & < 50 million annual sales
Gründungsfinanzierung	5.000 - 5 mio. (90 % guarantee, optional)	SMEs & entrepreneurs < 5 years old
Wachstumsfinanzierung	10,000 - 5 million (90% guarantee, optional)	SME At least 5 years old
Innovationsfinanzierung 4.0	10,000 - 5 million , for larger companies up to 25 million (50% or 70% guarantee, optional)	SME or private companies with < 500 Mio annual turnover Innovation or digitization projects (R&D)
Bürgschaftsprogramme	1,25 Mio - 15 Mio & 50% guarantee of the loan	SME
Invest BW - Innovationsförderung	20,000 - 650,000(individual project), 1.3 million(joint project)	SME

Federal state Hessen

Program name	Amount	For whom & conditions
Innovationskredit Hessen	100.000 - 7.5 million	SME & small mindcaps Sustainable & economical project
Hessen Mikrodarlehen	3.000 - 35.000	Persons running business idea < 5 years
Wachstumskredit der Europäischen Investitionsbank (EIB)	Up to 12.5 million	SME & mindcaps
Gründungs- und Wanchstumsﬁnanzierung Hessen	Up to 1 million	all entrepreneurs & SMEs
Bürgschaften zur Bonitätsstärkung	Up to 1.25 million per company (80%)	SME < 5 years old, otherwise max. 60% guarantee
Kapital für Kleinunternehmen (KfK)	25.000 - 150.000 & 50% loan from the house bank	Small companies from the commercial sector < 25 employees, < 5 million annual turnover
Hessen-MikroCrowd	3.000 - 25.000	Persons running business idea < 5 years Combination of crowdfunding and microloans
Business Angels (Frankfurt)	1 – 5 million CV	pre-seed to series A
Futury Venture Beteiligungen Deutschland-Hessen GmbH	up to 500,000 per round	Seed phase to series A Technologieorientiert
Technologiefonds Hessen	100.000 – 1 million	SME & Freelancer in business for at least 2 years

Federal state Rhineland-Palatinate

Program name	Amount	For whom & conditions
Effizienzkredit RLP	max. 10 million	SME & mindcaps Contribution to climate and environmental protection
Betriebsmittelkredit RLP	max. 5 million	SME & mindcaps
Business Angels RLP	from about 30,000 per BA	pre-seed to series A
Bürgschaften RLP	usually 1.25 million - 3.5 million	all companies
Wagniskapital (Innovationsfonds)	max. 1 million	SME < 5 years old
Start.in.RLP – Gründungsstipendium	1000,- Euro/ month/ max. 12 months	max. 1 year founded foundation in plan
startup innovativ	10.000 – 100.000 Euro	< 3 years
Innovationsassistent RLP	1.750 - 2.100 Euro/ max 24. months	SME
Innovationsgutschein RLP	50 % of the eligible costs; max. 20.000 Euro	SME

Funding programs from the region

Local grants and risk capital

There are also local grants and risk capital available for startups. Below you will find a selection of regional options that are corporate venture capitalists and banking-backed VCs.

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