Let's get your innovation funded in Germany and the EU.
We do the paperwork, you focus on building.
Research Allowance: your innovation, refunded in cash.
Open to all taxable companies in Germany.
loss-making years
Eurostars 3
The Eureka programme for innovative SMEs running international collaborative R&D. In Germany it co-funds roughly 50% of eligible costs, up to €500k per partner, on projects of up to 36 months.
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EIC Accelerator
The EU's flagship deep-tech instrument for single startups and SMEs, no consortium required. It blends a non-dilutive grant of up to €2.5m with a direct equity investment of up to €10m from the EIC Fund.
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Horizon Europe
The EU's €95.5bn framework for collaborative research and innovation, delivered by international consortia. Funding runs from 70% for innovation actions up to 100% for research, plus a 25% indirect-cost flat rate.
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EU Innovation Fund
One of the world's largest clean-tech programmes, financed by EU emissions-trading revenues. It covers up to 60% of the additional cost of first-of-a-kind net-zero projects across industry, renewables, storage and hydrogen.
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ZIM
Germany's largest technology-open grant for SME research and development. It funds market-oriented innovation, solo or in cooperation, at roughly 25 to 55% of project costs and up to around €550k, with higher ceilings when you collaborate.
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GRW
A joint federal-state investment grant for companies in Germany's assisted regions. It co-funds new sites, expansions and equipment that create or secure jobs, at roughly 10 to 45% depending on company size and location.
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WIPANO
Funds the protection and commercialisation of IP for German SMEs, with tracks for patents and standardisation. It covers up to 50% of patenting costs and is aimed especially at patent newcomers turning research into marketable IP.
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BAFA EEW
Supports investments in energy efficiency and decarbonisation across six modules, from cross-cutting technologies to process heat. It covers up to 60% of the measure for small companies, as a grant or a KfW loan with a repayment bonus.
Learn moreSee what your innovation could be worth.
3 min · no documents · no obligation.
Looks promising! Book a 30-min call and we'll pin down your exact figure.
nowWhich companies qualify for innovation funding
Built for mid-size businesses first. The method works wherever real R&D happens.
Mid-size businesses
50–300 FTE manufacturers and engineers, our core focus and most-funded segment.
Large Enterprise
Structured R&D departments claiming at scale across projects and sites.
Startups & Scale-ups
Deep-tech teams turning research risk into non-dilutive cash, even pre-revenue.
Research Centres
Institutes and labs coordinating collaborative grants across partners.
Why choose BeFunded for German funding consulting
BeFunded secures German and EU innovation funding for startups and SMEs. Engineer-led, success-based and audit-proof from day one.
We started BeFunded after navigating Germany's funding maze for the companies we built before, and seeing how much gets left on the table. So we created the team we wished we'd had: technical founders who know the application from their own experience and guide you from first idea to payout, founder to founder.
your BeFunded teamIndividual approach
Technical argumentation written for your projects, never a template.
Maximised claim
We know exactly what qualifies and how to frame it, so you claim the full amount, not the safe minimum.
End-to-end
From the first eligibility check to filing and cash payout.
Audit-proof
Clean, complete documentation that holds up to every review, no surprises later.
Innovation funding case studies and amounts secured
Real examples of the R&D we've turned into funding: some named, some anonymised, across software, energy, deep tech and industry.
Millions in allowance from in-house work alone, with zero contract research.
Read the storyA full rejection overturned on appeal, with a high contract-research share recognised.
Read the storyThree projects, one funding strategy, with the production boundary drawn cleanly.
Read the storyTwo projects, an eligible base near €8 million, the allowance into the millions.
Read the storyMechanics, control and biology funded as one interdisciplinary R&D project.
Read the story
Two projects certified, one rejected: a clear lesson in what actually qualifies.
Read the storyHow our funding consulting process works
The offer and the proof come first, here's exactly how the work runs once you're in.
Funding search
Whatever you're developing, building or improving, we analyse your project in detail and identify exactly which activities and costs qualify for funding.
We then assess your potential across all relevant programmes and show which ones fit your project best.
Week 1 · freeFunding application
You explain what you're working on, and we turn it into a strong funding case. From the project description to the strategic positioning of your application, we prepare the content and structure the argumentation.
We then manage the entire submission process with precision, so nothing is lost between your work and the authorities.
Week 2–5Documentation
Clear documentation is essential for every successful funding claim. With our platform you track eligible costs, working time and project evidence without spreadsheet chaos.
Everything is organised in a structured, audit-ready way, so your expenses stay easy to verify at any point.
Week 5–6Payout
Once your claim is approved, we prepare the required reporting. Your eligible costs are documented clearly, calculated accurately and presented in a secure, compliant format.
This gives you a reliable basis for receiving your funding, turning the work you already do into real financial benefit.
One-off or yearlyIndustries eligible for R&D and innovation funding
From software to heavy engineering. If it's genuinely new, it can be funded.
What Founders Say About Our Innovation Funding Consulting
Founders and CTOs on how BeFunded turned their R&D work into approved funding, in their own words.
They turned our browser-based simulation work into a fundable application, and stayed persistent all the way to approval.
A great application for our AI research, approved in record time, with refreshingly down-to-earth advice.
Prepared clearly despite the bureaucracy, and the full amount was paid out.
Professional and smooth from start to finish, they guided us through the whole process.
Why BeFunded exists
Two founders, one mission: help every innovator in Europe fund what they build.
Our mission
To make public funding genuinely accessible to everyone building something new in Europe. Across research and development, health, agriculture, energy and far beyond, billions are set aside each year to back innovation, yet too much of it never reaches the teams doing the actual work. We want to change that, so that funding lands where it belongs and keeps innovation in Europe moving forward.
From founder to founder: we have been on the client side ourselves, navigating Europe’s funding programs first-hand, and we learned how much complexity, paperwork and uncertainty stands between a good project and the money meant to support it.
Innovation funding questions, answered
The questions founders and R&D leads ask us most: who qualifies, which programmes fit, what it costs, how long it takes and how much work it is for your team.
Most companies developing something technically new qualify for at least one programme. That covers startups, SMEs, larger companies and self-employed innovators in software, manufacturing, biotech, energy, health and far beyond. What counts is genuine technical risk in the project, not your industry. The free funding estimate on this page gives you a first read in about three minutes.
We cover the German and EU programmes that actually pay out for R&D and innovation: the Forschungszulage (research allowance), ZIM, KMU-innovativ, EXIST, GRW, BAFA EEW and KfW innovation loans in Germany, plus Horizon Europe, the EIC Accelerator, Eurostars and the EU Innovation Fund at European level. If a different programme suits your project better, we will say so.
Nothing upfront. Our fee is success-based, a percentage of the funding you actually receive, invoiced only after the money reaches you. If nothing is approved, you pay nothing.
That depends on the programme. The Forschungszulage takes roughly six months from the first call to the BSFZ certificate, with the cash following your tax return. Competitive grants such as ZIM, EIC or Horizon Europe run on fixed deadlines and usually take six to twelve months from application to decision.
Usually six to twelve hours in total across the whole application. We write the technical documentation, build the cost plan and deal with the authorities. Your engineers are only needed for the technical substance, in a few short interviews.
Book a free 30-minute call or run the funding estimate on this page. You get a clear answer on which programmes fit, what they could be worth and what the next step is. It costs nothing and commits you to nothing.