Kirill Rubinstein

Germany's BSFZ treats the OECD's Frascati Manual as a supporting source, but scores projects on three tests: novelty, technical risk and a methodical plan. Here is how the five criteria map onto the three, and where applications fail.

Kirill Rubinstein 24 September 2026 · 12 min read

EU funding is money from the European Union budget that reaches companies, researchers and public bodies as grants, loans, guarantees, equity or subsidies. This guide maps the three routes EU money takes, shows where a German company actually applies, and explains how the main European funding programmes connect, stack with national funding and change after 2027.

Kirill Rubinstein 24 September 2026 · 13 min read

Non-dilutive funding covers grants, tax incentives and loans that finance your company without costing you shares. This guide shows what startups in Europe can get in 2026, what each instrument pays and when the cash actually reaches your account.

Kirill Rubinstein 23 September 2026 · 13 min read

Mittelstand explained: how the IfM and EU define German SMEs, why linked companies change your status, and which 2026 funding programmes fit your size.

Kirill Rubinstein 23 September 2026 · 13 min read

The EIC Accelerator is the funding programme of the European Innovation Council (EIC) for single startups and SMEs taking a breakthrough technology to market. Under the EIC's 2026 rules, it pays a grant below EUR 2.5 million, optional equity of EUR 1 million to EUR 10 million from the EIC Fund, or both. This guide sets out the co-financing you will need and the odds behind the remaining 2026 dates.

Kirill Rubinstein 23 September 2026 · 13 min read

Horizon Europe grants pay 70% or 100% of eligible costs, but the cash arrives in stages. See your own share, pre-financing, lump sums and the timing from call deadline to first payment.

Kirill Rubinstein 21 September 2026 · 13 min read

TRL levels are a nine-step scale that measures how mature a technology is, from TRL 1 (basic principles observed) to TRL 9 (actual system proven in an operational environment). EU and German funders use the scale to decide which programme you can apply to and which of your costs a grant will pay for.

Kirill Rubinstein 21 September 2026 · 11 min read

56 verified Forschungszulage stats from five German federal sources, covering application volumes, company size, sector breakdowns, rates, caps, eligible costs, and Germany's wider R&D landscape.

Kirill Rubinstein 24 August 2026 · 13 min read

Eureka Eurostars funds cross-border R&D projects led by innovative SMEs, with each partner paid at home by its own national funding body, never out of a central Eureka budget. Here is how eligibility, national funding rates and the Call 11 deadline work in practice.

Kirill Rubinstein 18 August 2026 · 14 min read

The ZIM grant is the German federal government's largest funding programme for research and development in small and mid-size companies. Since 7 July 2026, the BMWE has accepted no new applications. This guide covers eligibility, funding rates, and what to do next.

Kirill Rubinstein 16 August 2026 · 14 min read

Success rates in the 2026 Horizon Europe Health call ranged from 3.4% to 20% by topic. Here is how the three pillars, six clusters and EUR 93.5 billion budget are structured, and where your project fits.

Kirill Rubinstein 27 July 2026 · 25 min read

The Research Allowance for startups in Germany: who qualifies, how the two stages of the application work, when the money actually arrives, and how the allowance sits alongside VC and grant funding.

Kirill Rubinstein 10 July 2026 · 11 min read

The BMF circular on the research allowance is the Federal Ministry of Finance's central guidance on the FZulG: eligible costs, time records, contract research, affiliated companies and the claim itself. What the version in force actually covers, what it leaves out, and what that means for your 2026 application.

Kirill Rubinstein 6 July 2026 · 6 min read

EU funding programmes at a glance: EIC Accelerator, Horizon Europe, Eurostars and the EU Innovation Fund compared. Which EU grants fit which company, how much they pay, and how to combine them with German instruments like the research allowance.

Kirill Rubinstein 6 July 2026 · 7 min read

The research allowance is credited against your assessed tax, not booked as grant income, and that single mechanism decides every entry that follows. How to recognise the claim, where it sits in the balance sheet and the P&L, and why your R&D costs stay fully deductible.

Kirill Rubinstein 6 July 2026 · 5 min read

Contract research and the research allowance: the principal claims 70 percent of the fee as eligible cost (for contracts awarded after 27 March 2024), and the contractor must sit in the EU or EEA. Requirements, contract design, a worked example and the mistakes we see most often.

Kirill Rubinstein 6 July 2026 · 6 min read

The research allowance and EU state-aid law: when de-minimis really applies (only to a sole proprietor's own hours), what the exclusion of undertakings in difficulty covers, and how to work through both checks before you apply.

Kirill Rubinstein 6 July 2026 · 6 min read

The Research Allowance payout in Germany works differently from a classic grant. Nothing lands in the account when the project is approved. The allowance is assessed by the tax office, offset against the next tax assessment, and only the surplus is refunded. What the allowance is worth in 2026, when the money actually arrives, and where applications lose value.

Kirill Rubinstein 12 June 2026 · 13 min read

The Research Allowance is the central instrument of tax-based research funding in Germany. SMEs have qualified for the increased funding rate of 35 percent since March 2024. For expenses incurred from 2026 the assessment basis runs to EUR 12 million per financial year, which is worth up to EUR 4.2 million in funding. The worked examples below show the principle: no dilution, no repayment, a direct liquidity effect.

Kirill Rubinstein 8 June 2026 · 11 min read

Germany's funding landscape is among the densest in the world, and in 2026 the federal, state and EU budgets behind it run into the hundreds of billions. This guide sorts the programmes by who they are meant for, and shows where the Forschungszulage, Germany's research allowance, gives SMEs their strongest non-dilutive lever.

Kirill Rubinstein 20 April 2026 · 15 min read

Subsidy examples in Germany run from building renovation support and agricultural diesel relief through to R&D tax incentives. For founders, CFOs and R&D managers, the largest subsidy is rarely the useful one: what moves liquidity is the one a company can reliably claim.

Kirill Rubinstein 20 April 2026 · 13 min read

Startup financing in Germany reaches well beyond equity, bank loans and grants. Here is how founders combine equity, debt, government programmes and the non-dilutive Research Allowance into one financing structure that holds together.

Kirill Rubinstein 12 April 2026 · 11 min read

The Forschungszulage, Germany's R&D tax allowance, has been the country's central R&D funding instrument since 2020, and successive amendments have made it considerably more generous. This guide walks through the two-stage route via the BSFZ and Mein ELSTER as it works in practice in 2026.

Kirill Rubinstein 11 April 2026 · 11 min read

BSFZ Germany is where every Research Allowance claim begins: the Certification Body for Research Allowance certifies the technical R&D quality of a project before the tax office ever looks at the money. For SMEs, the 2026 framework is worth 35% of the eligible assessment basis, liquidity that costs no equity and never has to be repaid.

Kirill Rubinstein 11 April 2026 · 13 min read

The FZulG (Forschungszulagengesetz, the Research Allowance Act) is the strongest non-dilutive R&D funding instrument in German tax law: 35 percent for SMEs, an assessment basis of up to EUR 12 million per year, and money that reaches loss-making companies as well. The work sits in the detail, in the BSFZ certification, the cost delineation and the 2026 rules.

Kirill Rubinstein 11 April 2026 · 13 min read

Non-repayable grants in Germany are earmarked funding that neither has to be repaid nor bears interest. For founders, the self-employed and growing SMEs, they are the most efficient financing instrument on offer, provided you know the right programmes, the conditions attached and the traps.

Kirill Rubinstein 11 April 2026 · 15 min read

The Research Allowance Act (FZulG) gives R&D-active SMEs in Germany a predictable, non-dilutive funding channel: a 35 percent rate for SMEs, a broad cost base and, from 2026, an assessment basis of up to EUR 12 million per fiscal year. This guide covers eligibility, the calculation, the two-stage BSFZ and tax office process, and the most common reasons applications fail.

Kirill Rubinstein 11 April 2026 · 11 min read

A subsidy is a government advantage without a market-equivalent consideration in return, granted as financial aid, tax incentives or product subsidies. This article defines subsidies, explains the main types in Germany, who funds and receives them, what is most heavily subsidised, and how instruments like the Research Allowance fit a company's investment logic.

Kirill Rubinstein 11 April 2026 · 10 min read

For many SMEs the Research Allowance is the most predictable non-dilutive instrument in R&D financing in 2026. The SME rate has been 35 % since March 2024, and with an assessment basis of up to EUR 12 million the allowance can reach EUR 4.2 million. This guide covers the rates, the eligible activities and the two-stage application.

Kirill Rubinstein 10 April 2026 · 11 min read