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KMU-innovativ · Case study

KMU-innovativ Funding for Medical Technology

Practical example based on real projects · anonymised, figures rounded · Last updated:

How a medical-technology company secured KMU-innovativ funding for high-risk research on a new diagnostic approach with an unproven scientific basis.

€700k
grant
up to 70% (SMEs)
funding rate
Grant
Non-repayable grant
Get a free funding assessment Read the story
At a glance

The case in figures

ProgrammeKMU-innovativSingle or collaborative project
Grant€700kNon-repayable grant
Funding rateup to 70% (SMEs)
SectorMedical technology
ConditionOutline, then full application
FormNon-repayable grant
The project

The starting point

A medical-technology company wants to develop a new diagnostic approach whose scientific basis is promising but unproven. Whether the approach can deliver reliable, reproducible results under real conditions is an open research question, with several ways it could fail. The work needs specialised personnel and equipment over a multi-year horizon, well beyond what the company could fund alone.

What KMU-innovativ funds

How the programme works

Within KMU-innovativ, the high-risk R&D programme of the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR, formerly BMBF) for SMEs, medical technology is one of ten technology fields; biomedicine is a separate field. The programme funds high-risk research and development at the frontier of these fields, with the same fast-track logic: a pre-proposal at fixed dates twice a year, then a full application on a positive assessment. The grant covers a share of the eligible costs, which for research-intensive projects are dominated by qualified personnel. The defining feature, as across all of KMU-innovativ, is genuine scientific and technical risk, not incremental improvement.

How it worked

From scope to grant

The project belongs to the medical-technology field the programme targets, and its high research risk is the point. The company submits a pre-proposal, and on a positive assessment files the full application. The eligible costs are mostly the research and development staff, with project-related material and equipment for the experimental work. With a grant covering a substantial share of these costs, the funding comes to about €700,000 over the project.

KMU-innovativ uses a two-step, fast-track process. A short pre-proposal is submitted at one of the fixed dates, usually twice a year, and is assessed on the ambition and the technical risk of the project. Only on a positive assessment does the company prepare the full application, which keeps the early effort proportionate to the chance of success. The grant rate for a company is typically around half of the eligible costs, which makes a multi-year frontier project genuinely affordable to attempt, and the novelty is judged at the level of the field, not just the single company.

The result

A €700k KMU-innovativ grant.

The grant carries a large part of a high-risk, multi-year research project that could not have been financed from the company's own resources. It buys the company the time and the specialised capacity to test whether the diagnostic approach holds up, and if it does, it opens a genuinely new capability in a regulated, high-value field.

Single or collaborative project · 50% + SME bonus
Single or collaborative projectMedical technology.
Funded at 50% + SME bonusOf eligible costs.
Non-repayable grantAs long as the conditions of the grant decision are met.
Key takeaways

What this means for you

For an SME doing genuinely risky research in medical technology, KMU-innovativ provides substantial grant funding precisely where the outcome is uncertain. The pre-proposal route keeps the early effort proportionate to the chance of success, and the field is explicitly part of the programme, which makes it a natural fit for research-intensive medical-technology projects.

More on KMU-innovativ: The guide KMU-innovativ: funding, deadlines and application explains the programme step by step. How we support your project is covered under KMU-innovativ consulting.

FAQ

KMU-innovativ, in short

The questions we hear most. Short answer first, detail after.

Yes. Medical technology is one of the ten technology fields of KMU-innovativ, for high-risk research at the frontier of these areas by SMEs.

Projects with genuine scientific and technical risk, where whether a new approach can deliver reliable, reproducible results is an open research question, not incremental improvement of an existing device.

Companies usually receive 50% of eligible costs, small companies up to 70% with the SME bonus and medium-sized ones up to 60%; universities, research institutions and hospitals in the consortium up to 100%. In a research-intensive medical technology project, qualified personnel dominates the costs, which can run into seven figures for larger projects.

Through the fast-track route: a pre-proposal at fixed dates twice a year, then a full application on a positive assessment.

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