A photonics company wants to develop a new optical component that would reach a performance level no existing component achieves. The central question is not how to bring it to market but whether the underlying approach can be made to work at all, the technical feasibility is genuinely open, and the project could fail outright. This is research at the frontier, beyond what the company could justify funding from its own resources.
KMU-innovativ is a grant programme of the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR, formerly BMBF) for high-risk, cutting-edge research and development by small and medium-sized enterprises in ten technology fields, among them photonics and quantum technologies, the future of value creation (production research), information and communication technologies, biomedicine, medical technology, materials research, and resources and circular economy. It is aimed at ambitious projects at the research frontier and offers a fast-track route: a pre-proposal can be submitted at fixed dates twice a year, and on a positive assessment a full application follows. Grants cover a share of the eligible costs and can run into the seven figures for larger projects.
The defining feature is genuine scientific and technical risk. KMU-innovativ is not for incremental improvement; it is for the projects where the central question is whether the approach can be made to work at all.
The project sits squarely in the photonics field that KMU-innovativ targets, and its high technical risk is exactly what the programme is designed to back. The company submits a pre-proposal at one of the fixed dates, and on a positive assessment prepares the full application. The eligible costs are dominated by the research personnel working on the component, plus project-related material and equipment. With a grant covering a substantial share of these costs, the funding comes to about €450,000.
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.
A €450k KMU-innovativ grant.
The grant lets the company pursue a frontier development with an open outcome that it could not otherwise have risked. If the approach works, it opens a genuinely new capability; if it does not, the company has tested the riskiest question with public support rather than its own scarce capital.
Single or collaborative project · 50% + SME bonusKMU-innovativ is built for exactly the projects most programmes avoid: high-risk research at the frontier in a defined technology field, where feasibility is the open question. The fast-track pre-proposal lets a company test the fit before committing to a full application, keeping the early effort proportionate to the chance of success.
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.
The questions we hear most. Short answer first, detail after.
A grant for high-risk, cutting-edge research and development by SMEs in defined technology fields. The defining feature is genuine scientific and technical risk at the frontier, not incremental improvement.
KMU-innovativ has ten technology fields, among them photonics and quantum technologies, the future of value creation (production research), information and communication technologies, biomedicine, medical technology, materials research, and resources and circular economy. All fields are listed in the KMU-innovativ guide.
A pre-proposal can be submitted at fixed dates twice a year, and on a positive assessment a full application follows. Grants cover a share of eligible costs and can run into the seven figures for larger projects.
Genuine scientific and technical risk at the research frontier in a targeted field, where the feasibility of the approach is the central open question.
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