The project built an edge platform that runs predictive-maintenance models on the machine itself, rather than streaming everything to the cloud.
Running models reliably within the tight compute and memory budgets of edge hardware was the open question. Whether the approach would hold up under real conditions was genuinely uncertain at the outset, which is what gave the project its research character.
ZIM is a competitive programme. A project sponsor assesses every application against three things: the degree of innovation, the technical risk, and the market potential of the result. A clean idea is not enough; the application has to show that the outcome is genuinely uncertain and that, if it works, there is a market for it.
That is where most applications are won or lost. Describing the work as an upgrade or an integration reads as low risk and low innovation. Showing the specific technical question that could fail, and the market that opens if it does not, is what moves a project into fundable territory.
We confirm the company qualifies as an SME under the programme and frame the work as a single-company or cooperation project, scoped around the part that carries real innovation and risk.
We write the application the sponsor needs to see: the technical objective, the state of the art, the specific uncertainty, the work plan and the market case, with the costs built up cleanly.
The project sponsor assesses the application. On approval the grant covers a share of the eligible costs, in a single project 25 to 45 percent depending on company size, age and region.
A €275k ZIM grant.
An SME R&D project, funded with a non-repayable ZIM grant of €275k. No loan, no equity; nothing to repay as long as the conditions of the grant decision are met.
Non-repayable grant · 25–45% of eligible costsA ZIM grant covers roughly 25 to 60 percent of eligible project costs. The exact rate depends on company size, age, region and whether it is a cooperation; the 60 percent requires foreign partners.
Up to €690,000 in eligible costs per single project, so the grant is at most €310,500 (45%). In cooperation projects the limit is €560,000 per company, and the grant for the whole project is capped at €3m.
ZIM is technology and sector open. New applications have been on hold since July 2026, with reopening targeted for early 2027. Prepare the project until then and do not start before the confirmed receipt of your application.
More on ZIM: The guide ZIM funding: eligibility and application freeze explains the programme and its current status. How we prepare a project until applications reopen is covered under ZIM consulting.
The questions we hear most about the programme. Short answer first, detail after.
Prepare the project now: work packages, cost and time plan and, if you want to cooperate, the partner. We keep the application ready so it can be filed as soon as ZIM accepts applications again. Do not start the project before then, because a project that has already started can no longer be funded by ZIM. If the development cannot wait, the Forschungszulage (research allowance) has no application pause: it covers the same R&D personnel costs, including in projects already under way. For high-risk research, often with a university partner, KMU-innovativ may fit. A project funded this way cannot later also be funded through ZIM.
Yes, where it goes beyond the state of the art and carries genuine technical uncertainty. The application must show the open technical problem, not a product roadmap; routine feature work and operations are not eligible.
A project carried out by one company in house. Eligible costs are mostly the company's own developers, with project-related equipment and a defined share usable for external specialists. Eligible costs are capped at up to €690,000.
Yes. Under the current directive a defined share of personnel costs can be used for external specialists such as freelancers or specialist labs, which helps a company bridge a skills gap within an in-house project.
Eligible costs are capped at €690,000. In a single project the grant is 25 to 45 percent depending on company size, age and region, so at most €310,500; small companies typically get 40 percent. Higher rates apply only to cooperation projects, where costs are capped at €560,000 per company.
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Read the storyTell us about your project. One of our funding advisors reviews your case by hand, then either comes back with feedback or a few follow-up questions. No obligation.
