ZIM funding consultant: your innovation grant, done for you.
The Zentrales Innovationsprogramm Mittelstand co-funds R&D for German SMEs, on your own or with research partners. We find the right call, write the application and manage it to approval.
Applications paused since 7 July 2026: ZIM is currently not accepting new applications or project outlines (exception: international cooperation in open calls). Approved projects and payments continue. Reopening is targeted for early 2027, subject to the 2027 federal budget.
Germany's largest grant for SME innovation
The Zentrales Innovationsprogramm Mittelstand (ZIM) is a nationwide BMWE programme that co-funds ambitious R&D for German small and mid-size companies. It is technology-open and the country's most-used innovation grant. New applications have been paused since 7 July 2026; reopening is targeted for early 2027.
Crucially, ZIM is a grant, not a loan: the money is non-repayable and you give up no equity. You can read the full detail on eligibility, costs and process in the ZIM funding guide.
What ZIM funds, and who qualifies
ZIM supports the development of new products, processes and technical services that carry real innovation risk. One rule matters most: you must apply before the project starts. If your plan is ambitious and not yet begun, the costs below are eligible and most German SMEs qualify.
What's covered
Eligible costs across single-company R&D projects, cooperation projects and innovation networks.
Salaries of the staff developing the project, usually the largest share of an application.
Work commissioned from research institutes or specialist partners as part of the project.
Project-related consumables and equipment costs needed to build and test the innovation.
Joint projects with partners or research institutes, up to €560k in eligible costs per company.
Studies that prepare and de-risk a larger R&D project can also be supported.
Who qualifies
ZIM is built for the German Mittelstand. The bar is an established SME with a genuinely innovative, not-yet-started project. The full ZIM requirements and the status of the application freeze are in the guide.
SMEs and other mid-sized firms; with 500 to 999 staff only in a cooperation with an SME.
A business establishment in Germany carrying out the R&D work.
Not an undertaking in difficulty; able to co-finance its share of the project.
ZIM is applied for before the project begins. Work already underway is not eligible.
A clear technical advance with an uncertain outcome, beyond routine development.
What a ZIM grant is worth
ZIM grants scale with the type of project and who you work with. A solo R&D project is funded differently from a cooperation with research partners, and the rate moves with your company size and region. These are the ceilings to plan around.
Your own R&D project, developed in-house: up to €690k in eligible costs at up to 45%. The most common entry point for an SME's first ZIM application.
Two or more partners, or a company with a research institute. Higher rates: up to €560k in eligible costs per company, up to €3m grant for the whole project.
Share of eligible costs paid as a non-repayable grant, depending on company size, project type and region.
Go further with cooperation projects
ZIM is one of the few German grants that actively rewards working together. Partnering with a research institute or another company raises the funding rate and often strengthens the application, and we set the whole arrangement up for you.
Single-company R&D
You develop in-house. Simplest to run, up to €690k in eligible costs, best for an SME's first, focused project.
Company & research partner
Team up with a university or institute for deeper expertise and a higher funding rate, when you need external R&D capacity.
Innovation network
Several companies and institutes around one theme, run as a funded ZIM network, for larger, shared goals.
From first call to funding
Four steps. You stay focused on the work; we handle the funding end to end, on a fee agreed in advance.
Eligibility check
We review your project against the programme's criteria, confirm it qualifies and give you a realistic figure before you commit any time.
Application
You tell us what you are working on; we build the application, write the technical case and manage the entire submission for you.
Submission & review
We file with the responsible authority in your name and handle every query through to the funding decision.
Funding
Once approved, we prepare the required reporting so the funding is released to you, accurately documented and on time.
See if your project fits ZIM
Tell 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.
- Whether ZIM is the right fit, or another programme
- A first read on the grant amount
- What to prepare before the project starts
Founder-led, and on your side
We started BeFunded after navigating Germany's funding maze for the companies we built before. So we created the team we wished we'd had back then: technical founders who know the application from their own experience and guide you from first idea to payout, founder to founder.
your BeFunded teamRight programme first
We match your project to the programme that actually fits, ZIM or another, before you commit.
Individual approach
Technical argumentation written for your project, never a template.
End-to-end
From the first eligibility check through writing and submission to approval.
Application-ready
Documentation built the way the funding body wants to read it.
ZIM in practice
Practical examples based on real projects we have taken through ZIM, from first scoping to the funding decision. Anonymised, figures rounded.
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Read the storyWhere ZIM tends to fit
ZIM is technology-open, so almost any field with genuine development risk can apply. Here is how it usually lands in the sectors we work in most.
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 programmes first-hand, and we learned how much complexity, paperwork and uncertainty stands between a good project and the money meant to support it.
ZIM questions, answered
The most common questions on eligibility, amounts, timing and how the grant works. Short answer first, detail after.
Yes, for separate projects. The ZIM directive excludes projects that receive other R&D funding from the federal government, a federal state or the European Commission, and the same costs cannot be funded twice. Many companies therefore run a ZIM project and claim the research allowance for other R&D projects. We structure the split cleanly.
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.
ZIM funds the development of new products, processes and technical services with a non-repayable grant. It is Germany's largest technology-open innovation programme for SMEs and is applied for per project.
Depending on company size, project type and region, ZIM covers 25–45% of eligible costs in a single project, up to 55% in cooperation projects and up to 60% with foreign partners. A single project can have up to €690,000 in eligible costs, so at 45% the grant is at most €310,500. In cooperation projects the limit is €560,000 in eligible costs per company, and the grant for the whole project is capped at €3m.
Before the project starts: starting before the confirmed receipt of the application rules out funding; after that you may start at your own risk. At the moment, however, ZIM is not accepting new applications (paused since 7 July 2026, reopening targeted for early 2027). So assess fit now and prepare the application while the project is still being planned.
ZIM is open to established German SMEs and mid-sized companies with fewer than 500 employees (fewer than 1,000 in a cooperation with an SME) that are economically healthy and pursuing a genuinely innovative, risk-laden project. There is no industry restriction.
Yes, ZIM funds single-company projects as well as cooperation projects with research institutes or other companies, and innovation networks. Cooperation brings higher funding rates and is often the stronger route.
A ZIM funding decision typically takes a few months from a complete submission. Since 7 July 2026, however, ZIM has not been accepting new applications; reopening is targeted for early 2027. We prepare the application now so it can be filed as soon as submissions reopen.
BeFunded confirms fit, chooses single versus cooperation, writes the technical and economic parts of the application the way assessors want to read them, and manages the process to a decision.
ZIM support starts with a free eligibility check. If we take your application on, the fee is a fixed share plus a success component, agreed upfront before any work begins, with no surprises. Request an assessment above.