EXIST: funding for research spin-offs.

1. What is EXIST?

The purpose of the programme and the three pillars it consists of.

EXIST supports the move from science to entrepreneurship. It is part of the federal high-tech strategy and aims to win and qualify graduates, scientists, and students for self-employment, to steer their projects towards a successful market entry, and to increase the share of women and the diversity of founding teams. It has three pillars: EXIST start-up culture (which supports universities in building a start-up environment), the EXIST founder stipend, and EXIST research transfer.

2. EXIST founder stipend

The early-phase line for developing an idea and a business plan into a company.

The founder stipend supports the early phase, where you develop a product or service idea and a viable business plan up to the point of founding a company. It is a non-repayable grant providing full financing and consists of three parts: a monthly stipend to cover living costs, a contribution to material expenses, and accompanying coaching through the start-up network at the host institution.

The monthly stipend depends on qualification: around EUR 1,000 for students, EUR 2,500 for graduates, and EUR 3,000 for those with a doctorate, plus a child supplement of EUR 150. Material funds and coaching are added on top, and a founding team of up to three people can be funded together. The funding runs for up to 12 months. Projects that merely modify existing products without sufficient innovation are generally not eligible.

3. EXIST research transfer

The larger line for technology-intensive spin-offs with significant development still ahead.

Research transfer is for founders who want to build a company out of high-effort, high-risk development work, ideally in high-tech areas such as energy, environment, biotechnology, optical technology, information and communication technology, or medical, materials, and microsystems technology. It runs in two phases. Phase I funds the development and preparation work carried out by a research group at the institution, with up to about EUR 250,000 for up to three years. Phase II then supports the company that was founded in phase I, with up to EUR 180,000 at a 50 percent funding rate (so an own contribution of at least EUR 60,000) for up to 18 months, to develop the product to market readiness and take the first steps in building the business. Together the two phases can reach around EUR 430,000.

4. Who can apply

The eligible people and teams, and the institution's central role.

The founder stipend is open to scientists at universities and research institutions, to graduates and former research staff up to five years after graduating or leaving, and to students who have completed at least half their studies as part of a team. Teams can have up to three people, one of whom may instead hold a qualified vocational qualification or a degree obtained more than five years ago. For the founder stipend the formal applicant is always the host university or research institution, prepared jointly with the founders and the start-up network.

5. How to apply and deadlines

The application route and the timing rules, which differ between the two lines.

The application must be filed before the project starts, on the prescribed forms, through Projektträger Jülich. The founder stipend can be submitted on a rolling basis with no fixed deadlines, while research transfer has fixed cut-off dates for phase I, on 31 March, 31 August and 30 November. Research transfer has higher requirements and a lower approval rate than the founder stipend.

6. Notes

Where EXIST sits relative to the other instruments.

EXIST is an early-stage start-up instrument tied to the academic environment, so it occupies a different niche from the company R&D instruments in this overview. Once a spin-off is operating and incurring R&D personnel costs, the Forschungszulage and programmes such as ZIM or KMU-innovativ become the relevant follow-on instruments. The founder stipend in particular cannot be combined with other programmes that finance your living costs.

7. The founder stipend in numbers

The Gründungsstipendium is a personal stipend for living costs, plus a budget for materials and coaching, not a percentage grant on project costs.

The stipend runs for up to 12 months (extendable once by up to three months on the birth of a child) and is paid monthly by qualification: €3,000 with a doctorate, €2,500 for a graduate, €2,000 with a recognised vocational qualification and €1,000 for a student, with a child allowance of €150 per child per month. On top sits a material and coaching budget of up to €35,000. The stipend is not tax-free: holders pay their own tax and social contributions.

8. EXIST-Forschungstransfer

A separate line for research-intensive, technically demanding high-tech projects with long development times, in two phases.

Phase I (pre-foundation) funds a team of up to four people plus material costs of up to €250,000, for up to 18 months (up to 36 in special cases), to mature the technology and prepare the spin-off. Phase II (after the company is formed) adds a grant of up to €180,000 towards the further development and market preparation, for up to 18 months. Phase I is applied for through the research institution; Phase II by the newly formed company.

9. Applying via a university, before founding

EXIST is built around the moment before the company exists.

You apply through a university or research institution, which administers the funds and provides a workplace, infrastructure and a mentor. The company must not yet be founded when you apply for the Gründungsstipendium or Forschungstransfer Phase I. The Gründungsstipendium can be submitted at any time; Forschungstransfer Phase I is assessed at three annual cut-offs, 31 March, 31 August and 30 November. The programme is run by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE) through Projektträger Jülich, with forms via easy-Online, and is co-financed by the European Social Fund.

10. Common mistakes and FAQ

The errors that most often cost an EXIST applicant, and quick answers.

• Founding the company, or starting the measure, before the application, which makes the founder lines ineligible.
• Not securing a university or research institution as host, which is required to apply.
• Assuming the stipend is tax-free: it is taxable, and holders pay their own social contributions.
• Missing the Forschungstransfer Phase I cut-offs (31 March, 31 August, 30 November).

Is it a grant or a loan? A non-repayable grant; the Gründungsstipendium is a personal stipend plus a material and coaching budget.

Who runs it? The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE), through Projektträger Jülich, co-financed by the ESF.

Is there support for women founders? Yes, EXIST-Women supports women entrepreneurs in the pre-foundation phase, alongside institutional lines for universities.

11. What the stipend covers, and the tax point

The Gründungsstipendium is more than the monthly payment, and one detail on tax surprises founders.

Alongside the monthly stipend by qualification (doctorate EUR 3,000, graduate EUR 2,500, recognised vocational qualification EUR 2,000, student EUR 1,000), the line adds a material and coaching budget of up to EUR 35,000 per team for prototypes, materials and coaching, and a child allowance of EUR 150 per month per child. The stipend runs for up to 12 months and can be extended once by up to three months on the birth of a child. The point most founders miss: the stipend is not tax-free. It is living-cost financing, and holders pay their own income tax and social contributions on it, so budget net rather than gross.

12. EXIST-Women and the institutional lines

Not every EXIST line is for individual founders, and one is built specifically for women.

EXIST-Women, running since 2023, supports women entrepreneurs in the pre-foundation phase with events, advice, mentoring and a financial grant, as a low-threshold route with a clear path onward to the Gründungsstipendium or Forschungstransfer. Its application deadlines are fixed dates set by the directive: the next upcoming rounds close on 30 September 2026 and 30 September 2027. Separately, the institutional lines (EXIST-Gründungskultur / EXIST-Potentiale and, since 2024, the Startup Factories competition) fund universities to build start-up culture, not individual founders, so a founding team applies through the founder lines, not these.

13. Legal basis and State aid

Who runs it, under which rules, and how it is co-financed.

EXIST is run by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE), formerly BMWK and BMWi, through Projektträger Jülich (PtJ), with applications via the federal easy-Online portal. It is co-financed by the European Social Fund (ESF / ESF+). Each line has its own Förderrichtlinie, for example the EXIST-Forschungstransfer directive of 3 June 2024 and the EXIST-Women directive of 21 November 2024, and the company-facing parts sit within EU State-aid rules (De-minimis or the GBER/AGVO). The binding figures and conditions are the ones in the current directive and the EXIST Handbuch, so it is always worth confirming the exact rates and deadlines there before you plan a submission.

See the full program page: EXIST