Funding knowledge, made practical.

1. Do not start before the decision is in

Starting early is the most common reason a grant falls away afterwards. What counts as the start is the first binding order or signed contract — not the day work begins. If you have to start sooner, you apply for consent to an early start beforehand; it is not automatic and it grants no claim to the funding itself. The Forschungszulage is the exception: it is claimed retroactively for a financial year that has already ended.

2. A grant is not an entitlement

Almost every programme on this page is a competitive procedure: a review panel decides, and a clean application can still be turned down. The Forschungszulage is the one exception — it is a legal entitlement under the Research Allowance Act, and the only question is whether the project meets the criteria. That changes how you plan: a competitive programme needs a plan B, the Forschungszulage does not.

3. You almost always co-fund

Almost no programme carries a company's cost alone — the exceptions are Horizon Europe, where Research and Innovation Actions reach 100 percent of eligible costs, and the EXIST founder stipend; universities and research institutions also receive up to 100 percent under KMU-innovativ and Eurostars. Otherwise rates run from 10 percent (BAFA EEW modules) to 70 percent, and they always apply to the eligible costs, never to the project budget. Whatever is not eligible — sales, marketing, and usually overheads beyond a flat rate — you carry in full. Put your own share into the cash planning before you apply, not after the decision arrives.

4. Programmes combine, but never twice on the same cost

Combining is allowed and often sensible — ZIM (currently paused) and the Forschungszulage do not rule each other out within a company, but belong on separate projects: the ZIM directive excludes projects that receive other R&D funding from the federal government, the federal states or the European Commission. In general, what is forbidden is funding the same cost item twice: a person-month already billed to a grant must not go into the Forschungszulage as well. On top of that sits the de minimis ceiling of €300,000 over three tax years for the programmes that run under it.