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ZIM · Case study

ZIM grant for battery-management research.

Two SMEs secured ZIM grants for a battery-management and fast-charge system, developed together as a company-to-company cooperation, each funded on its own side at the higher cooperation rate.

€280k
grant secured
~45%
cooperation rate
Non-repayable
grant, not a loan
Free assessment Read the story
At a glance

The case in figures

ProgrammeZIMZentrales Innovationsprogramm Mittelstand
Grant secured€280kNon-repayable, paid as cash
Project formCompany-to-company cooperation
Eligible base~€620k (company side)
Funding rate~45% (cooperation)
Per-company capup to €560k / company
The project

What ZIM funded here

The project developed battery-management and fast-charge control for new cell chemistries, aimed at industrial-scale deployment rather than the lab bench.

Fast charging and new chemistries push control systems into territory where thermal behaviour, safety and longevity are not yet settled, with real technical risk on the battery side.

The fast-charge side depended on power-electronics work the company did not do itself. Rather than build that capability from scratch, it chose to develop together with a power-electronics company that had exactly this expertise.

Why it qualified

What ZIM wants to see

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.

Degree of innovation Technical risk Market potential
How ZIM funded the work

A cooperation between two SMEs

The two companies set the project up as a ZIM company-to-company cooperation. The battery-systems company took the battery-management system and the chemistry-specific control; the power-electronics company took the fast-charge converter and its control. Each partner had its own work packages and was funded on its own side at the higher cooperation rate.

On the battery-systems company's side, eligible costs were dominated by its developers over roughly two years, with project-related cells, material and test hardware, coming to around €620,000. At a cooperation rate of about 45 percent, its grant came to roughly €280,000 as a non-repayable contribution. The power-electronics partner was funded in parallel for its own share, so each company carried only its own cost.

The result

A €280k ZIM grant.

Two companies developed a system neither could have delivered alone, each funded at the higher cooperation rate and each carrying only its own share of the cost.

Company-to-company cooperation · ~45% of eligible costs
Company-to-company cooperationTwo SMEs, each funded on its own side.
~€620k eligible baseOn the company side, mostly its own developers.
Non-repayable grantKept in full, never paid back.
Key takeaways

What this means for hardware and deep-tech companies

01

A cooperation needn't involve a university

Two companies can develop together and each be funded on its own side at the higher cooperation rate, not only a company with a research institution.

02

Combine complementary strengths

When a development needs a capability you do not have, a company-to-company cooperation lets two firms combine strengths, each with a clear share of work and results.

03

Often the most fundable route

For hardware and deep-tech projects that cross more than one discipline, the cooperation route is frequently the fastest and most fundable choice.

FAQ

ZIM, in short

The questions we hear most about the programme. Short answer first, detail after.

Yes. A ZIM cooperation project can be two companies, not only a company and a research institution. Each company is funded on its own side at the higher cooperation rate, and each has its own work packages and its own grant.

Yes, where it goes beyond the state of the art and carries genuine technical risk, such as new cell chemistries and the control and fast-charge systems developed for them. Routine engineering of established designs is not eligible.

A non-repayable grant of roughly 25 to 60 percent of eligible costs, around 45 percent for a small company in a cooperation. Eligible costs are capped at up to €560,000 per company, with the total cooperation project up to €3,000,000.

Each partner takes a defined share with its own work packages and its own funding. Together they deliver a result neither could reach alone, and the cooperation agreement sets out the split and the handling of results.

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