Apply for funding for the "KMU-innovativ: Information and communication technology (ICT)" program

The application procedure for funding to strengthen the innovative capacity of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) has 2 stages.

Stage 1: Project outline

• For collaborative projects, the collaborative coordinator submits the project outline agreed between the partners.
• The project outline should not exceed 10 A4 pages including cover sheet and attachments (Arial font, font size at least 10, single line spacing, margins at least 2 centimeters).
• The project outline must be submitted in digital form via the online outline tool PT-Outline.
• The project outline will be evaluated in a competitive process with the involvement of external experts, if necessary, according to the following criteria:
  • Technical relevance to the funding measure and the objectives of the funding program
  • Importance of the research objective, social need and relevance of the planned research and development
  • level of innovation of the research and development approach compared to the state of the art in science and technology
  • Scientific and technical quality of the solution concept and the work plan
  • Qualification of the partners, collaborative structure and project management, if applicable
  • Financial viability of the project
  • Quality and feasibility of the exploitation plan: Commercialization perspective, market potential, contribution of the project to the future positioning of the participating companies on the market, social need
  • Assessment of the social, economic and ecological consequences, opportunities and risks associated with the scientific and technical innovations.
• If your project idea is selected, you will receive a positive written request to submit the application (stage 2).

Stage 2: Application

You submit your application for funding for a project to strengthen the innovative capacity of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as follows:

• The application is submitted electronically via the "easy-Online" portal.
• Call up the "easy-Online" Internet portal. There you will be guided step by step through the application process.
• Fill in all the fields required for the application and send it with a qualified electronic online signature.
• If you do not have a qualified electronic signature, you must print out the application in addition to submitting it electronically, sign it and send it to the project management organization together with the other application documents in the next step.
• Once the project management organization has received the application, you will receive a confirmation of receipt.
• The responsible administrator at the project management organization will contact you during the processing of your application to clarify any queries.
• Applications are evaluated and checked according to the following criteria:
  • Proof of SME status by means of an SME declaration and of the significant proportion of the research work carried out by the SME(s) involved
  • Compliance with the requirements from the first stage of the procedure
  • Quality of the detailed description of the solution concept, the work plan and the organization of the collaboration in the network
  • Quality of the detailed description of the exploitation plan
  • Eligibility of the requested funds
  • Necessity and appropriateness of the requested funds
  • Comprehensibility of the explanations of the financing plan
• You will receive a decision on your application.
• In the event of a positive decision, you will receive a grant notification by post.

Eligible applicants are:

• Small and medium-sized enterprises. This means,
  • They employ fewer than 250 employees,
  • have an annual turnover of no more than EUR 50 million or
  • had an annual balance sheet total of no more than EUR 43 million in the previous financial year.
  • In addition, you must have a permanent establishment or branch in Germany at the time the grant is paid out.
• Companies that are not SMEs
• Universities
• University and non-university research institutions
• associations
• associations
• Other organizations with an interest in research and development (R&D)

In general:

• You are carrying out a research and development project with partners from science or industry that meets the following requirements:
  • The protection of personal data and privacy must be ensured and the social and cultural participation of individuals must be taken into account.
  • The projects must be SME-driven and their results must benefit Germany as a business location beyond the association.

It is imperative that European and German data protection guidelines are taken into account. The new or further development of hardware is not eligible for funding.

For the 1st stage of the procedure: project outline with the following information:

• Topic and objective of the project
• State of the art in science and technology, novelty of the solution approach, differentiation from projects funded at national or EU level in the past or at the time of application, patent situation
• Necessity of the grant: scientific-technical and economic risk with justification of the need for state funding
• Market potential, market environment, economic and scientific competitive situation, added value for Germany as a business location
• Brief description of the applying institutions and companies, description of the own contribution to be made
• Work plan, if applicable, network structure with work packages of all partners involved
• Financing plan: rough financial quantity structure with tabular financing overview (indication of cost types, own funds/third-party funds and man-months)
• Exploitation plan (economic and scientific/technical prospects of success, potential uses and connectivity, especially in Germany, concrete presentation of business models and market prospects with time horizon and target figures)

You can submit your project outline to the BMBF's project management organization (DLR-PT) at any time. The annual deadlines are 15.04. and 15.10. The last deadline is 15.10.2025. The submission deadline is not a cut-off deadline. However, project outlines received late may not be considered until the next deadline.

• Announcement of the guideline for the funding measure "KMU-innovativ: Information and Communication Technology (ICT)" from 22.05.2017
• § Section 23 of the Federal Budget Code (BHO)
• § Section 44 of the Federal Budget Code (BHO)
• "Guidelines for grant applications on a cost basis (AZK)" of the BMBF and "Guidelines for grant applications on an expenditure basis (AZA)" of the BMBF
• General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER)

• Administrative court action

Forms available: No

Written form required: Yes

Informal application possible: No

Personal appearance necessary: No

14.07.2023