Startup Grants in Germany: What Can Pay for Your MVP

A founder in Germany has five main routes to public money at the MVP stage: the two university-linked EXIST programmes, the Gründungszuschuss for people leaving unemployment, KfW start-up loans through a bank, the INVEST grant for the investors who back you, and a large set of programmes run by the individual Länder. Of these, only a few can realistically pay for building software: EXIST-Forschungstransfer (if you are a research team), KfW loans (if you can borrow), and some Länder grants such as Berlin's GründungsBONUS Plus, which names IT development as an eligible cost. The EXIST-Gründungsstipendium, the Gründungszuschuss and the NRW founder scholarship mostly pay for your living costs, which keeps you working on the product but does not buy a development team.

This page is orientation, not financial or legal advice. For what building from Germany involves beyond funding (prices, Impressum, VAT, e-invoicing), read MVP development in Germany. For other countries, start at the MVP grants and funding hub for Europe.

Scheme details checked against official sources on 20 October 2026. Schemes change; confirm with the programme before applying.

At a glance

EXIST-Gründungsstipendium

Who it is for. Founders coming out of a German university or research institution, before the company exists. The programme page says students must have completed at least half their studies, graduates qualify up to five years after leaving, teams are at most three people, and the company must not be founded when funding starts. The guideline also excludes modifications of existing products without a significant unique feature.

What it pays. For 12 months, a personal stipend of €3,000 a month with a doctorate, €2,500 for graduates, €2,000 with a vocational qualification and €1,000 for students, plus €150 per child. On top of that the guideline allows material costs ("Sachausgaben") of up to €10,000 for a solo founder or €30,000 for a team, and up to €5,000 for coaching. In the guideline's words, Sachausgaben include "Lizenzen, Software und Ähnliches, Gebühren und sonstige projektspezifische Ausgaben für Beratungsleistungen und Investitionen, welche für die Zielerreichung und den Projekterfolg unabdingbar sind". They are flat-rate amounts, planned in the application and released with the approval.

Process and timing. You do not apply yourself. According to the application page, your university or research institution submits the application, the review takes several weeks, and the company may only be founded after funding starts. The FAQ says there are no fixed deadlines. The guideline says the project can start three months after a complete application is received, and that applications can be made until 31 December 2027.

Combination. The guideline excludes running EXIST alongside another scholarship, an active job, or any programme that finances founders' living costs. A paid side job of more than 20 hours a month is also excluded.

EXIST-Forschungstransfer

Who it is for. Research-based, development-heavy start-ups. The programme page requires a project at a German university or research institution, a demonstrated proof of principle, and no company yet in Phase I. Phase II is only open to companies that came out of Phase I.

What it pays. Under the guideline of 3 June 2024, Phase I covers salaries for up to four full-time equivalents and material costs that explicitly include "Vergabe von Aufträgen" (awarding contracts), consumables, IP and project-related consulting. Assistants and material costs together are normally capped at €250,000, with more possible in justified cases with the jury's consent. Phase II gives the new company a grant of up to €180,000, and the company must bring its own equity in a ratio of 1 to 3 to the grant. Eligible Phase II costs include personnel and "Aufträge an Dritte" (contracts with third parties).

Process and timing. The FAQ says applications are collected until 31 August, 30 November and 31 March, and projects usually start five to six months after those dates. Phase I normally lasts up to 18 months. The guideline accepts applications until 31 December 2027.

Gründungszuschuss

Who it is for. People receiving Arbeitslosengeld (ALG I) who move into full-time self-employment. The Bundesagentur für Arbeit requires that you still have at least 150 days of entitlement when the self-employment starts, that you work at least 15 hours a week in the business, and that a fachkundige Stelle (for example a chamber of commerce) has reviewed your idea and certified it.

It is discretionary. The agency says plainly that you have no legal entitlement: it is an Ermessensleistung, decided case by case.

What it pays. For six months, the amount of your last Arbeitslosengeld plus €300 a month for social security. After that, nine more months at €300 a month, which you apply for separately and for which you must show you are self-employed full time. The agency describes the money as covering your living costs and social security; it is personal support, not a project budget.

Process. Book a consultation with your Vermittlungsfachkraft first, then apply with the documents, including the fachkundige Stelle's statement. Because the 150 days are counted at the start of self-employment, talk to the agency before you register the business or end a job.

KfW start-up loans

KfW does not lend to you directly. You apply through your own bank, savings bank or cooperative bank, which carries out the credit check.

ERP-Gründerkredit StartGeld (067). According to the KfW product page, it lends up to €200,000, of which up to €80,000 can be working capital, to founders and companies that started trading less than five years ago, full or part time. Working capital explicitly includes personnel costs, rent, marketing and consulting. KfW takes 80 percent of the credit risk off the bank. Terms run from two to ten years. The company's seat and the investment must be in Germany, you should apply before the project starts, and it cannot be combined with other KfW or ERP programmes. The interest rate field on the page showed no figure when we checked; ask your bank for the current rate.

ERP-Förderkredit Gründung und Nachfolge (077). The Merkblatt (dated 10 December 2025) describes partial financing of up to €500,000 per applicant and up to 35 percent of eligible costs, for founders and young companies trading less than five years, in full-time business in Germany. The bank is fully covered by a guarantee from a Bürgschaftsbank, which is a condition of the loan. Refinancing projects already begun or completed is excluded. Because it covers only part of the costs, you need other money alongside it.

INVEST, Zuschuss für Wagniskapital

INVEST does not pay the start-up. It rewards the private investors (business angels) who put money in, which makes your round more attractive.

Current status. It is open, with a hard end. The current guideline of 6 March 2024 says complete applications from both the company and the investor must reach BAFA by 31 December 2026, and later applications will not be processed. Exit grant applications run separately until 30 June 2037. If you are relying on INVEST for a round, plan to have it filed well before the end of the year.

What it pays. The BAFA page and the guideline set the acquisition grant at 15 percent of the price of the new shares, on investments of at least €10,000, capped at €50,000 per individual investment and €100,000 per investor in total. Per company, up to €3 million of investment a year can qualify. There is also an exit grant of 25 percent of the gain when the shares are sold after at least three years.

Company conditions. The company must be under seven years old, small under the EU definition (fewer than 50 full-time equivalents and no more than €10 million turnover or balance sheet), have its head office in the EEA with a registered branch or business premises in Germany, and must not have raised more than €15 million in risk capital. It must spend the money within two years on business in an innovative field, and must not use it to cover past losses.

Process. Normally the company applies online first and BAFA confirms its eligibility for 12 months; then the investor applies. The investor's application must be filed before the contracts are signed, and transferring money before applying ends eligibility.

Länder programmes

Every federal state has its own programmes, and some fit an MVP build better than the federal schemes. Three examples from official pages:

• Berlin: GründungsBONUS Plus (IBB). The IBB page says applications are open again. It covers 50 percent of eligible costs up to €50,000, for innovative companies no more than 18 months old with their seat in Berlin. Eligible costs include "Fremdleistungen", listed as consulting, "Kosten für IT-Entwicklung" and IP. Costs must arise within two years of the application, and investments are only eligible if no supply or service contracts were signed before the application arrived.
• Bavaria: BayTOU. The Förderdatenbank entry describes grants for technology start-ups under six years old with fewer than ten staff: up to 45 percent of costs for development projects, with a maximum of €150,000 for software companies. Contracts with third parties are eligible if they serve only the project and are on market terms. The status is unclear: the same entry says the guideline expires at the end of 31 December 2025, while the Bayern Innovativ FAQ says the programme is open throughout the guideline's validity. Ask Projektträger Bayern before you plan around it.
• North Rhine-Westphalia: Gründungsstipendium.NRW. The NRW.BANK page cites a new decree of 2 September 2026 and validity to 31 December 2030. It pays €1,200 a month per founder for up to 12 months, for up to three founders of an innovative micro-company in NRW, and you apply through an accredited founder network before registering the business. It cannot run alongside the Gründungszuschuss. For timing, IHK Bonn, one of the networks (not the programme itself), lists virtual jury sessions on 29 October, 26 November and 17 December 2026; ask your own network which session you can reach.

To find programmes in your own state, search the federal Förderdatenbank by state and funding purpose, then confirm on the programme's own page.

Can this money pay an outside development team, or one in another country?

This is the question most guides skip. Here is what the official rules say, scheme by scheme. Easify invoices in euros from its registered entity in India, so wherever a rule mentions where a supplier or the work must be, it affects us directly.

EXIST-Gründungsstipendium. The guideline lists software, licences, consulting and investments essential to the project as Sachausgaben, but does not mention contracts with outside developers, and says nothing about where a supplier may be based. It also says the university administers the funds ("Die antragstellende Hochschule verwaltet die Fördermittel"), so the university's own purchasing rules apply. The official guidance does not say; ask the programme before you commit: your university's Gründungsnetzwerk and purchasing office first, then Projektträger Jülich. With €10,000 to €30,000 for all material costs, it would cover at most part of a build in any case.

EXIST-Forschungstransfer. Yes in principle: contracts with third parties are explicitly eligible in both phases under the guideline. The FAQ adds that binding orders may only be placed after the project starts, and tells teams to contact the institution's purchasing officer early because local procurement rules apply. Neither says whether a supplier outside Germany or the EU is allowed. Ask the purchasing office and Projektträger Jülich before you commit.

Gründungszuschuss. It is personal support for your living costs and social security, not a project budget, and the agency page sets no rule on how it is spent. It does not pay a supplier; it pays you while you work on the business.

KfW StartGeld (067) and Gründung und Nachfolge (077). StartGeld's working capital explicitly includes consulting and personnel costs, and the product page requires the company's seat and the investment to be in Germany. Neither the page nor the 077 Merkblatt says anything about where a supplier may be based. The official guidance does not say; ask your bank, which applies for the loan on your behalf, before you sign.

INVEST. The money is the investor's equity in your company, and the grant goes to the investor. The guideline requires the company to use it within two years for business in an innovative field and not to cover past losses; it sets no rule about suppliers. Once the round is in, the company decides how to spend it, subject to those conditions and to the company keeping its German branch or premises.

Berlin GründungsBONUS Plus. IT development by outside providers is explicitly eligible as a "Fremdleistung" on the IBB page. The page does not say whether a provider outside Germany or the EU is allowed. Ask the IBB Business Team before you commit.

BayTOU. Contracts with third parties are eligible on market terms, but the Förderdatenbank entry also says the project must be carried out in substantial part in Bavaria. That rule may limit how much of the development can be done by a team elsewhere, including ours in India. Ask Projektträger Bayern, and confirm first that the programme is accepting applications at all.

Gründungsstipendium.NRW. A personal stipend for founders' living costs, like the Gründungszuschuss. It does not pay suppliers.

How to plan your MVP budget around it

1. Apply first, sign second. KfW says to apply before the project starts. BayTOU excludes projects begun before a complete application. GründungsBONUS Plus excludes investments with contracts signed before the application. EXIST-Forschungstransfer only allows orders after the start date. INVEST requires the investor's application before the investment contract. Do not sign a development contract or pay a deposit until the relevant approval or permitted start date.
2. Separate your living costs from the build. The stipends (EXIST-Gründungsstipendium, Gründungszuschuss, NRW) keep you going; they do not buy a team. The build money comes from a loan, a project grant, your own funds or investors. Plan both.
3. Remember the own share. Most project grants here cover a percentage, not everything: 50 percent for GründungsBONUS Plus, up to 45 percent for BayTOU, up to 75 percent in EXIST-Forschungstransfer Phase II, 35 percent of costs for the KfW 077 loan. Budget the rest.
4. Get a written scope and a fixed price. Applications, banks and investors usually want to see what is being built, what it costs and when. A written scope with a fixed price makes those conversations easier. Our MVP Scoping Sprint produces one for €900 in about two weeks, credited in full against the build if you build with us. That is general advice: no scheme requires or accepts our document specifically, and we do not write applications.
5. Ask the supplier question in writing. Wherever the rules are silent on non-German or non-EU suppliers, ask the programme or your bank in writing before you choose a team, and keep the answer.
6. Size the build to the money. We typically build MVPs for €5,000 to €25,000 over four to twelve weeks. Compare like for like using what an MVP costs in Europe and our questions for choosing an MVP agency. Already have an AI-built prototype? The €99 Prototype Check tells you the top security and data risks before you spend more.

Where Easify fits, and where it may not

We are a Budapest team; engineering is in India, and our invoices come in euros from our registered entity in India. We deploy client products to EU data-centre regions, but that does not mean data never leaves the EU, since our engineers work from India. If a programme you rely on requires a German or EU supplier, or work done in a particular state, as BayTOU's location rule may, a German team may be the safer choice for that budget line. Ask first; we would rather you knew before signing than after.

For EU-level options, see EU funding for start-ups. Founding in Austria instead? See start-up funding in Austria.

If you have your funding route mapped out, send us what you want to test, who it is for and when the money lands, or book the Scoping Sprint, and we reply within one business day.