Eurostars

Eurostars is an international funding programme for innovative small and medium-sized enterprises. It runs under EUREKA, an international initiative for joint research and development. The current programme generation, Eurostars 3, has existed since 2021. In Germany the funding is financed by the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) and managed by DLR Projektträger. A grant is paid out, not a loan.

Unlike purely national funding programmes, Eurostars requires a consortium, that is, a joint project team of several partners. At least two partners from two Eurostars countries work together on a project. Submissions are not made continuously but at two cut-off dates a year.

What stands out is the combination of international development and German grant funding. You work with partners abroad and still receive your funding from the German funding body, under German rules and for your share of the project.

Innovative small and medium-sized enterprises under the EU definition with business premises or a branch in Germany are eligible to apply. Universities and non-university research institutions in Germany can also be funded if they carry out the project together with a German SME. Without business premises or a branch in Germany there is no German funding, even if the project fits Eurostars in substance.

A condition on the project team is added to this. The consortium must comprise at least two partners from two Eurostars countries. A company on its own cannot submit a project.

Check two points first, therefore. Does your company meet the EU definition for small and medium-sized enterprises? And is at least one project partner based in another Eurostars country? Both must be settled before you start the application.

Funding goes to the development of a new product, a new process or a new service. The project must be innovative and be carried out within the consortium.

Eligible costs are those for research and development up to the prototype. In the programme this stage is called TRL 6, technology readiness level 6. It includes the personnel costs for your project team as well as material costs and other project-related costs. For universities and research institutions it is the eligible expenditure of their share of the project.

Costs arising only after the prototype are not eligible. The boundary is at TRL 6. Plan your project so that it ends with a finished prototype. Everything that follows belongs in separate planning outside the application.

You receive a grant towards your eligible costs. For commercial companies the rate in 2026 is up to 50%. It applies nationwide and is therefore independent of the location of your business premises in Germany. It is calculated on the eligible costs of your share of the project, not on the total budget of the consortium.

Universities and non-university research institutions receive up to 100% of their eligible expenditure. For this, a German SME must take part in the project and make an independent, substantial contribution to research and development.

For all German partners together, a maximum of €500,000 per project is provided in 2026. This ceiling and both funding rates are set by Germany itself, not by the international programme. The BMFTR is responsible for them.