IGP

IGP funds new business models and other non-technical innovations in companies with up to €300,000. What does that mean for you?

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Facts up front

Budget

€10m/call

Deadline

Suspended

Location

National

IGP – key facts at a glance

IGP supports small and medium-sized enterprises with up to €300,000 for non-technical innovations. Start-ups, self-employed people and public-benefit companies in Germany are included as well.

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Target audience

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) under the EU definition
Start-ups and founders
Self-employed people and freelancers
Public-benefit companies
Universities and research institutions with an SME as partner

Requirements

A non-technical innovation at the core of the project
A market-oriented and novel idea
Business premises or a branch in Germany
The project is carried out in Germany
Cooperation with an SME for universities and research institutions

Eligible costs

Personnel costs for your project team
Project-related material costs
Costs of the cooperation partners in a joint project
Costs in a feasibility project (60% to 75% for companies)
Costs in a market-readiness project (45% to 60% for companies)

Details on IGP

IGP is the innovation programme for business models and pioneering solutions of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. It started in 2019 as a pilot and has been firmly established since 2023. Delivery is handled by VDI/VDE Innovation + Technik GmbH. You receive a grant that you do not repay.

Unlike most federal funding programmes, IGP does not require technical development. It funds non-technical innovations: new business models, new services, new organisational and marketing concepts. IGP therefore reaches ideas for which classic research programmes have no room.

What stands out is the early entry point. You can already have a feasibility project funded, in which you examine and test your idea. For micro-enterprises, up to 70% of the project costs is possible here. Only afterwards does the market-readiness project follow, through to market entry.

Small and medium-sized enterprises under the EU definition with business premises or a branch in Germany are eligible to apply. Start-ups, founders, self-employed people and freelancers are expressly included. Public-benefit companies can also submit an application.

You can carry out your project on your own or together with partners in a consortium. Universities and research institutions are eligible to apply as well, but not on their own. They need a small or medium-sized enterprise as a partner in the project.

Large companies are not eligible to apply. Affiliated companies, that is, companies within the same group, cannot act as cooperation partners. Whether your company counts as small or medium-sized is determined by the EU definition. Check this first, before you put work into an outline.

Non-technical innovations are funded. What is meant are new business models, new services, new organisational forms and new marketing concepts. Your idea must be market-oriented and novel, and you must carry out the project in Germany.

Test your idea with a simple question. Does a technical product emerge at the end, or a new way of offering a service and earning money with it? Only the second fits IGP.

There are two project formats. In a feasibility project you examine and test your idea; you do not need a finished product for it. In a market-readiness project you take the idea to market. In both formats, funding covers the personnel costs for your project team, project-related material costs and the costs of your cooperation partners.

You receive a grant that you do not repay. It is awarded as partial financing. IGP covers part of your eligible project costs, and you bear the rest yourself. How high your share is depends on company size and project format.

In a feasibility project, micro-enterprises receive up to 70%, small companies up to 65% and medium-sized companies up to 60%. In a market-readiness project the rates are 55%, 50% and 45%. Public-benefit companies receive up to 75% in a feasibility project and up to 60% in a market-readiness project. Universities and research institutions receive 100% if they work together with a small or medium-sized enterprise.

Per project, up to €300,000 is possible for companies. IGP can therefore also carry a project that runs for months and ties up several people.

What does a funding advisor do?

A funding advisor is an expert who guides companies through the complex process of applying for public funding and secures the best funding for their projects – from selecting the right programmes through the application to the final report.

At Ignite we work success-driven: we only make you an offer when we are convinced your project is eligible. You are supported comprehensively throughout the process while you concentrate on your core business – we take on the time-consuming part.

Our services as funding advisors

Analysis and identification

Assess company & project
Find the right programmes
Aimed at maximum grants

Strategy development

Tailor-made strategy
Aligned with your goals
Combine programmes

Application and documentation

Complete application drafting
Documents complete & correct
Higher approval chances

Communication with funding bodies

Contact with authorities
Coordination with funding bodies
Representing your interests

Project support and aftercare

Support across the project term
Meeting funding conditions
Disbursement & final report

The advantages of our funding advisory

Time saved

Focus on your core business
The workload sits with us
A faster application

Access to hidden funding opportunities

Lesser-known programmes
Clever combinations
Full funding potential

A higher success rate

Expertise from many applications
Better approval chances
Fewer rejections

Maximising the funding amount

The highest possible funding
Every lever used
More from every project

Legal certainty

All requirements met
Audit-proof evidence
No clawback risk

Your funding – our daily business

5,000⁺

Funding applications per year

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A team of specialists at your service

Dr. ChristophSandhöfer

Consultant

Frequently asked questions about IGP

Not at present. The seventh funding call is closed and a new one has not yet been published. The programme continues; funding calls come roughly twice a year. Prepare your idea now.

You first submit an idea outline as an application to participate, electronically through the positron:s portal. Submissions are always made within a funding call; IGP has no ongoing application route.

An external jury of experts decides on the submissions. It reviews the idea outlines of a funding call and selects the projects that proceed. A good outline is therefore the most important step.

Around €10 million per call. This budget is spread across all selected projects. Your idea therefore competes with the other submissions in the same call.

No. IGP applies nationwide and with the same funding rates. There is no regional focus and no separate quota for individual federal states. What matters is the idea, not the location.

No. Business premises or a branch in Germany are sufficient, even if your company is headquartered abroad. You do, however, have to carry out the project itself in Germany.

IGP is granted as de minimis aid, that is, small aid with its own ceiling. Further funding is therefore only possible within the state aid limits that apply to your project.