KMU-innovativ

KMU-innovativ is federal funding for high-risk research and development projects by small and medium-sized enterprises. It is run by the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space. It funds industrial research and pre-competitive development, that is, the work before market entry. You receive a non-repayable grant, not a loan and not a tax relief.

Unlike other funding programmes, KMU-innovativ is organised into technology fields. Each field has its own directive, its own outline tool and its own project management agency that assesses your documents. You are therefore not applying to a general research pot but within the field to which your project belongs.

What stands out is the size of the funding. For small and medium-sized enterprises, up to 80% of the eligible costs is possible where research depth, company size and collaboration fit together. You therefore bear only a small part of the costs of your project yourself.

Small and medium-sized commercial enterprises are eligible to apply. Your company needs business premises or a branch in Germany. Whether you count as a small or medium-sized enterprise is determined by the European Union’s SME definition. Check this first, because without a participating small or medium-sized enterprise a project is not eligible.

Alongside these, mid-sized companies with up to 1,000 employees and up to €100 million in turnover are also named. Which limit counts for you is set out in the directive of your technology field.

Research institutions and universities cannot submit on their own. They join as partners in a joint project in which at least one small or medium-sized enterprise takes part.

Projects in industrial research and pre-competitive development are funded. They must be high-risk and application-oriented. High-risk means that success is open at the outset. Application-oriented means that at the end there is a product, a process or a service for your market. Which themes fit is set out in the directive of your technology field.

On the cost side, what counts above all are the personnel costs of your development team. Material costs, costs for contract research, travel costs and pro-rata investment costs for the project are added. Only the share attributable to your project is ever eligible.

Your basic equipment and ongoing operating costs that do not belong to the project are not funded. A piece of equipment you need for your day-to-day business anyway does not belong in the cost plan.

You receive a non-repayable grant towards your eligible costs. How high it is depends on the research depth of your project, your company size and the collaboration with partners.

In the information and communication technology field, up to 50% for industrial research and up to 25% for experimental development is provided for companies. For small and medium-sized enterprises, the rate rises to up to 80% in suitable constellations. An example: if your eligible costs are €500,000, a grant of up to €400,000 is possible.

Research institutions in a consortium receive up to 100% of their eligible costs, and universities additionally receive a project flat rate of 20%. A project is normally funded for up to three years.