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Research funding: fund your roadmap without giving up equity

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When budgets tighten, the first reflex is usually to limit the scope of development projects. That slows down exactly the projects that will make the difference tomorrow. Public research funding applies precisely here. It turns development work from a pure cost block into a plannable inflow of funds, without you giving up equity, and so secures your technological lead.

3D Spark
2R
Folienwelt
qlero
mm lab
Deutsche Firmenkredit Partner
ENTIAC
selecta one
DC Smarter
ZWF
Unternehmensgruppe Albert Weil
fierythings

Why research funding protects your roadmap

Development costs time, people and capital. When capital gets tight, the cuts usually land on the exploratory projects with the greatest potential. Research funding creates additional room for exactly that: for development time, prototypes, tests and the detours that belong to any serious development work.

The effect is not only financial. Teams that know part of the development cost is covered plan differently: longer test series, more variants, fewer premature stops. Development stops being a cost block you have to defend in every budget round and becomes a plannable layer behind the roadmap you are already pursuing. Without diluting your equity.

Which instruments carry your research and development

Several instruments are often available at the same time for research and development. We develop a funding strategy for your entire project landscape and check which approach fits which project.

01

The base instrument

The Forschungszulage works through the tax system and is open to all companies liable to tax in Germany, regardless of size, legal form or sector. It can be claimed retroactively for up to four years and has no application deadlines. That makes it the plannable base of any funding strategy.

02

National grant programmes

ZIM funds development projects by small and medium-sized enterprises, alone or in collaboration. Thematically targeted calls run through kmu-innovativ and the IGP. These programmes offer higher funding rates than the Forschungszulage, but work with deadlines and selection procedures.

Since 7 July 2026, ZIM has not been accepting new applications, with the exception of open international calls. Resumption is planned for early 2027.

03

European programmes

For ambitious and international projects, we open up European programmes such as Horizon Europe and the EIC Accelerator. They offer considerably more volume, but also demand more: international consortia, longer lead times and substantially more work on the application.

This calls for a realistic assessment of the risk. Success rates at the top European programmes are markedly lower than for national instruments. A European application should therefore never be the only pillar of your development financing, but the addition to a solid base.

What the funding means for the other roles

A funded roadmap is a more resilient one. Public funding lets you keep investing in the technology that sets your position, without a new equity round and without cutting the work when the market turns.

Handled well, research and development stops being a pure cost line and starts returning capital, quarter after quarter. An audit-ready structure is what turns a later review into a confirmation rather than a threat.

How we accelerate your development

The goal: more budget for your development roadmap, without your team carrying the effort. The route follows four steps.

Review the roadmap.

We go through your development projects and separate eligible work from routine activity.

Identify the right funding.

Not every programme fits every project. We find the funding that matches your development pipeline and your objectives.

Write a convincing application.

We write against the actual evaluation criteria and present the technical uncertainty so that it becomes traceable.

Protect what is awarded.

We keep time records, drawdowns and evidence audit-proof throughout the entire funded period.

Figures you can hold us to

95%

Success rate

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Working with Ignite Group took a great deal of pressure off us. Thanks to […] their expertise, we always felt confident that our funding application was in the best hands.

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Rather start with your industry?

Every industry has its own programmes, deadlines and priorities. Find funding along your sector rather than your objective.

FAQs about funding advisory

View all FAQs

Public money for research and development that you generally do not repay. In Germany, this is above all the Forschungszulage as a tax-based instrument, alongside grant programmes such as ZIM.

Frequently, yes. What decides it is the separation of costs: the same costs may not be funded twice. Within one project, however, different cost elements can run through different instruments.

We therefore build a funding roadmap together with you: completed, ongoing and planned projects are each matched to the right instrument, and within each project the costs are cleanly separated.

We write the application and support you with the annexes. What we need from you is the technical substance, and that can come through different routes: conversations, meetings or existing project documentation. We agree with you what works best.

No. What is funded is the attempt at development, not the success. What matters is that the work actually took place and is documented.

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