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Funding programs

We support you in applying for funding for your start-up project and advise you on the following funding programs, among others (a non-exhaustive list):

The start-up teams receive an EXIST start-up grant at attractive conditions for a period of 12 months to draw up a business plan and prepare for their business start-up with the support of their university or research institution.

The most important prerequisite is that the planned business idea is an innovative, technology-oriented or knowledge-based product with significant unique selling points and good prospects of commercial success.
Services are also funded under these conditions. The application is submitted via the university or research institution.

Who is eligible for funding?

  • Academics from public, non-profit
    • non-university research institutions
    • universities
  • University graduates and former academic staff (up to five years after graduation or retirement).
  • Students who have completed at least half of their studies at the time of application, whereby the team may not consist mainly of students.
  • Start-up teams of up to three people.
  • One of the up to three team members can also be supported with a state-recognized vocational training as a technical employee. Alternatively, one team member may have graduated more than five years ago.
  • Women who were funded via EXIST-Women up to 5 years after funding

What is funded?

  • Innovative technology-oriented start-up projects.
  • Innovative knowledge-based services that are based on scientific findings.

How long is funding provided?

  • Funding period: 12 months

How is funding provided?

EXIST research transfer supports outstanding research-based start-up projects that involve complex and high-risk development work.

Who is supported?

Funding is available for research teams at universities and non-university research institutions (maximum of three scientists and technical assistants) and one person with business management expertise.

What is the aim of funding phase I?

The aim of the first funding phase of EXIST research transfer is to carry out development work to prove technical feasibility, develop prototypes, draw up the business plan and finally found the company.

How long is funding provided?

  • Funding period: 18 months
  • for highly innovative and demonstrably particularly time-consuming development projects: 36 months

How is funding provided?

The Bavarian FLÜGGE funding program aims to support start-ups from universities in Bavaria in the fields of innovation, research and technology.

Who is supported?

Those wishing to found a company:

  • must be affiliated with the applicant university.
  • If they are employed by the university, this employment may not exceed 50 percent of their time.
  • If they are still students and do not yet have a Bachelor's degree, they must have completed at least half of the standard period of study and, if applicable, the mandatory practical semester/ semester abroad.
  • Teams consisting mainly of students without a Bachelor's degree can only be supported in exceptional cases.
  • At least one person willing to found a company must be one of the holders or co-holders of the usage/property rights.

What is supported?

The phase before and at the beginning of an innovative start-up, in particular the development of marketable innovative products and business models as well as the preparation of the start-up.

Specifically, this includes supporting those who want to set up a business,

  • in securing their innovative, including digital, business model, which could lead to a sustainable business start-up.
  • who were unable to complete their start-up project within the framework of EXIST funding due to particular technological challenges and have not yet been able to set up a company.
  • whose technologically innovative, challenging and high-risk project was denied funding in the “EXIST Start-up Grant” program.

Projects can be considered that

  • go beyond the state of the art or, in the case of digital business models, are sufficiently new,
  • have clear unique selling points,
  • have sufficient connectivity (positive continuation forecast).

How long is funding provided?

  • Funding period: up to 12 months

How is funding provided?

The Bavarian program to promote the validation of research results and inventions (validation support) aims to validate technological innovations in order to transfer their potential to industrial research.

The purpose of this measure is to accelerate the introduction and dissemination of modern technologies and services in the economy and society in order to increase the competitiveness of the Bavarian economy in the face of rapid technological change and to enable and secure appropriate economic growth and a high level of employment.

Who is supported?

  • Bavarian state universities
  • Application via technology transfer offices or representatives of the university

What is funded?

The validation program supports the qualification of promising research results and inventions.

  • Projects for the research and development of technologically new or significantly improved products, production processes and knowledge-based services with the aim of technologically securing future exploitation
  • Exploitation here means in particular the technological and economic connectivity, especially the transfer to industrial research.
  • The validation program is open to all technologies.

How long is funding provided?

  • Project duration: up to 18 months

How is funding provided?

The funding program “Validation of the technological and social innovation potential of scientific research - VIP+” invites scientists from all disciplines to take the first step from the world of research towards economic value creation or social application, and to examine, demonstrate and evaluate the innovation potential of their own research results.

Who is supported?

  • Researchers from universities, from non-university research institutions that are jointly funded by the federal and state governments, as well as from federal institutions with R&D tasks

What is funded?

  • Open to all disciplines
  • Since 2014, the validation funding VIP+ has increasingly supported the validation of results from the humanities, social sciences and cultural studies in addition to natural and technology-oriented scientific disciplines.

How long is funding provided?

  • Funding period: up to 3 years

How is funding provided?

  • More information under VIP+.

Further funding programs and financing options can be found on the BMWK business start-up portal.

Register now for start-up consultation

Contact for inquiries

Helene Schneider
Helene Schneider
Start-up consultant
Room LU8 241
Ludwigstraße 8
94032 Passau

We are happy to support you, dear start-up enthusiasts, on your way to your own start-up.

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