360° Funding Advisory
In a dynamic and innovative business environment, access to the right funding opportunities is crucial for long-term success and for securing a competitive advantage. Amid an often complex and fragmented funding landscape, it can be challenging for companies to identify the most suitable programs. As a specialized consulting firm, we are here to support you every step of the way.
What Funding Programs Are Available for Companies?
From supporting innovative projects to promoting sustainable development, a wide range of funding programs offers companies of all sizes the opportunity to achieve their growth objectives. Common levers include investments in new locations or the safeguarding of jobs.
A key challenge with many programs is that the number of applications often exceeds the available funding. This leads to highly competitive selection or lottery-based processes. In addition, the lack of a legal entitlement means that budget freezes can result in the immediate suspension of many programs—unlike the R&D tax incentive.
Our 360° Approach: Comprehensive, Structured, Successful
With our 360° funding advisory, we support you throughout the entire process—from initial analysis and application to successful approval. Our consulting model covers every stage of the funding journey, ensuring you are guided with a fully holistic approach. Together, we identify the right funding levers to strengthen your innovative capacity, secure your investments, and drive sustainable growth.
Potential Analysis
We assess your projects, investments, and innovation initiatives for eligibility and identify which funding programs are suitable for you. In doing so, we analyze both national and international programs and provide you with a realistic overview of your funding opportunities.
Strategic Solutions
From the wide range of available funding programs, we identify the options that best fit your projects. This is based on factors such as your industry, company size, and project objectives. Together, we develop your tailored funding strategy.
Professional Application Management
We guide you through the entire process—from preparing the necessary documentation to legally compliant submission. With accurate and timely execution, we increase your chances of success while significantly reducing your operational workload.
Project Support & Ongoing Advisory
Our partnership continues even after successful funding approval, ensuring you stay informed about future opportunities. In the event of an audit, we support you alongside our partner WTS Germany.
What Grants Are Available for Research & Development Activities?
Innovative companies can benefit from a wide range of funding instruments at the EU, federal, and state levels. For nearly every innovation and development project, suitable funding opportunities are available—whether for start-ups, SMEs, or large enterprises. We support you in identifying and successfully implementing the optimal funding strategy.
EU Funding Programs
The European Union supports innovation projects through various programs and institutions:
- European Innovation Council (EIC): Through programs such as EIC Pathfinder and EIC Accelerator, the EU promotes breakthrough technologies and market-ready innovations.
- European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT): Through the EIT Challenges, projects in key future areas such as climate change, sustainability, and digitalization are supported.
Federal Funding Programs
At the national level, funding primarily targets companies that drive research and development in Germany:
- R&D Tax Incentive (Forschungszulage): This program supports R&D activities for companies of all sizes and across all industries. It is open to all topics and can be claimed retroactively for up to four years, making it a powerful lever for innovative businesses.
- Central Innovation Programme for SMEs (Zentrales Innovationsprogramm Mittelstand, ZIM): Small and medium-sized enterprises can receive grants to support their development projects through this program.
- KMU-innovativ: This initiative specifically promotes R&D projects by SMEs in key enabling technologies.
Regional Funding Programs (Federal States)
Germany’s federal states also offer a wide range of regional funding programs. Initiatives such as BayTOU (Bavaria) or Distr@l (Hesse) particularly support innovative start-ups and technology-driven companies. These programs foster both market entry and the expansion of new locations, as well as job creation and retention.
Benefits of the R&D Tax Credit
With a clear funding strategy, you can make your innovation and investment projects more predictable and efficient. We help you identify the right programs and develop a tailored roadmap that unlocks your full potential. A key lever is the R&D tax incentive: it enables companies to benefit from tax-based support for their research and innovation projects, is industry-agnostic, retroactively applicable, and provides maximum planning certainty. Learn more about the benefits of the R&D tax incentive.
Partnership with WTS Deutschland
To ensure the highest level of expertise, we work closely with WTS Deutschland, one of the leading tax advisory firms. This allows us to ensure that you not only receive the right funding, but also utilize it in a tax-efficient and legally compliant manner.
WTS Germany supports our clients, where needed, with all tax-related matters concerning the application for the R&D tax incentive and other funding programs:
- Review and structuring of eligible projects
- Preparation of the required tax documentation
- Legally compliant integration into your tax filings
- Support in communication with tax authorities
Frequently Asked Questions on Research & Innovation Funding
The world of funding can often seem complex and difficult to navigate—from the R&D tax incentive (FZulG) and the Central Innovation Programme for SMEs (ZIM) to specialized funding programs for start-ups. In our FAQ section, we answer the most common questions about research, development, and innovation funding in Germany.
The R&D tax incentive is a government funding program designed to support research and development (R&D) activities within companies. It enables businesses of all sizes and industries to receive tax-based support for innovative projects—whether in traditional R&D, software development, digitalization, process innovation, or Industry 4.0 initiatives.
The legal basis is the Research Allowance Act (FZulG), which has been in effect since January 1, 2020. Companies can receive up to 25% of eligible personnel and contract costs as a tax credit.
A key advantage: the R&D tax incentive can be claimed retroactively for up to four years, making it one of the most flexible forms of R&D funding in Germany.
In short: The R&D tax incentive is an ideal instrument for promoting research, development, and innovation through tax benefits—regardless of industry or company size.
The Central Innovation Programme for SMEs (ZIM) is one of the most important nationwide funding programs for innovation in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Germany. It is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and supports both individual and collaborative projects in the areas of research, development, and market introduction.
The goal of ZIM is to strengthen the innovative capacity and competitiveness of SMEs in Germany. Companies can receive non-repayable grants for technological developments, prototypes, feasibility studies, and market-oriented innovation projects—also in collaboration with research institutions.
In short: ZIM funding enables SMEs to bring innovative ideas to market more quickly—regardless of industry, technology, or company size.
During the early stages of a company, solid financing is essential for start-ups to successfully bring their business ideas to life. Public funding at both the national and regional levels provides important support to overcome initial hurdles and transform promising ideas into viable business models.
Examples include regional programs such as “Gründung innovativ” (Brandenburg), nationwide initiatives like “KMU-innovativ”, and European funding programs such as Horizon Europe. In addition to these, there are many other funding opportunities, which we have summarized in our blog article: “Public and Regional Funding for Start-ups: Overview and Tips 2025.”