Funding programmes –
Innovation

Your ticket to Europe’s universities
The Innovation Voucher provides ideal support for small and medium-sized enterprises in North Rhine-Westphalia that wish to collaborate with research laboratories or universities across Europe. Through this programme, the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Research of North Rhine-Westphalia promotes knowledge transfer between business and academia in order to stimulate the development of new products, processes and services.

Reimbursement for external services
The Innovation Voucher subsidises innovative research projects with universities by providing between EUR 5,000 and EUR 10,000. Fifty per cent of the costs for external consulting, research and development services are reimbursed — and small enterprises even receive an 80 per cent refund. Vouchers may also be pooled by several companies for larger research projects. Applications may be submitted at any time.

Further information:
Details on the funding guidelines can be found on the website of Project Management Jülich.

Consultancy funding for innovative ideas
The increasing complexity of economic activity, ever-shorter innovation cycles and rising material and resource costs pose major challenges, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises. The development of innovative products and processes, as well as improved resource and material efficiency, are decisive success factors. However, many companies lack the time and personnel to stay up to date with technological developments, management methods and process design. This is where external consultancy becomes essential.

The BMWi innovation vouchers (go-Inno) provide support by covering up to 50 per cent of the costs for external consultancy services delivered by BMWi-authorised consulting firms selected according to strict quality criteria. Your company only pays its own share. No separate application procedure is required.

Further information:
Infos und Beispiele finden Sie auf der Seite des BMWi

Digitalisation is transforming the entire value chain. To remain competitive, small and medium-sized enterprises as well as members of the liberal professions must take advantage of the opportunities this transformation offers. This involves implementing new digital technologies and processes or initiating innovations through new equipment, machinery and procedures. With its “NRW.BANK.Digitalisation and Innovation” programme, NRW.BANK supports relevant investments. The programme consists of two funding modules that finance digitalisation and innovation projects in North Rhine-Westphalia: the NRW.BANK.Digitalisation Loan and the NRW.BANK.Innovation Loan.

All information is available here:
NRW.BANK. Digitalisierung und Innovation

Consultancy funding for digital transformation
Are you a small or medium-sized enterprise in the commercial sector or skilled trades and looking to digitalise your processes? Would you like to benefit from government funding but wish to avoid bureaucratic burdens? Then go-digital is the right solution for you!

The BMWi has authorised a number of qualified consulting firms to support you in identifying tailored solutions for your online business, the digitalisation of your daily operations and the growing need for IT security in networked systems. The consulting firms also handle the application for funding, billing and reporting on your behalf.

Further information:
Information and examples can be found on the BMWi website.