Invest BW innovation funding

Up to €650,000 in grant for your R&D project, the largest single-company innovation funding programme in Baden-Württemberg's history.

Invest BW innovation funding is the state of Baden-Württemberg's flagship programme for business research and development. The Ministry of Economic Affairs, Labour and Tourism runs it through thematically focused calls, so far on climate neutrality, digitalisation, AI, quantum technologies, the health economy, resilience and mobility. Companies of any size with a registered office or operating site in Baden-Württemberg receive a non-repayable grant of €20,000 to €650,000 (single projects) or up to €1.3m in a consortium. The funding rate is graded by company size: 45% for small, 35% for medium-sized, 25% for mid-cap and 15% for large companies. Research institutions in a consortium can receive up to 100% of their eligible costs. The procedure has two stages: first a project outline, then, after a positive assessment, a full application. As at 7 May 2026 no call is open; new calls are announced at invest-bw.de.

Eligibility

• A registered office, branch or operating site in Baden-Württemberg (or establishing a BW branch in the course of the project); the project has to be carried out mainly in BW
• Companies of any legal form and size can apply (single projects); non-profit research institutions and universities with a BW base only within a consortium
• Public ownership of the company below 25%
• Not an undertaking in difficulty under Art. 2 no. 18 GBER
• No outstanding EU recovery order under Art. 1 (4) (a) GBER
• No Invest BW innovation funding received in the last 12 months (a 12-month cooling-off period; verify per call)
• Creditworthiness to finance your own contribution has to be evidenced (accounts, a liquidity plan, where relevant a letter from your bank)
• The project fits the currently open call profile thematically (check at invest-bw.de before applying)
• A clear innovation content and pioneering character relative to the state of the art has to be set out plausibly
• A minimum grant of €20,000 (the de minimis threshold for the programme)
• The project may not begin before the approval notice (no early start)

Eligible costs

• Staff costs for researchers, technicians and project staff, capped at €120,000 gross annual salary per person per year
• Contracts with third parties (subcontracting), a maximum of 40% of total eligible costs (verify per call)
• An overhead flat rate of 20% on eligible direct costs, applied as a flat rate with no itemised evidence (covering administration, overheads, IT and office costs)
• For research institutions in a consortium, additionally: materials and consumables plus project-related travel
• Acquiring and producing fixed assets (machinery, equipment, software) with a direct link to the project
• Not eligible: pure market launch, sales and advertising outside the R&D element, hardware investment with no R&D link, VAT (where input tax is deductible)

Common pitfalls

Starting the work early

Any contract award, hiring of project-specific staff or binding order before the approval notice leads to rejection or clawback. Preliminary discussions, market research and requests for quotes are harmless.

Missing the call's theme

Invest BW runs thematically focused calls. An outline with no clear substantive link to the currently open call profile ('mobility and transport', 'AI', 'climate neutrality') is rejected at stage 1. Always read the call profile at invest-bw.de before submitting.

Subcontracting above 40%

The share of external contractors may be at most 40% of total eligible costs. Anyone wanting to outsource more has to rework the project structure (build more in-house work) or bring the contractors in as consortium partners.

Overlooking the staff cost cap

A maximum of €120,000 gross annual salary per person is eligible. Anything above that — a managing director's salary, for instance — isn't subsidised. That doesn't cause rejection, but it does reduce the grant.

Contacting the wrong approving body

Invest BW innovation funding is approved by the BW Ministry of Economic Affairs and administered by VDI/VDE-IT Stuttgart. L-Bank is not responsible for this programme. Application portal and advisory contact: invest-bw.de / Innovationsprogramm-BW@vdivde-it.de.

Forgetting the 12-month cooling-off period

Companies that had Invest BW innovation funding approved in the last 12 months cannot apply again. The bar doesn't apply after a rejection (as opposed to an approval).

Double funding of identical costs

The same staff hours or material costs may not be claimed in parallel through ZIM, KMU-innovativ, Horizon Europe or other public grants. Clearly delimited projects can be financed from different programmes.

The application process

• 1 – Check the call. Read the currently open call profile at invest-bw.de and wm.baden-wuerttemberg.de: theme, deadline, call budget and any special requirements. Without an open call, submission isn't possible.
• 2 – Qualify the project. Confirm your BW registered office or operating site, establish your company size class under the EU SME definition, check the 12-month cooling-off period, assess your creditworthiness for the own contribution, and decide between a single project and a consortium project (up to €1.3m in grant in a consortium with a research institution).
• 3 – Stage 1: submit the project outline. Submit the project outline through VDI/VDE-IT's electronic application portal before the call deadline expires. Content: the starting position, the innovation content relative to the state of the art, work packages, a timetable (max. 24 months), the cost envelope, the exploitation perspective and the fit with the call theme.
• 4 – Wait for the outline assessment. VDI/VDE-IT assesses outlines through reviewers (typically 2–4 months after the deadline; verify per call). Only positively assessed outlines receive a written invitation to stage 2.
• 5 – Stage 2: submit the full application. Submit through the VDI/VDE-IT portal: a detailed project description, a work plan and timetable, a cost plan (staff costs per person, subcontracting ≤ 40%, overhead 20%), an SME declaration, state aid self-declarations, proof of creditworthiness (annual accounts, a liquidity plan, where relevant a letter from your bank) and, for a consortium, a consortium agreement.
• 6 – Approval notice. The BW Ministry of Economic Affairs decides on approval, subject to budget. With the notice, the project may begin, and not a day earlier.
• 7 – Delivery and completion. Deliver the project within the approved term (max. 24 months). Maintain records continuously and keep timesheets for staff costs. On completion, submit the statement of use to VDI/VDE-IT with a substantive report, the financial statement and the receipts. Records have to be kept for 5 years.

How upsmart helps

Invest BW is competitive: call budgets are limited, and the thematic fit with the call profile decides matters already at stage 1. We match your project against the currently open call and keep an eye on the deadline, so you don't lose out because a call passed you by. For stage 2 we write the draft application ready for assessment, with the right overhead (20%), subcontracting cap (at most 40%), SME size class and the de minimis and GBER self-declarations; your team reviews and decides. Fixed terms, independent of the grant amount.

Combining it with other programmes

Combination with other public programmes is possible where the costs are clearly delimited and no identical costs are subsidised twice. In principle it can be combined with: ZIM (federal, BMWE, for clearly separated parts of a project), KMU-innovativ (federal, BMFTR, technology-specific) and Horizon Europe / EIC (EU, larger international projects). L-Bank's Innovationsfinanzierung 4.0 (a loan, not a grant) can be used to finance your own contribution alongside the Invest BW grant. Double funding of identical costs is ruled out and can lead to clawback.

Frequently asked questions

As at 7 May 2026 no call is open. The last call, 'Innovation IV: mobility and transport', closed on 20 February 2026. New calls are announced at invest-bw.de and through press releases from the BW Ministry of Economic Affairs, Labour and Tourism. Check invest-bw.de regularly or get in touch with the agency VDI/VDE-IT at Innovationsprogramm-BW@vdivde-it.de.

Not L-Bank. The application portal and processing run through VDI/VDE Innovation + Technik GmbH (VDI/VDE-IT, Stuttgart office). The approving authority is the BW Ministry of Economic Affairs, Labour and Tourism. L-Bank is not responsible for Invest BW innovation funding.

Single projects receive between €20,000 and €650,000; consortium projects up to €1,300,000 in total. The funding rate follows the EU SME size class: 45% for small companies (< 50 employees, < €10m turnover), 35% for medium-sized (< 250 employees, ≤ €50m turnover), 25% for mid-caps (< 3,000 employees; check per call), 15% for large companies. Research institutions in a consortium can be funded at up to 100% of their eligible costs.

You can also be eligible if you establish a branch or operating site in Baden-Württemberg in the course of the project. The project does, however, have to be carried out mainly in BW. For the full application at stage 2 you have to evidence your creditworthiness for the own contribution; for start-ups that can be through investor commitments or proof of equity.

In principle yes, but only for clearly separated parts of a project with unambiguous cost allocation. Identical costs may not be subsidised twice. For consortium projects it is also worth looking at L-Bank's Innovationsfinanzierung 4.0 (a loan), which can be used to finance your own contribution alongside the Invest BW grant.

Primary sources

• Invest BW — official programme portal (application portal, terms, current calls)— VDI/VDE Innovation + Technik GmbH on behalf of the BW Ministry of Economic Affairs
• Invest BW — innovation funding (innovation subpage)— VDI/VDE Innovation + Technik GmbH on behalf of the BW Ministry of Economic Affairs
• BW Ministry of Economic Affairs, Labour and Tourism — Invest BW programme page— Ministry of Economic Affairs, Labour and Tourism Baden-Württemberg
• Förderdatenbank des Bundes — Invest BW Innovation— Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK)

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