IBI-ERDF Rhineland-Palatinate: implementing business innovation

Up to €5m in grant for your next innovation investment in Rhineland-Palatinate.

The state programme IBI-ERDF (FPG 361) subsidises investment by small and medium-sized companies in Rhineland-Palatinate that constitutes a technological transformation or the digitalisation of production or of the business model. Small companies receive up to 20% and medium-sized companies up to 10% of eligible costs as a non-repayable grant, with a minimum of €50,000 and a maximum of €5m per project. The basis is the administrative provision VV IBI-EFRE of 29 August 2023 under the ERDF Rhineland-Palatinate 2021-2027 operational programme (PO 1). Applications run through the ISB customer portal and have to be made before the project starts.

Eligibility

SME status under EU Recommendation 2003/361/EC (up to 249 employees and up to €50m turnover or up to €43m balance sheet total; linked and partner companies are consolidated).
A registered office or operating site in Rhineland-Palatinate where the project is carried out (the ERDF place-of-effect principle).
The project has to constitute a technological transformation or the digitalisation of production or of the business model, confirmed by a competent body or an external innovation assessor. Pure replacement investment and standard purchases with no transformative character are not eligible.
The application has to be made before the project starts (the incentive effect under Art. 6 GBER). Binding orders, preliminary contracts or payments before the approval notice lead to exclusion from funding.
The company must not be in economic difficulty (Art. 2 no. 18 GBER) and must not be subject to an outstanding EU recovery order.
Not an excluded sector: agriculture and forestry (except processing and marketing of agricultural products), aquaculture, hospitals, care facilities and campsites are excluded.
Total financing of the project has to be secured at the time of application (proof of creditworthiness: balance sheets and profit and loss accounts for the last 2–3 years, where relevant a bank confirmation).
The project observes the DNSH principle (no significant harm to the six EU environmental objectives); a DNSH self-assessment for each environmental objective, with reasons, is required in the application.
Impact indicators (output and result indicators under Annex I Regulation (EU) 2021/1058, such as CO01 the number of companies supported, and jobs safeguarded or created) have to be set out in the application with realistic targets.
A minimum investment volume of around €250,000 (small companies) or around €500,000 (medium-sized companies) has to be reached in order to trigger the indicative minimum grant of €50,000.

Eligible costs

Tangible investment — new machinery, plant and production equipment serving the implementation of the innovation directly (technological transformation or digitalisation of production). Replacement investment with no transformative character is excluded.
Tangible investment — IT hardware with a clear link to the digitalisation in the project (servers, network components, sensors, IoT hardware, edge computing devices).
Intangible investment — software licences, capitalisable cloud services, patent licences and know-how licences with a direct link to the project.
Construction investment directly connected with the innovation (a machine foundation, connecting infrastructure, cleanroom fit-out); eligibility has to be clarified against the current text of the provision or with an ISB case handler.
External services to implement the innovation (engineering, software customisation, system integration, project-related training). Pure ongoing advisory or operating services with no investment character are not eligible.
Basis: net amounts excluding VAT where the applicant can deduct input tax (CPR Art. 64 (1) (c)); otherwise gross amounts.

Common pitfalls

Starting the work early

Binding orders, preliminary contracts, investments or payments before the approval notice lead to complete exclusion from funding or to clawback with interest. Non-binding requests for quotes, tenders and preliminary discussions are harmless. Always apply first, then invest.

The innovation assessment is missing or unconvincing

A pure replacement investment or a standard purchase with no recognisable transformative or digitalising character is not eligible. The competent body's innovation assessment has to set out clearly the state of the art, the company's current position and the planned technological differentiation. An unclear assessment means rejection.

SME status calculated wrongly

For linked or partner companies, employees, turnover and balance sheet total are consolidated. If a majority shareholder is a large company, you can easily exceed the SME thresholds. Check the definition in EU Recommendation 2003/361/EC carefully before you submit.

Falling below the minimum investment volume

With an indicative minimum grant of €50,000 and funding intensities of 20% (small) and 10% (medium-sized companies), the eligible investment volume has to reach at least around €250,000 (small) or €500,000 (medium-sized companies). Smaller projects are not eligible under IBI-ERDF.

Double funding of the same cost items

The same investment items may not be funded in parallel from IBI-ERDF and another EU fund, federal programme (the ZIM investment component, BEG, a KfW investment grant, Digital Jetzt) or state programme. Combining different programmes for clearly delimited parts of a project with separate cost items is, by contrast, permitted.

Ignoring the EU publicity obligations

ERDF-funded projects have to make the EU funding visible: the EU emblem with the wording 'Co-funded by the European Union', a website reference and, for investments with a total volume above around €500,000, a sign at the project site. Breaches can lead to financial corrections of 2 to 25% of the grant.

A DNSH self-assessment that is too superficial

A blanket statement that DNSH is met, with no reasons per environmental objective, isn't enough. Assess all six EU environmental objectives comprehensibly. For energy-relevant investment, the 'energy efficiency first' principle also applies.

Not observing the retention period

Funded capital goods have to remain at the Rhineland-Palatinate site and be used for their purpose for at least 3 years (the SME retention period under CPR Art. 65). Selling or relocating them early leads to pro rata clawback.

The application process

1 — Contact ISB's funding advisers. Before applying formally, a discussion with ISB's business funding advisers is recommended (+49 6131 6172-1333, beratung@isb.rlp.de). Clarify eligibility (SME status, registered office or site in Rhineland-Palatinate, sector), the innovation link and the likely aid framework (a GBER article or de minimis).
2 — Engage a competent body or innovation assessor. Engage a qualified competent body to produce the innovation assessment. The specific requirements for the assessor's qualifications and fee have to be clarified with the ISB before engagement. The assessment has to evidence the current position, the intended position and the transformative or digitalising character clearly.
3 — Prepare the application documents. Produce the project description, the innovation assessment, an investment and cost plan (with comparative quotes), a financing plan, proof of creditworthiness (balance sheets and profit and loss accounts for the last 2–3 years), an SME declaration, a state aid declaration, the DNSH self-assessment, an impact indicator plan and a publicity concept.
4 — Submit the application in the ISB customer portal (BEFORE the project starts). Submit through the ISB customer portal (https://ssp-client-v3.isbrlp-online.de/login), necessarily before any binding order, investment or payment. No early start.
5 — Wait for the ISB's assessment and approval. The ISB assesses the application and sets the grant amount, funding intensity and aid framework bindingly in the approval notice.
6 — Start and deliver the project. After approval you can start the investment, typically within 3 months of the application. Observe the procurement rules (UVgO/VgV/VOB), meet all EU publicity obligations and collect the output and result indicators continuously.
7 — Submit the statement of use. Once the project is complete, submit the statement of use to the ISB: a substantive report, the financial statement (list of receipts, invoices, proof of payment, procurement records), an indicator balance and evidence of publicity. Then keep the records for at least 5 years (CPR Art. 82).

How upsmart helps

We match your project against IBI-ERDF and more than 2,000 other programmes, with a cumulation check (a ZIM R&D phase plus IBI-ERDF implementation with separate cost items, for instance) and a de minimis headroom check. We determine the right GBER article (Art. 14, 17, 28 or 29) in advance; your team decides. We keep an eye on the ERDF funding period deadlines: project delivery to 31 December 2027, spending to 31 December 2029.

Combining it with other programmes

IBI-ERDF plus a KfW investment loan (KfW 261, 270, the entrepreneur loan) is a frequently used combination: the KfW loan finances your own contribution while IBI-ERDF subsidises the innovation element. The federal ZIM innovation grant and IBI-ERDF can be combined where ZIM finances the upstream R&D phase and IBI-ERDF the subsequent implementation, with clearly separated cost items per programme. Not combinable: identical cost items funded in parallel from IBI-ERDF and another EU, federal or state programme (the ban on double funding, CPR Art. 63 (9)).

Frequently asked questions

Small and medium-sized commercial companies (SMEs) with a registered office or operating site in Rhineland-Palatinate can apply. SME means up to 249 employees and up to €50m annual turnover or up to €43m balance sheet total, with linked and partner companies consolidated. Excluded are large companies, agriculture and forestry (except processing and marketing), aquaculture, hospitals, care facilities, campsites and companies in economic difficulty.

Small companies receive up to 20% and medium-sized companies up to 10% of eligible investment costs as a non-repayable grant. The minimum grant is €50,000 and the maximum €5,000,000 per project (indicative figures from ISB's programme communication; binding figures are in the approval notice). That implies an indicative minimum investment of around €250,000 (small) or €500,000 (medium-sized companies).

Applications are submitted through the ISB customer portal (https://ssp-client-v3.isbrlp-online.de/login), necessarily before the project starts. A preliminary discussion with ISB's business funding advisers is recommended (+49 6131 6172-1333). To apply you need, among other things, a project description, an innovation assessment from a competent body, a cost and financing plan, an SME declaration, a DNSH self-assessment and an impact indicator plan.

Eligible are investment projects that constitute a technological transformation or the digitalisation of production or of the business model: new machinery and plant, IT hardware, software licences and construction adjustments directly connected with the innovation. Pure replacement investment, standard purchases with no transformative character and mere capacity expansion with no new technological content are excluded.

Yes, provided no cost items are funded twice. A common combination is IBI-ERDF for the investment grant plus a KfW loan for your own contribution. ZIM (federal funding) and IBI-ERDF can be combined where ZIM covers the R&D phase and IBI-ERDF the subsequent implementation, with clearly delimited cost items per programme. The same investment item may never be subsidised twice.

Read on in the blog

Funding strategy across the innovation process

Primary sources

ISB programme page IBI-EFRE (FPG 361)— Investitions- und Strukturbank Rheinland-Pfalz (ISB)
The ERDF programme family in Rhineland-Palatinate — ISB overview— Investitions- und Strukturbank Rheinland-Pfalz (ISB)
ERDF programme portal Rhineland-Palatinate— ERDF managing authority Rhineland-Palatinate (MWVLW)
ISB customer portal (applications)— Investitions- und Strukturbank Rheinland-Pfalz (ISB)
Ministry for Economic Affairs, Transport, Agriculture and Viticulture RLP (MWVLW)— State of Rhineland-Palatinate
Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 — Common Provisions Regulation (CPR)— European Union (EUR-Lex)
Regulation (EU) No 651/2014 — the General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER)— European Union (EUR-Lex)
Regulation (EU) 2023/2831 — the de minimis Regulation— European Union (EUR-Lex)

A 30-minute demo on your actual case. We'll show you how the platform structures funding programmes and makes overlaps with other schemes visible.