INVEST – Venture Capital Grant
INVEST – Zuschuss für Wagniskapital
Open continuously
No deadline — apply whenever you are ready.
Paid to the investor, not the startup. Erwerbszuschuss of "15 Prozent des Ausgabepreises seiner Anteile"; minimum investment "mindestens 10.000 Euro"; maximum €333,333.33 per single investment (€50,000 grant) and €666,666.66 lifetime per person (€100,000 grant). Exit-Zuschuss of "25 Prozent des Gewinns aus der Veräußerung", capped at the original acquisition subsidy. Up to €3m of eligible investment per company per calendar year.
Bundesamt für Wirtschaft und Ausfuhrkontrolle (BAFA)
public · national
Deadline: rolling — Open continuously; the guidance on market-standard clauses was revised with effect from 1 May 2025.
This funder does not publish a success rate. We rank it using the rate observed across similar programmes and label it as an estimate rather than implying we know.
Moderate — a form and supporting documents.
This is de minimis aid. It counts against the €300,000 ceiling that applies to your company across a rolling three years in this member state (Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/2831). If a new award would take you over, Article 3(7) disqualifies that award in full rather than reducing it — so check your headroom before you apply, not after.
Who can apply
- Under 7 years old
- Up to 49 employees
- Turnover up to 10,000,000
- small enterprises
- Stage: pre_seed, seed, series_a
- Locally registered entity required
Company must be "jünger als sieben Jahre", have "weniger als 50 beschäftigte Personen" and "Jahresumsatz oder eine Jahresbilanzsumme von höchstens 10 Millionen Euro", be a Kapitalgesellschaft or eingetragene Genossenschaft with a German operating site, and be innovative. Aid is granted as de minimis.
How to apply
- The startup applies to BAFA for a Förderfähigkeitsbescheinigung confirming it is a young innovative company. — link
- The investor acquires new shares (minimum €10,000) and holds them for the minimum holding period.
- The investor applies to BAFA for the Erwerbszuschuss after the investment.
- On a later sale at a gain, the investor may apply for the Exit-Zuschuss.
What you will need
- Förderfähigkeitsbescheinigung for the company
- Share purchase / investment agreement and proof of payment
- De-minimis declaration
Source. https://bafa.de/DE/Wirtschaft/Beratung_Finanzierung/Invest/invest.html — checked 2026-08-14
"15 Prozent des Ausgabepreises seiner Anteile […] mindestens 10.000 Euro […] 25 Prozent des Gewinns aus der Veräußerung […] jünger als sieben Jahre"