EXIST Business Start-up Grant (Gründungsstipendium)
German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs (BMWE) · Founder stipend
$155K12-month stipends of €3,000/mo (PhD), €2,500 (graduates), €2,000 (vocational), €1,000 (students) + €150/child; team material budget €30,000 (solo up to €10,000) + €5,000 coaching — up to ~€143k for a 3-person PhD team
Pre-founding stipend for innovative, tech/knowledge-based startup teams coming out of German universities and research institutions.
Key terms
- Apply through a German university/research institution's start-up network (the institution is the applicant)
- Team of max. 3; at least one with a university degree; graduates up to 5 years after leaving university; students must be ≥ halfway through their degree
- Company must not yet be founded at the start of funding (may be founded during it)
- Innovation must have a clear USP — mere improvements/combinations of existing products not eligible
Eligibility
- Where
- Germany
- Stages
- idea, pre-seed
- Needs VC/accelerator backing
- No
- Needs partner referral code
- No
- Must be incorporated
- No
- AI focus required
- No
- Students / researchers
- Eligible
- Nonprofits
- Not eligible
Also required
- Company must not yet be incorporated
- Mentor at the host institution required
How to apply
Contact your university's founding network, use the EGS-Check, and prepare the application with them.
- Benefit
- cash
- Equity-free
- Yes
- Decision time
- —
- Credit validity
- —
- Deadline
- Rolling
- Status
- Open
Verified 2026-10-22 · source