We bridge the gap between innovative ideas and viable R&D projects
QRAI Innovation GmbH supports small and medium-sized enterprises in challenging R&D collaborations, with particular expertise in ZIM cooperation projects, industrial development initiatives, and technology-driven innovations.
We help companies organize technical ideas, suitable partners, funding criteria, and commercialization into a clear project structure. This ensures that a development project does not become a loose experiment in securing funding, but rather a robust project with substance, financing prospects, and market relevance.
Structure creates flexibility
QRAI was founded on the observation that many strong technical ideas fail not because of the technology itself, but because the company’s structure, financing, partners, and commercialization strategy are not considered together early enough.
Founder Natalia Kourakina-Lattner has supported companies through various stages of development over many years: as a consultant, sparring partner, investor, and partner for corporate development, financing, and growth.
What became clear is that small and medium-sized enterprises often have strong technical concepts. What is usually lacking is not the idea itself, but rather the time, structure, and experience needed to develop it into an eligible R&D project.
This insight led to the creation of QRAI in its current form: We view government funding as a strategic lever for making development risks more manageable, building partnerships, and bringing innovations to market more quickly.
What Defines QRAI Today
Today, QRAI is a specialized team dedicated to structuring, applying for, and advancing technology-driven R&D projects. Our focus is on ZIM collaboration projects for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), particularly in areas where industrial, materials-related, process-related, or technology-driven innovations are to be developed. We do not merely write grant proposals. We approach projects from an entrepreneurial, technical, and economic perspective: from the core development through the partner structure to subsequent commercialization.
We therefore continue to support many of our clients even after a successful R&D project, for example during market launch, scaling, follow-up projects, or the strategic further development of the resulting innovation.
The team behind it
Natalia Kourakina-Lattner
Founder and Managing Director
Natalia Kourakina-Lattner brings over 25 years of experience at the intersection of business development, financing, B2B sales, innovation consulting, and grant management.
25+ years
Business experience
€1.5 billion
Project scope managed
Business
Angel
Natalia has initiated and implemented international projects – with project budgets of up to 1.5 billion euros – and has supported companies through a wide range of stages: from early-stage business development and financing issues to market entry, growth, and scaling.
After working in large corporations, technology-based SMEs, and startup environments, she decided to focus her experience, network, and entrepreneurial perspective specifically on innovative companies.
As a consultant, sparring partner, and business angel, she understands the questions that are crucial for growth-oriented companies: Which idea is truly viable? What structure does the project need? How can it be financed? And how does this lead to an economically viable next step?
Her strength lies in organizing complex technical, economic, and organizational interrelationships and developing a clear project logic from them with a view to implementation, funding, and subsequent commercialization.
At QRAI, Natalia represents a consulting approach that consistently integrates technical substance, eligibility for funding, and entrepreneurial impact.
Alexander Lattner
Business Expertise for Growth, Financing, and Implementation
Alexander Lattner serves as the business advisor on the QRAI team. With over 30 years of experience in finance, controlling, accounting, and treasury, he has built, restructured, and scaled financial organizations across a wide range of industries – from startups to international corporations.
30+
Years Finance
M&A
PE Expertise
Alexander’s strength lies in his ability to quickly grasp complex financial and organizational structures, bring clarity to the situation, and prepare companies for the next stage of development: improved processes, reliable financial data, financially viable growth plans, and a professional basis for decision-making.
Through his work in senior finance roles and his collaboration with private equity firms, he has practical experience with the requirements of growth-oriented companies and the further development of portfolio companies.
At QRAI, he applies this experience where R&D projects must be considered beyond the application stage: in terms of economic feasibility, financing prospects, market launch, scaling, and the question of how development results can be transformed into robust business models.
In this way, QRAI combines technical innovation, eligibility for funding, and commercial execution strength.
Technological expertise with a focus on expert assessment and implementation
The QRAI team is complemented by experts with PhDs who have practical experience in research, small and medium-sized enterprises, and project evaluation.
Research
Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises
Project Evaluation
Technical Argumentation
Our team members bring scientific and technical expertise to the table while also understanding what matters most in the technical evaluation of innovation projects: clear development goals, transparent technical risks, robust work packages, and a compelling case.
Thanks to previous experience in the technical evaluation of technology-oriented projects, our team also understands the perspective from which projects are assessed: What is comprehensible? Where is substance lacking? Which arguments hold up? And when does a technical idea become a compelling R&D project?
This experience is reflected in the structure, language, and technical plausibility of our proposals – professional, clean, and without artificial exaggeration.
For companies with a genuine commitment to development
QRAI Innovation GmbH works with technology-driven companies that are pursuing a relevant development program and wish to make professional use of funding opportunities.
QRAI is particularly well-suited for companies where the CEO, CFO, or commercial director wants to consciously outsource the process without losing control over objectives, profitability, and strategic direction.
It makes sense to talk to us if you
- have a technical idea but don’t yet have a clear project structure,
- want to develop a new product, process, material, or technical system,
- want to establish a partnership with companies or research institutions,
- wish to utilize ZIM funding without having to establish the funding framework internally,
- want to involve management, the CFO, or commercial leadership in the decision-making process,
- are already thinking about future market launch, scaling, or commercialization
-
As a leading German provider of programming services for Industry 4.0, we are often faced with the question of how to prioritize and drive our developments. By working with QRAI Innovation Lab, we gained a highly competent and, above all, solution-oriented consultant for precisely this issue.
Since then, we have successfully implemented two projects. What I personally like about the team of QRAI is the positive attitude, the distinctive perseverance paired with an international network as well as very high professionalism.
Robofunktion GmbH
Dr. Thomas Werner, Managing Director -
As a Berlin-based KI startup for predictive maintenance, we were able to benefit from the Coaching Bonus Berlin program and from Natalia’s deep understanding of the robotic industry. Thanks to the coaching, we were able to get valuable insights and advice specific to our industry, analyze our business model and sharpen a comprehensive strategy. At the end of the coaching, we received a grant analysis that ensured we would not miss out on any financial support.
utpatti GmbH
Dr. Tejo Chalasani, CEO and founder -
I started working with QRAI a year ago and I have to say that it was the best decision I could have made for my company.
With the help of Mrs. Kourakina-Lattner and her team, we were able to completely restructure our R&D portfolio and concentrate on the one, promising development. We have gathered market feedback and already won a pilot customer. Through a structured funding strategy, we can now better manage the development risks. And the most important thing – we felt completely reassured during the project implementation and can concentrate on our core competencies, namely the development of innovative robot systems.
Sikora GmbH
Ralf Sikora, Managing Director -
Natalia was our dedicated life sciences expert and mentor from the EIT Health Program (EU). As an award-winning Hungarian biotech start-up, our company (APPERCELL) has developed a unique smart research and screening system for labs and pharmaceutical companies.
The coaching with Natalia helped us to focus on the relevant topics of business development and to sharpen our product offering. Jointly, we laid the foundation of our value proposition for the target markets. Natalia gave us tools to validate our assumptions and to prepare a territory-focused go-to-market strategy. She provided enormous marketing and sales expertise in a very authentic way and offered excellent training to our entire sales team. With this knowledge, we feel well-equipped to start scaling our business model.Appercell Biotech Kft.
Andras Bencsik, CEO -
The team of QRAI helped me reach the next level of my company’s growth via setting up the strategy both in product and related R&D. I was impressed about their expertise in European funding, especially in drafting approaches on EU grants for deep tech startups. They gave me clarity on additional business models and income opportunities tied to my original product idea. I also got a profound analysis on European market entry for my business.
Broad Mind Inc.
Ivan Tsyplukhin, Developer of the next generation non-invasive brain-computer-interfaces
What motivates me about innovation projects
Innovation rarely happens in isolation. It emerges where different perspectives come together: companies, technical teams, research partners, financing partners, customers, and markets. It is precisely these connections that have always interested me.
My work has often involved bridging worlds: between technology and the market, between entrepreneurs and investors, between research and small and medium-sized enterprises, between idea and implementation. The fact that I work in four languages—German, English, French, and Russian—has further shaped this perspective. Language is only part of it. What matters most is understanding different ways of thinking and bringing them together.
I find the connection between SMEs and technology-oriented scale-ups particularly exciting. SMEs bring market access, application experience, and industrial reality to the table. Scale-ups contribute speed, new technologies, and entrepreneurial energy. When these worlds are brought together effectively, particularly strong innovation projects often emerge.
For a technical concept to evolve into a viable R&D project, it requires structure, the right partners, funding, trust, and a clear vision for its future commercialization.
That is why I founded QRAI Innovation GmbH: to serve as a partner for companies that don’t just want to apply for grants, but truly want to advance a technical project.
We don’t just support our clients until they receive approval. When it makes sense, we also provide support afterward: with market launch, follow-up projects, scaling, or connecting them with suitable partners from our network.
If you have an idea with substance but still need structure, partners, or a clear commercialization strategy, we’d be happy to support you.
Natalia Kourakina-Lattner
Managing Director of QRAI Innovation GmbH
Do you have a technical idea but no clear
project structure yet?
Then it’s worth scheduling an initial meeting.
Together, we’ll assess whether your project is a good fit for QRAI, whether an R&D partnership might be a good idea, and what the next steps should be.