ZIM SUMMARY

Who is eligible for funding?
The Central Innovation Program for SMEs (ZIM) is a nationwide funding program that is open to all technologies and industries. The new ZIM funding scheme, which was relaunched by the German government on January 20, 2020, replaces the scheme that expired on December 31, 2019, and is under the administration of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi).

The funding program is largely open to all sectors and is available to medium-sized companies nationwide. The ZIM funding program is intended in particular for R&D activities for innovative products, processes or services.

Eligible projects can be taken up by an individual company alone as well as in cooperation or in association with other companies and research institutions.

What criteria must be met in order to qualify for ZIM funding?
ZIM funding is available to companies in the commercial sector and the liberal professions with fewer than 500 employees (full-time employment) and a maximum of € 50 million in sales or € 43 million in total assets. Furthermore, companies with less than 1,000 employees can be funded, provided that they cooperate with a small and medium-sized enterprise (SME).

What are the objectives of ZIM funding?
ZIM funding has the specific objective of supporting the innovative strength of small and medium-sized enterprises and expanding it in the long term. Another goal of the funding program is to support companies in structurally weak regions and to strengthen knowledge transfer in relation to market economy and research.

Internationalization as well as the establishment of innovation networks are further important areas promoted by the program. This enables companies to integrate in the global market, which leads to the strengthening of small and medium-sized enterprises and the German economy.

How much funding is available?
The amount of funding for ZIM projects, depends on the scope of the individual projects as well as whether the company applies for funding alone or in cooperation. In addition, they are related to the eligible costs and the funding quotas. Costs include personnel costs in the sense of employee gross salaries that are specifically incurred for this project. Here, 120,000 euros per employee is considered eligible.

The grant amount is generally based on the size of the company. Eligible expenses are up to €690,000 for individual projects and €560,000 for cooperation projects.

In cooperation projects, each partner can receive funding for eligible expenses of up to €560,000, with the total project funding capped at €3 million. Research institutions benefit from a funding rate of up to 100%, making collaboration even more attractive and accessible.

In addition, it is also possible to include third-party development costs in the funding. The amount of funding continues to be based on the guidelines, which are designed differently for each type of project and set the upper limit of eligible costs for each type of project.

How much funding is available for ZIM feasibility studies?
The ZIM feasibility study is granted as a non-repayable subsidy. For a study conducted within a single company, up to €125,000 is eligible, while for a cooperative study involving multiple companies, up to €250,000 is eligible.

For non-technical components, such as market or patent research, the maximum eligible amount is €40,000 (single-company study) or €50,000 (cooperative study). The funding rate depends on company size: up to 70% for small enterprises, 60% for medium-sized enterprises, and 50% for other medium-sized companies.

Does the ZIM funding have to be repaid?
No, the ZIM funding does not have to be repaid. It is provided as a non-repayable grant in the form of share funding.

Do you have questions about the individual project forms? We will be happy to help you in this regard with our know-how and extensive experience and give you an initial assessment of the funding options and, if applicable, the possible funding amount.