BAFA — Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control

Supports German economic security and clean technology adoption through energy efficiency grants, export compliance, and innovation incentives.

BAFA (Bundesamt für Wirtschaft und Ausfuhrkontrolle) is Germany's federal office for economic affairs and export control, subordinate to the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE, restructured 2025 from BMWK). It disburses direct grants and subsidies in two main areas: energy and climate protection, and SME economic development. Energy programs are dominant — covering industrial energy efficiency (EEW), building refurbishment (BEG-EM), district heating (BEW), and energy advisory services for SMEs and homeowners. In 2021 BAFA reported spending over €3.2 billion across all its funding measures.

For startups and growth companies, the key programmes are INVEST (a tax-free grant paid to business angels who invest in innovative German startups under 7 years old) and the EEW modules (investment grants up to €20M for industrial energy-efficiency measures). BAFA also subsidises professional management consulting for SMEs via its long-standing Business Advisory Services programme.

A significant share of BAFA's remit is regulatory — export controls, chemical weapons convention compliance, energy audit monitoring for large companies, and the EEG special equalisation scheme — none of which generate direct funding to applicants. These regulatory functions are not represented in the Jolt catalog.