aws Preseed — Deep Tech

aws Preseed — Deep Tech

Funds Austrian deep-tech founders at the earliest commercialization stage to strengthen real-world implementation.

The aws Preseed Deep Tech program is a non-repayable grant administered by Austria Wirtschaftsservice Gesellschaft mbH (aws), Austria's national promotional bank, and targets founders and very early-stage microenterprises developing business models grounded in exceptional technological or scientific challenge. The program is one of two tiers in aws's Preseed|Seedfinancing Deep Tech family — the other being the larger Seedfinancing program — and is designed to de-risk commercially ambitious deep-tech ventures before or immediately after company formation. An informational session for the program family is scheduled for June 17, 2026.

The standard award ceiling is €267,000, covering up to 80% of eligible costs, with a minimum 10% equity contribution required from the founding shareholders. A gender bonus applies when women hold more than 25% of company ownership: the ceiling rises to €300,000 and the funding rate increases to 90% of eligible costs. Applicants must be natural persons or microenterprises that are either pre-incorporation or within the first six months after company registration in Austria. Six eligible sectors are defined: Digitalisation, ICT, Physical Science, GreenTech, Quantum Technology, and Life Science. The program accepts applications on a rolling, continuous basis, with jury decisions made several times per year; the historical success rate is approximately 25%.

Winning applicants typically demonstrate a clearly articulated technological or scientific frontier challenge, credible preliminary proof of concept or research foundation, and a realistic path from the funded work toward investable scale. The non-repayable structure means there is no obligation to return funds regardless of commercial outcome, making this particularly attractive for hardware, quantum, and life-science founders whose development timelines precede revenue. Applications and further program detail are managed through the aws Fördermanager portal at aws.at.