FFG Frontrunner

FFG Frontrunner

Funds Austrian start-ups and scale-ups building transformative innovation with Frontrunner-style support.

FFG Frontrunner 2026 is part of the Austrian Research Promotion Agency's Transformation Initiative, targeting SMEs—particularly scaleups—that are on their way to becoming established technological and innovation leaders, as well as companies already recognised as Frontrunners. The programme funds experimental development projects (TRL 5–8) that contribute to the sustainable and/or digital transformation of the economy. Unlike the General Programme, Frontrunner is limited to for-profit companies; universities, research organisations, and non-profits are not eligible applicants. Small enterprises with up to nine employees and companies in the pre-startup phase are not the target group and are directed toward the General Programme instead.

Funding is a non-repayable grant only—no loan component—of up to 45% of eligible project costs for small enterprises, 35% for medium-sized, and 25% for large enterprises, with the headline maximum set at EUR 3,000,000 in eligible project costs. Projects are typically single-firm and no cooperation bonus is offered, distinguishing this instrument from collaborative programmes. Each company is limited to one active Frontrunner project per research category. The 2026 call is open for continuous rolling submission from 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2026, with seven FFG decision-board meetings per year following expert evaluation on technical merit and commercialisation potential. Call documents are in German only, under Call Guideline Frontrunner (transformative) version 3.2, valid from 20 April 2026.

Applications are submitted through the FFG eCall portal along with business plan and supporting documents. The scoring system weighs the degree of innovation, technical challenge, and the applicant's economic performance and commercialisation strategy. Frontrunner projects that are ambitions flagship R&D investments embedded in a clear international growth strategy and delivering exploitable digital or physical products or processes tend to score highest. Companies in difficulty under EU state-aid rules are excluded from funding.