EXIST — Existenzgründungen aus der Wissenschaft

EXIST-Forschungstransfer — Research Transfer Grant

Supports research-intensive spinouts through staged development from discovery to company readiness.

EXIST-Forschungstransfer (EFT) is the highest-intensity sub-program within the federal EXIST initiative, operated by the Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Energie (BMWE) via Projektträger Jülich (PtJ) and confirmed active through Monitoring Report #3 (March 2026). Unlike EXIST-Gründungsstipendium, which supports ventures that are ready to be founded, Forschungstransfer is structured for research projects that require significant further technical development — including complex, high-risk R&D work — before a company can be established. The program is structured in two phases: an institution-based pre-founding R&D phase and a post-formation commercialization phase, with funding flowing through the university or research institute in Phase 1 and directly to the spin-out company in Phase 2.

Eligibility is restricted to scientists and research teams based at German universities or publicly funded research institutions, and the project must be too technically complex or high-risk for the simpler Gründungsstipendium track. Applications are submitted on a rolling basis via the dedicated EXIST-Antrag EFT online tool at exist.de/tools/exist_antrag_eft.html; there is no fixed call deadline. Award amounts, phase durations, eligible costs, and matching fund requirements are defined in the EXIST-Forschungstransfer programme guidelines PDF hosted at exist.de/downloads/ — this document was not extracted at ingest and applicants must consult it for current financial terms. The program forms part of Germany's federal startup strategy and is directly linked to the Startup Factories initiative for universities producing deep-tech ventures.

To be competitive, applicants need to demonstrate that the venture concept emerges directly from their own research output and that the technical challenges cannot be resolved within a standard Gründungsstipendium timeline. Strong applications document the specific R&D milestones required before company formation, include letters of support from the host institution, and present a credible commercialization pathway. Teams whose host university participates in the EXIST Potentiale or Startup Factories networks receive additional ecosystem support during the application and execution phases.