Central Innovation Programme for SMEs (Zentrales Innovationsprogramm Mittelstand, ZIM)

ZIM R&D Cooperation Projects

Administers collaborative grants for German firms and research partners to run joint innovation projects.

ZIM Cooperation R&D Projects fund joint applied research and development between at least two parties: two companies, or one company and one research institution. Administered by the Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Energie (BMWE) through the ZIM programme, this track is the largest by annual budget within ZIM's portfolio, estimated at approximately €280 million per year out of a total ZIM budget of around €620 million. Under the 2025 funding guideline, maximum eligible costs per participating German company increased from €450,000 to €560,000, and the cap per research institution partner increased from €220,000 to €280,000 for purely German cooperations. At the 55-percent funding rate applicable to smaller Eastern German SMEs, a two-company cooperation can attract a combined grant of up to approximately €616,000.

Eligibility requires at least one German SME as the lead applicant — the SME must have up to 250 employees and annual turnover not exceeding €50 million or a balance sheet total not exceeding €43 million, and must conduct its R&D activities in Germany. Research institution partners (universities, Fraunhofer institutes, and similar public or publicly recognised research organisations) may participate but are not required. International cooperation is permitted and receives higher funding rates than purely German cooperations due to additional coordination costs; however, only the German partners receive ZIM funding. Applications are submitted on a rolling basis to AiF Projekt GmbH, which was designated the project management agency for the Cooperation track under the 2025 programme reorganisation. Typical decision timeline is 3 to 5 months.

The Cooperation track suits SMEs whose R&D ambitions exceed internal capacity and benefit from a formal partner's complementary expertise — whether that is a research institute's laboratory infrastructure or a second company's domain knowledge. Each partner submits its own application portion via the shared AiF Projekt portal, and the partners jointly define the project's R&D scope, IP ownership, and exploitation plan. International partners such as companies in Eureka! member countries have well-established ZIM cooperation precedents.