EXIST Forschungstransfer
Supports EXIST Forschungstransfer to help university spin-outs convert research results into venture-ready deep technology companies.
EXIST Forschungstransfer is the research-transfer track inside BMWE’s EXIST umbrella, delivered through Projektträger Jülich. EXIST has operated since 1998, and this line is aimed at research-based spinouts that need more time and more technical work than a standard founding grant can cover. The ministry places it alongside EXIST-Gründungsstipendium and INVEST in its entrepreneurship portfolio. It is a German annual grant with a published range of EUR 267,500 to EUR 2,675,000. Eligibility is limited to German-registered and German-operating for-profit applicants, with individuals excluded and no consortium requirement. The programme is explicitly for technology-oriented and knowledge-based ventures with complex, high-risk development work. The best fit is a team turning university or institute research into a company when the technical transfer is still uncertain. Applicants need a convincing path from research result to startup, a credible development plan, and enough depth to absorb a larger grant window without losing momentum. BMWE and EXIST use it for the heavier end of research commercialisation, where the development phase is still too risky for ordinary seed support.
No upcoming rounds verified. Cadence: Annual.