EFunding programmes

E.1 Germany: federal programmes

KfW ERP-Förderkredit Digitalisierung (511, 512) and Innovation (513, 514). Since 1 July 2025 these two ERP promotional loans have replaced the ERP-Digitalisierungs- und Innovationskredit (380, 390, 391),²³⁵ which many funding guides still name but which no longer accepts applications.²³⁶ Both are loans through the house bank, in three stages:²³⁷

• Stage 1 (Basis): up to €7.5 million, for SMEs and freelancers only, after the KfW Digitalisierungs-Check, without a grant.
• Stage 2 (LevelUp): up to €25 million, with an ERP-Förderzuschuss of 3 % of the amount paid out.
• Stage 3 (HighEnd): up to €25 million, with a grant of 5 % of the amount paid out.

The grant is capped at €200,000 and is paid only after the loan has been fully drawn.²³⁷ Companies with group turnover of up to €500 million and a seat or branch in Germany are eligible. Programme 512 adds a 50 % liability release for the bank.²³⁷ The digitalisation loan names IT security, security standards and data security concepts as Stage 2 themes, as well as the building of digital business models, and finances running costs as well as investment.²³⁷ The CRA security work and the device platform of a connected product fit Stage 2, while the development of the product itself fits the innovation loan.²³⁸ Neither loan has an application deadline. The loan must be drawn within 24 months (511) or 12 months (512) of the commitment.²³⁷ The interest rate depends on the price class the house bank assigns. For 511 over ten years, with two repayment-free years and the rate fixed for ten years, the nominal rate valid from 9 October 2026 ran from 4.48 % in the best to 10.88 % in the worst of nine classes in Stage 1, from 4.33 to 10.73 % in Stage 2 and from 4.18 to 10.58 % in Stage 3.²³⁹

BAFA EEW Modul 3. The federal energy and resource efficiency programme funds measurement, control and sensor technology and energy-management software in a company’s own operations, at 45 % for small, 35 % for medium-sized and 25 % for large companies.⁵⁷ BAFA still runs it, with no application stop. It funds software and hardware for setting up or running an energy or environmental management system in the applicant’s own plant, not sensors or software in products sold to customers.⁵⁷ A manufacturer can use it to meter its own production, not to develop its connected products.

Digital Jetzt. The economics ministry’s investment grant ran until 31 December 2023.⁷⁰

Digital-Tech-to-Product. The Federal Ministry for Digital Affairs and State Modernisation (BMDS) funds start-ups and SMEs, alone or in a consortium, that take a digital technology from proof of concept to TRL 8. Applicants must show a business model and how their technology stack contributes to digital sovereignty.^{66, 68} The BMDS awards up to €5 million per project in a two-stage procedure. The first call set AI, data ecosystems, cybersecurity and cloud and edge computing as focus areas.⁶⁸ The first call closed on 11 October 2026, and the ministry expects to publish further calls in the coming months.⁶⁶

InnoNT+ (Smarte Konnektivität für die Wirtschaft). The BMDS provides at least €60 million until 2029 for sector-specific application centres where companies test connectivity solutions in real operations. Consortia submitted sketches by 13 April or 6 May 2026.⁶⁷ The programme funds centres, not a manufacturer’s own product. A maker can, however, join a consortium or use a centre.

ZIM. The central innovation programme for SMEs has run under a guideline of 28 November 2024 since 1 January 2025.⁷¹ It pays 25 to 45 % of eligible costs for single projects and 30 to 55 % for cooperation projects (40 to 60 % with a foreign partner), depending on company size and region, on costs of up to €690,000 per single project and €560,000 per company in a cooperation.⁷¹ SMEs and other mid-sized companies with fewer than 500 staff are eligible, or with fewer than 1,000 if they cooperate with a funded SME.⁷¹ The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE) stopped new applications on 7 July 2026. It cites demand that had risen sharply since the fourth quarter of 2025 and limited federal funds. The funds planned for 2026 were used up by mid-year.³⁸⁷

Forschungszulage. The R&D tax allowance is 25 % of the assessment base, and SMEs can claim ten percentage points more.⁶² For costs incurred from 1 January 2026 the maximum assessment base rose to €12 million a year.^{35, 62} The flat rate for an owner’s own work rose from €70 to €100 per hour, and overheads are recognised at a flat 20 % for projects starting after 31 December 2025.^{35, 62} In our assessment, development of a new connected product with real technical uncertainty can qualify, while routine compliance work does not.

Transferstelle Cybersicherheit im Mittelstand. It offers free checks, first consultations and emergency help to SMEs, start-ups and craft businesses.³⁹³ It is advice, not money, and it targets the company’s own IT rather than its products.

E.2 Germany: state programmes

The states carried most of the grant funding for digitalisation after Digital Jetzt ended in 2023.⁷⁰ Most of their grants are reserved for small or medium-sized companies, and several have closed or paused.

• Baden-Württemberg. The Digitalisierungsprämie Plus expired on 30 June 2025.²⁵⁰ Its successor is the L-Bank Digitalisierungsfinanzierung, a development loan with an interest subsidy and a repayment grant of up to 5 % for SMEs, from €10,000 to €5 million and up to €25 million for larger companies. It can be combined with the KfW grant in Stages 2 and 3.²⁵¹
• Bavaria. Digitalbonus.Bayern runs until 31 December 2027. Small enterprises with a site in Bavaria receive up to €7,500 (Standard, cut to this amount in 2026) or up to €30,000 (Plus, for measures with particular innovation content), at up to 50 % of eligible costs.²⁹ IT security is a funding area of its own, covering security processes and hardware such as firewalls.²⁹
• Berlin. The Digitalprämie Berlin closed with its deadline of 31 December 2023.²²⁹
• Hamburg. The Hamburg Digital Check of the IFB Hamburg pays up to 50 % of consulting costs on information security and digital change, at most €7,500, to SMEs with a site in Hamburg.²⁰³ The Hamburg-Kredit Digital, in its version of 15 April 2026, combines a loan of €25,000 to €2.5 million, refinanced from KfW programme 511, with a Hamburg grant of up to 12 % of the loan, at most €20,000, on top of the KfW grant. It is open to SMEs and runs until 31 December 2028 at the latest.²⁰⁴
• Hesse. The DIGI-Zuschuss pays up to 50 % of external costs, at most €10,000, to SMEs. Projects above €50,000 are excluded, and IT security measures are eligible. Applicants must first take part in a WIBank funding call.²⁰⁵ Distr@l funds digital product innovation with up to €500,000 at 50 % for SMEs, after a project sketch to the Hessian digital ministry.⁴¹²
• Lower Saxony. The Digitalbonus.​Niedersachsen-innovativ expired on 31 December 2025. NBank has announced a new edition but has not published its terms yet.²⁸²
• North Rhine-Westphalia. Mittelstand Innovativ & Digital (MID) pays up to €15,000 for investments in digital products, security and processes, and up to €48,000 for hiring a graduate for an innovation project. The programme moved to NRW.BANK in 2026.²⁹⁴ MID-Digitalisierung and MID-Digitale Sicherheit are allocated by lottery, MID-Assistent(in) through a waiting list. Demand had used up the quota for MID-Digitale Prozesse, and the state added €650,000. Applications open on 19 October 2026 at 10:00 in the NRW.BANK portal.²⁹⁴ The project must not start before approval.
• Rhineland-Palatinate. The state has no digitalisation grant. DigiBoost is no longer among the ISB’s innovation and digitalisation programmes.²²⁸ What remains is InnoTop, an R&D grant for SMEs and companies with up to 499 staff, at a base rate of 25 % for experimental development plus up to 20 points for company size and 15 for cooperation with research, at most 80 %,²²⁶ and IBI-EFRE, an investment grant of up to 20 % for small and 10 % for medium-sized companies for product and process innovations, from €50,000 to €5 million.²²⁷
• Saxony offers a digitalisation loan (Digi-D) of €30,000 to €250,000 for SMEs.³³⁹
• Schleswig-Holstein. The DKU guideline, in force since June 2026, pays small enterprises with fewer than 50 staff 40 % of up to €20,000 for consulting and up to €200,000 for implementation. Every project must improve IT and information security, and the guideline runs until 30 June 2027.²⁷³ Manufacturers with 100 to 4,999 staff are therefore not eligible.
• Thuringia. The funds of the Digitalbonus Thüringen are used up. The programme accepts no more applications.³⁸⁶

E.3 Austria: aws and FFG

Austria’s federal budget consolidation reached digitalisation funding directly. KMU.DIGITAL, run by the WKO and aws, paid for consulting and implementation, including an IT and cybersecurity track, at up to 30 % and €6,000 per track for implementation.²⁴ The budget of KMU.DIGITAL 4.0 is exhausted, and no further applications are possible. The programme will not continue from 2027 because of the federal budget consolidation.⁴¹⁴

aws Digitalisierung is a call-based grant of up to €150,000 depending on the call. No call is open. The AI adoption call closed on 28 February 2025, and no further call has been announced.²⁵ aws still offers finance year-round:

• aws erp-Kredit: €10,000 to €37.5 million, up to 100 % of project costs, at a fixed or step-fixed rate. The loan must be fully secured by a bank or an aws guarantee, and the application must be filed before the project starts. Digitalisation is one of the named purposes.²⁶
• aws Garantie: up to 80 % of a loan, with a maximum aws exposure of €30 million.²⁷

FFG Basisprogramm is the main route for product development in Austria. It is open to all topics and company sizes and accepts applications at any time in 2026.³¹³ It funds R&D projects with a mix of grant and loan at 1.75 % a year. The total funding rate is 45 % for small companies (grant up to 28 %), 35 % for medium-sized (grant up to 25 %) and 25 % for large companies (grant up to 19 %), with up to €3 million per project.³¹⁶ The Kleinprojekt variant gives SMEs a grant of up to €88,500 for projects of up to €150,000.³¹⁸ The budget of Projekt.Start 2026, for feasibility work, ran out, and the programme closed early on 4 May 2026.³²⁰ KIRAS, the security research programme, has a call open from 5 October 2026 to 26 February 2027, with up to €2 million per project. It targets civil security and critical infrastructure, not product compliance.³¹⁷ The FFG’s 2026 DACH call funds transport infrastructure research and does not apply to product makers.³¹⁴

The Forschungsprämie of 14 % of R&D expenses remains in force. Claims require an annual expert opinion from the FFG.³¹⁵

E.4 Switzerland: Innosuisse

Innosuisse does not fund companies directly in its main instrument. In an innovation project with an implementation partner, it pays the Swiss research partner (a university or university of applied sciences). The company bears 40 to 60 % of the total project costs, at least 5 % of them in cash.²²³ Applications are due at least six weeks before the meetings of the Innovation Council and are decided in six to eight weeks.²²³ For a Swiss maker, this suits work with a technical research question, such as a secure update architecture or a low-power tracker design. It does not suit routine compliance.

The Innovation Cheque covers 100 % of a research partner’s costs up to CHF 15,000 for companies with fewer than 250 FTE, once every two years.²²² Start-up innovation projects fund up to 70 % of direct costs for pre-market start-ups with fewer than 50 FTE.²²⁴ Innosuisse plans no call for the Swiss Accelerator for SMEs already on the market. Since 1 January 2025 Swiss companies can take part in the EIC Accelerator as full beneficiaries instead.²²⁵

The Federal Council’s relief package 2027 proposed cutting the federal contribution to Innosuisse by about 10 %, or CHF 32 million in 2027.^{221, 348}

E.5 EU calls related to the CRA

SECURE, a project supported by the European Cybersecurity Competence Centre (ECCC), passes EU money on to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises within the scope of the CRA: up to €30,000 per grant at 50 % co-financing, from a budget of €11.5 million in its second call, open from 1 October to 11 December 2026.³⁵³ The Digital Europe Programme topic DIGITAL-ECCC-2027-DEPLOY-CYBER-11-EULEG funds the implementation of EU cyber legislation, including the CRA, NIS2, the GDPR, DORA and the Cybersecurity Act. It has a budget of €20 million at a 50 % funding rate and is open from 1 September 2026 to 14 January 2027.²⁸⁰ A sister topic in the same call, AI4SME, has €20 million for SME security with AI tools, at up to 75 % for SMEs, but does not mention the CRA.²⁷⁹

The national coordination centres run no CRA cascade call of their own. Neither the German NCC (NKCS) nor the Austrian NCC-AT currently lists one.^{281, 319} The European Digital Innovation Hubs offer services to companies. In October 2025, 83 of them were selected for renewed funding.¹⁵²

E.6 Overview

Of the 41 programmes, 24 accept applications (Table 40).