Industries 
all sectors (except for Deep Tech)

Company size
natural persons (start-up teams before the company is established) and companies already established and eligible to apply (max. 6 months after their registration in the Commercial Register)

Already established independent partnerships or corporations (limited to micro and small enterprises according to the SME definition)

Development Phases

Preseed: Development phase

• The project demonstrates realistic and strong market potential within scalable business models.

Seedfinancing: Founding phase

• Companies up to 5 years after their incorporation date (at the time the funding is granted)
  • The technical and economic feasibility has already been evaluated, and initial prototypes or applications are available.

Requirements

• Proven high degree of innovation: The project represents the development / further development of a completely new solution for existing problems, as well as the development of significant additions to existing solutions, or the application of existing techniques/materials/processes in a new area, or a solution for a new problem up to the point of market readiness.
• Social and/or ecological added value as a core component of the project.
• Companies must pursue an above‑average growth strategy and be open to growth financing.
• Regardless of the industry, the innovation‑specific impact must fall within the following thematic areas:
  • Diversity / Equality / Integration / Inclusion
  • Environment / Resources / Climate Protection
  • Health / Care
  • Education
  • Mobility / Transport
  • Urban Development / Rural Living / Housing
• The project location must be in Austria.
• The additional criteria of the program document (de) must be met.
• The program supports innovative projects outside the field of high technology (Deep Tech). If the core of the innovation lies within high technology, the programs “aws Preseed – Deep Tech” and “aws Seedfinancing – Deep Tech” are more suitable.

Further information and templates of the mandatory documents can be found in the Downloads. 

Type of financing and consulting

• Grant
• Industry-specific consulting, IP advice and coaching: consultations on innovation protection (max 12h): Innovation protection experts assist you in optimally maximizing the potential of your intellectual property! In our tailored and confidential consulting sessions and workshops, you will gain in‑depth insights and strategies on how to protect your innovations and thereby achieve valuable and sustainable competitive advantages. Further information about the services can be found under aws Innovation Protection.
• Development of further sources of funding

Amount of funding

• The maximum possible grant amounts to EUR 100,000 to EUR 400,000 (Preseed)
• The maximum funding can only be applied for if the gender bonus is applicable. Otherwise, the maximum funding amounts to EUR 89,000 to EUR 365,000 (Preseed)
• The funding rate amounts to 80 % of eligible costs, with 10 % to be contributed as equity by shareholders, and an additional 10 % can be raised from other defined monetary sources such as sales or long-term financing. When applying the gender bonus, the funding intensity increases to 90 %, with 5 % to be contributed as equity by shareholders, and another 5 % can be raised from other defined monetary sources like sales or long-term financing.

Costs eligible for funding

• Personnel costs (e.g. salaries, wages)
• Third-party costs, i.e., external services procured (e.g., IT services, project-specific consulting services, purchase of market studies, costs for market research, development of a project-specific marketing/sales concept)
• Material costs (tangible and intangible investments, such as property rights and licenses, development costs for pilot and demonstration objects: machinery, tools, etc.)
• Other costs directly incurred as part of the project (e.g., consumables, materials)

Further details on eligible costs in the program document.

Project period
max. 1 year to 2 years (Preseed)

Payment 
The grant is disbursed in installments, upon achieving pre-defined milestones (Interim Reports).

Repayment 
non-repayable

Supplementary funding
aws Innovation Protection
aws Connect
aws Energy & Climate - Manufacturing Transfer of energy and environmental technologies in Start-ups (de)

• Projects that correspond to the state of the art or merely involve routine modifications or incremental developments of existing products, services, and manufacturing processes;
• Projects in the deep tech sector;
• Crowdfunding platforms and business areas of companies in the other financing sector that are subject to supervision by the Financial Market Authority;
• Investments beyond the funding period;
• Real estate, vehicles, construction of buildings, or non-specific building equipment;
• Costs that are not an indispensable prerequisite for successful completion and achieving the project’s goals;
• Costs incurred before the application date or the contractually defined start of the project;
• Private pensions, voluntary social benefits, and other voluntary contributions, reserves, provisions, etc.;
• Costs that do not qualify as eligible costs under EU competition law;
• Costs covered under other funding schemes;
• Sales tax to be paid (except for companies that are not entitled to deduct pre-tax);
• Invoices under EUR 50 excl. VAT.

For further details on non-eligible costs, please refer to the program document.

1. Application for funding via the aws Fördermanager (funding manager).
2. Analysis of applications based on content and formal criteria by the aws.
   The following documents are mandatory for submission: - 
   Business plan (25 pages, can vary by max.+/- 5 pages) 
   - structured pitch deck (according to the structure in the template) 
   - integral planning (plan of work packages and costs) 
   - proof of identification 
   - CVs of the project team.
3. Content and economic evaluation of all complete applications that meet the specified criteria
4. Final decision in the jury meeting (members of the jury).

We will inform you of the decision as soon as possible.

Duration of approval process 
The approval period depends on the dates of jury meetings, which take place several times per year (usually once per quarter). Please note the two-stage selection procedure and decision-making process.

Process in detail (graphic) | Process in detail (text)

This funding primarily helps your company solve the challenge of initial financing and risk reduction in the early stages of your innovative social or ecological projects.

Specifically, this means:

• Bridging the financing gap:
  Especially in the pre-seed and seed phase, obtaining traditional financing (e.g., bank loans) is often difficult because the risk is still too high for banks. This funding provides capital at a time when your company is most vulnerable.
   
• Risk reduction:
  Since this is a non-repayable grant, you do not have to pay the money back. This significantly reduces your financial risk and preserves your liquidity—both of which are crucial for young companies.
   
• Acceleration of development:
  The funding enables you to implement key development steps more quickly (e.g., prototype development, market analyses, team building) and bring your product or service to market readiness faster.
   
• Validation and credibility:
  aws funding is often regarded as a seal of quality. It shows potential investors and partners that your project and team have been assessed as promising by an independent institution, which can make securing further financing easier.
   
• Access to expertise and networks:
  In addition to financial support, you also benefit from coaching, mentoring, and a valuable network—assets that are particularly important and highly beneficial during the founding phase.

Social or Ecological Innovation Projects:
These are start-ups or individuals whose business ideas aim to create a positive impact on society or the environment. Their solutions often address social challenges (e.g., in education, health, integration, mobility) or aim to solve ecological problems (e.g., environmental protection, climate action, resource conservation).

Not purely high-technology projects (Deep Tech):
While there are many aws funding programs for Deep Tech, this specific module focuses on innovations that are novel and scalable but do not necessarily need to be based on complex research results from the Deep Tech domain. The emphasis is on the social or ecological degree of innovation.

High growth potential
Funded companies have the potential to grow beyond their local environment and establish their solutions on a broader scale.

Committed and often diverse teams
aws values motivated founders with a clear vision and the necessary willingness to take risks. Team diversity can be an advantage, especially in connection with the Gender Bonus.

Challenges in early-stage financing
These founders often struggle to obtain traditional financing because they cannot yet demonstrate revenues or collateral, and their project is still in the development phase. The funding closes this gap.