Industries 
all sectors (except for deep tech*)

*Definition of Deep Tech here 

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)

Requirements

• Proven high degree of innovation: The project represents the 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.
• The project demonstrates realistic and high market opportunities in the context of scalable business models.
• The team is diverse and committed, start-up-oriented, and willing to take risks.
• Regardless of the industry, the innovation-specific impact must lie within the following thematic areas:
  • Diversity/equality/integration/inclusion
  • Environment/resources/climate protection
  • Health/Care
  •  Education
  • Mobility/Transportation
  • Urban development/living in the countryside/housing
• The project location must be in Austria.
• The other criteria of the Program Document are to be met.
• Funding is provided for innovative projects outside of the high technology (deep tech) sector. If the essence of innovation falls within the high technology sector, the aws Preseed Deep Tech and aws Seedfinancing - Deep Tech programs are better suited for this.

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! 
• Development of further sources of funding
• Through our customized and confidential consultations and workshops, you will gain in-depth insights and strategies on how to protect your innovations, thereby gaining valuable and sustainable competitive advantages. Further information in aws Innovation Protection.

Amount of funding

• The maximum possible grant amounts to EUR 100,000,
• The maximum funding can only be applied for if the gender bonus is applicable. Otherwise, the maximum funding amounts to EUR 89,000.
• 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 per cent 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

Payment 
The grant is disbursed in installments, upon achieving pre-defined milestones.

Repayment 
non-repayable

Supplementary funding
aws Seedfinancing - Innovative Solutions
aws Innovation Protection
aws Connect
aws First Incubator

• 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)