Object of funding:

Investment projects of start-ups as well as investment projects for the creation and safeguarding of jobs that are not funded under the Joint Task "Improvement of the Regional Economic Structure" (GRW) are eligible for funding.

All investment projects are eligible for funding:

• Acquisition of tangible assets that can be capitalized and are used for business purposes,
• intangible assets (e.g. patents, licenses), provided they are to serve as fixed assets.

Recipients of funding:

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the commercial sector, particularly in manufacturing and production-related services, as well as in the skilled trades, trade, the service sector, the catering and accommodation industry, and the business-related and creative independent professions.

The following are not eligible for support:

• Companies in difficulty
• sideline enterprises
• Companies in the main construction trade and property developers
• Companies in the leisure industry (e.g. discotheques, amusement arcades, video rental, fitness centers, saunas, solariums, tour operators and event management)
• Enterprises in agriculture, forestry, fisheries, aquaculture and mining
• Expenditures for the production, processing and marketing of tobacco and tobacco products
• Investments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from activities listed in Annex I of Directive 2003/87/EC
• Investments in airport infrastructure
• Companies in the food processing industry insofar as the production/processing results in products that are part of Annex I of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU); exception: SMEs in the butchery trade are eligible, provided that investment subsidies for the project are not granted from EAFRD funds. Investments in slaughtering are not eligible.
• Training and further education institutions
• Companies dealing with motor vehicles (applies to applications received from 01.01.2020).
• In the case of construction projects, fees for service phases 1-9 of the Fee Structure for Architects and Engineers (HOAI), applies to applications received from 15.08.2020 onwards.

Scope of funding:

Grant funding:

• up to 20 percent of eligible expenses, maximum 50,000 euros
• Up to 30 percent of eligible expenses for companies in the hospitality industry, maximum 50,000 euros.

Promotional loans:

project-related financing of up to 200,000 euros via your principal bank,

• 10-year term, of which up to two years are repayment-free, fixed interest rate for the entire term
• Collection of interest: monthly in arrears
• Repayment of principal monthly after expiry of grace period
• 100 percent payment of the loan amount
• Unscheduled repayments are possible without payment of an early repayment penalty
• Collateral: Customary bank collateral must be provided. If no sufficient collateral can be provided, the bank may request a 50 percent release from liability.