Funding program explained simply: Innovation voucher

Who is the innovation voucher primarily intended for?

Elke Büttner: The Innovation Voucher funding program is primarily aimed at small companies or craft businesses with fewer than 50 employees.

What exactly is supported by the innovation voucher?

Elke Büttner: If a company wants to develop a technical product and cannot carry out individual steps itself, then it can award contracts. These service contracts can be funded. All orders that are not of a technical nature or do not have any development content are not eligible for funding. For example, pure management consultancy, marketing activities or the design of a website.

There are two versions of the innovation voucher. What are the differences?

Elke Büttner: One variant is the standard innovation voucher. This is the usual one, the simpler one, for costs between 4,000 and 30,000 euros. In principle, it is suitable for anyone who carries out a development and awards service contracts for it.
The special innovation voucher is the second variant. It is intended for larger projects that are somewhat more research-intensive, with total costs of between 30,000 and 80,000 euros.

Which research and development institutions can be commissioned?

Elke Büttner: Basically all research and development institutions. Above all the institutions financed by the federal states, such as universities or universities of applied sciences. But also non-university research institutions such as Fraunhofer Institutes and also research institutions whose focus is really on research activities and which can ultimately provide the same services.

How and, above all, how much funding is provided?

Elke Büttner: The funding rate for the Special Innovation Voucher is 50 percent. The standard innovation voucher provides basic funding of 40 percent of the total costs. This can then be supplemented by an additional 10 percent. This depends firstly on whether a research institution is commissioned and secondly on where the company is based. If the company is located in an area with a particular need for action, i.e. in a structurally weak area, then there is another 10 percent funding rate on top.
There is also a supplement for particularly small companies with fewer than ten employees, which can receive a further 10 percent more funding. This is particularly interesting for small companies that are located in large cities such as Munich or Nuremberg. There are usually fewer funding opportunities there. But in this case, it really only depends on the size of the company and the companies then also receive the 10 percent supplement.

What requirements must be met in order to benefit from the innovation voucher?

Elke Büttner: To qualify for an innovation voucher, the company must be small enough and have a technical idea or want to develop a technical product. And this product must really want to be marketed. In other words, the program is not intended to develop something for the company's own use, but the end result must be a marketable product.

Which documents must be submitted by which deadline?

Elke Büttner: There are no deadlines, i.e. an application can be submitted at any time. All you need is the online application form, an offer from the service provider and a business registration or an excerpt from the commercial register. That's all.

Where and with whom can you apply for the innovation voucher?

Elke Büttner: It's actually quite simple. You can do it via our website, innovationsgutschein-bayern.de. The application can be submitted directly online there.
There are two ways to register. Either via an Elster company account, in which case a completely digital application is possible. There is no need to submit any paper at all. Alternatively, it is also possible to log in with a user name and password.
After logging into the application system, the application form must first be completed. This involves navigating through simple questions and providing the required information. The application can then be approved. The range of services and the extract from the commercial register must be uploaded beforehand and then it's actually already done. If the application is not submitted via Elster, a document must still be signed, which is sent by e-mail and submitted as the final application form.

How long does it take on average to process an application?

Elke Büttner: If the application is complete, the processing time is around four weeks.

Can I submit several applications for the innovation voucher?

Elke Büttner: Yes, up to three applications can be submitted in parallel or three applications in succession within two years. It depends on the time of approval. For example, if an application or approval was made two years ago, then the next application can be made from then on.
The variants can also be mixed. For example, you can apply for two standard innovation vouchers and then one special innovation voucher or theoretically three special innovation vouchers, etc.

Where has the innovation voucher already been used successfully?

Elke Büttner: There are many examples. For example, someone has developed a bicycle lock that is integrated into the seat post. Anyone familiar with these large locks knows that they often get in the way and are also quite heavy. And in the application, a drop lock was applied for or developed that is integrated into the seat post so that it disappears completely during the ride.
Another example, which was also very successful, is the development of a cocoa-free chocolate. This was a brother and sister who applied for a special innovation voucher for this. The project was so successful that they now have 50 employees within two years and this cocoa-free chocolate is already successful on the market and is used in well-known muesli varieties, for example.

How much time do you have to invest in applying for the innovation voucher?

Elke Büttner: Well, a bit of preparation time is needed, as the service offer must first be obtained for the innovation voucher. But this has to be done anyway if a contract is to be awarded. As already mentioned, the applicant is very well guided through the application. We also have comments in there. So it explains quite precisely what needs to be stated. I would say that this application can be submitted within a few hours or a maximum of half a day.

The interview was conducted by Barbara Groll, Marketing at Bayern Innovativ GmbH.