Innovation Voucher Bavaria

Funding conditions

What is supported?

The Innovation Voucher Standard supports the planning, development and implementation of new products, production processes or services or the significant improvement of existing products, production processes and services in the field of technical or technological innovations.

Only services provided by external research and development institutions (R&D service providers) are eligible for funding:

• Activities in the run-up to the development of an innovative product/service or process innovation such as:
  • Technical feasibility studies
  • Material and design studies
  • Manufacturing technology studies and concepts
  • Simulation models
    
• Implementation-oriented development and research activities such as
  • Construction services
  • Prototype construction and technical design
  • Product testing for quality assurance
  • FEM calculations

Projects are excluded from funding,

• which have already been started or
• are funded under other federal, state or EU programs.

Notes on the funding of software projects:

Basic eligibility requirements:

• The software is the marketable product or significantly improves or supplements an existing product.
• A care and maintenance concept (support) for the purchaser or licensee of the software must be identifiable.

The following are eligible for funding

• Projects in which the R&D service involves a novel development approach.
• Novel software products that offer an innovative approach to solving an existing problem.
• Projects that use new complex technologies, algorithms or data processing procedures that go beyond the current state of the art.
• Software that offers demonstrable improvements in terms of efficiency, performance, security or usability compared to existing solutions.
• Interdisciplinary projects, i.e. the linking of different technology areas or specialist disciplines through software.
• Projects with creative new uses of data in the areas of big data, AI, machine learning to generate new insights or automate processes.

The following arenot eligible for funding

• Acquisition or integration of software components without development services.
• Development of web or learning platforms and apps as well as the implementation of digital business ideas based on or by combining state-of-the-art elements.
• Programming or designing websites.
• Development of software to be used primarily for internal purposes, e.g. to optimize internal processes.

Small companies/trade businesses in the commercial sector or liberal professions

• with a permanent establishment or branch in Bavaria.
• with fewer than 50 employees (full-time equivalents) and no more than € 10 million annual turnover or annual balance sheet total (including all affiliated companies).
• that are not in difficulties.

Business founders,

• who will establish a company with a permanent establishment or branch in Bavaria.
• whose business has been formally established by the time the grant is settled at the latest.

Eligible services provided by external research and development institutions are subsidized on a pro rata basis. Two versions of the innovation voucher are issued for this purpose:

Standard innovation voucher

• Eligible expenditure must amount to at least €4,000 and can be a maximum of €30,000
• Procedure: single-stage (direct application)
• The basic funding rate is 40%
• If the following conditions are met, the funding rate increases by 10% in each case up to a maximum of 60%:
  • (Main) registered office of the applicant company in a "region with special need for action (RmbH)"
  • Commissioning of a university or comparable research institution (e.g. university, university of applied sciences, non-university research institution financed by the federal government and the federal states) as an R&D service provider. These R&D service providers must account for at least 51% of the bid amount.
  • Micro-enterprises with fewer than 10 employees and less than € 2 million in annual turnover or annual balance sheet total

Special innovation voucher

• Eligible expenditure must be at least €30,000 and can be a maximum of €80,000
• Procedure: two-stage (outline and application)
• The fixed funding rate is 50%
• Additional conditions:
  • Commissioning of a university or comparable research institution (e.g. university, university of applied sciences, non-university research institution funded by the federal government and the federal states) as R&D service provider. The services of other R&D service providers are generally not eligible for funding.
  • The expected creation of new jobs in Bavaria in the context of commercial exploitation
  • The positive vote of an independent expert (commissioned by the Bavarian project management organization)

Determination of the grant: The R&D proposals submitted are used to determine the eligible expenditure, which can be subsidized at a rate of 40-60%. In principle, only expenditure that falls under Art. 28 para. 2 lit. c of the GBER (innovation advisory services and innovation support services). The funding is paid out in arrears to the applicant's account, i.e. the applicant company pays in advance. Settlement takes place after completion of the project as part of a where-used list.

• VAT (insofar as the applicant company is entitled to deduct input tax)
• traditional management consulting (e.g. strategy consulting, organizational consulting, business consulting, market analyses) and business coaching
• Outsourcing of R&D activities, which are generally carried out in-house
• Secondment of research personnel to the company
• Purchase of machinery, equipment, hardware and software
• Student and scientific work that is the subject of examinations as well as student projects as part of a training or further education unit (seminar, course, etc.)
• internal expenses, e.g. internal personnel, material and travel costs
• Fees and consultancy fees in the context of securing intellectual property rights
• Expenses for ongoing sales and advertising
• Non-technology-related service offerings
• Introduction of quality management systems

• Public institutes and societies for basic and applied research:
  • Higher education institutions such as universities and universities of applied sciences
  • Non-university research institutions such as the Helmholtz Association, the Fraunhofer Society, the Leibniz Association or the Max Planck Society
• Private-sector institutions and companies that offer comparable development services with regard to the project.
• Both national and international providers are eligible.
• The following are not recognized
  • Institutes and companies with a clear focus of activity in the field of management consultancy (over 50% of business turnover)
  • R&D services provided by company employees or by a directly or indirectly affiliated company as well as R&D services provided by family members

Please note that the R&D service provider may only be commissioned after receipt of the grant notification and must be made in writing .

• A maximum of three innovation vouchers can be approved per applicant within a 24-month period. The calculation period refers to the time of application.
  
• Companies that join forces in a larger project can cumulate their innovation vouchers. A maximum of 4 innovation vouchers can be accumulated. All participating companies must be directly involved in the innovation process and aim to exploit the product innovation.

The following documents must also be uploaded to the online application system as a PDF document. Alternatively, the documents can be submitted by e-mail or post:

1. proof of entrepreneurial status:

• Company is entered in the commercial register, e.g. GmbH, UG, GmbH & Co KG, AG, etc.:
  • Copy of the extract from the commercial register (the extract must not be more than 6 months old)
  • Current list of shareholders showing the shareholdings in the company including the percentage shares.
• No entry in the commercial register, e.g. GbR, commercial sole proprietorship, etc.:
  • Copy of the current business registration (of each shareholder)
• No entry in the commercial register, e.g. freelance sole proprietorship:
  • Certificate from the tax office regarding freelance activity

2. proof if there is no entitlement to deduct input tax:

• Confirmation from the tax office or tax advisor

3. offer(s) from R&D service provider(s):

Quotations must be valid and fulfill the following requirements or contain the following components:

• Issued on the R&D service provider's letterhead with all sender details
• Addressed to the applicant with the correct company name and address
• Offer number
• Indication of a minimum validity of 3 months
• Prices must be stated per work package and in euros
• Flat rates or optional prices cannot be considered
• Specification of payment terms
• German language
• Terms and conditions (if these are part of the offer)
• The rights to the product/process/service must lie exclusively with the applicant. Agreements that deviate from this may be detrimental to funding.
• Company website (alternatively: informative company portrait/references)

If the online application is submitted without an ELSTER certificate, the following documents must be sent to the Bavarian project management organization in the original/by post:

4th application/outline form

After submitting your application/outline electronically, you will receive a confirmation of receipt by e-mail. This e-mail will contain the PDF document "Antrag Innovationsgutschein Bayern" or "Skizze Innovationsgutschein Bayern" with your file number as an attachment. Please print out the attachment, sign it and send the original document by post to the Bavarian project management organization within eight weeks. This point does not apply to online applications with an ELSTER certificate.