Innovation

For whom?

For established self-employed professionals and enterprises

For what?

For innovations developed by the enterprise

What kind of promotional funds are available?

Up to 100% of the investment costs eligible for financing, not more than EUR 5 million per project

What is so special about this KfW loan?

• Attractive 10-year fixed interest rates provide a reliable basis for calculation
• Optionally debt capital or a financing packing out of dept capital and subordinated capital
• Repayment-free start-up period

Loan application: with your bank

German website

For whom?

For established self-employed professionals and enterprises

For what?

For the financing of innovation measures in the enterprise

What kind of promotional funds are available?

Up to 100% of the investment costs eligible for financing, not more than EUR 25 million per project

What is so special about this KfW loan?

• Attractive 10-year fixed interest rates provide a reliable basis for calculation
• Repayment-free start-up period

Loan application: with your bank

German website

Key facts

• For startups based in the EU (with at least one subsidiary, branch, or operating facility in Germany)
• Financing in cooperation with professional, private lenders
• For growth-enhancing measures
• Flexible structure, terms and conditions

For what?

KfW’s Venture Tech Growth Financing programme offers loans to young, innovative, and fast-growing tech-companies to finance their future growth. The programme is part of the Federal Government's Future Fund (“Zukunftsfonds”).

Further information on the Future Fund can be found on the websites of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action and the Federal Ministry of Finance.

Typically, projects are financed to build/expand and/or scale business models and implement growth-enhancing measures. This includes, but is not limited to, the financing of

• Working capital in the form of working capital lines
• Acquisitions
• Pre-IPO costs of a planned IPO
• Other sales-increasing measures.

The programme is not eligible for:

Restructuring cases and undertakings in difficulty within the meaning of EU state aid law.

KfW also generally excludes certain projects from financing or specifies conditions that must be met. Details can be found in the Exclusion List of KfW Group(PDF, 129 KB, accessible).

For whom?

Domestic innovative growth companies based in the EU (with at least one subsidiary, branch, or operating facility in Germany).

A prerequisite for financing is usually that a professional venture capital investor (this includes, for example, venture capital providers, equity providers of growth and expansion capital or also private equity providers as minority shareholders) is invested in the company to be financed. In the case of listed companies, it is sufficient if a professional venture capitalist previously held a stake in the company.

Conditions

Financing is provided exclusively in cooperation with professional, private lenders or venture debt providers.

• KfW's share in the transaction is usually between EUR 0.5 and 125 million
• Usually, a risk sharing between KfW and private lenders in a 50:50 ratio is aspired
• KfW accepts the terms and conditions agreed by the private lender, provided these are deemed to be in line with the market on the basis of a credit and risk assessment by KfW

Combination with other programmes

It is possible to combine a loan from the Venture Tech Growth Financing programme with other funding. However, the share of the public sector, including KfW financing, may not exceed two thirds of the total debt financing.

How it works

Please introduce your project to a suitable private lender. At the invitation of the private lender, KfW participates on the same terms as the private lender.

The financing structures are tailored to your individual needs.

Forms and downloads

Information Sheet(PDF, 132 KB, accessible)

Privacy notice and information on the right of revocation(PDF, 216 KB, accessible) (German only)

German website