About us
A tech company for the Forschungszulage
Zeitmaker secures the Forschungszulage for innovative companies: 100% success-based, in 4 calls, with our own software instead of binders. No fee if no money is paid out.
Trusted by leading companies
No risk, little effort, the money arrives
You only pay on success, your developers are done after four calls, and the data is clean enough that the examiner and the tax office never have to ask.
Free initial consultationWhy we exist
Not digitised consulting, but built differently from day one
The question at the start was not how to digitise an existing consultancy. It was: how would you build software and service today if the experience of hundreds of applications flowed in and the specifics of the Forschungszulage were considered from the outset?
The result learns with every case. From every approved application, every query from an examiner and every exchange with the tax office. For you, that means your application benefits from everything that came before it, including the rejections.
More about our Forschungszulage consulting →
What we specialise in
Data quality and speed
Anyone can build software today. What matters is what it prevents: follow-up questions. Whatever the examiner and the tax office would ask, we settle before submission.
Data quality
Every open question is a point of attack at the certification body and the tax office. We close them beforehand.
Speed
Most of the time is lost after the certificate, at the tax office, with queries and waiting. Without queries, the money arrives earlier.
“We don't track the time to submission or some milestone in between. We track the time from our onboarding to money in the account. That's the number that matters.”
How we work
You always know where your application stands
Everything about the Forschungszulage that usually costs time and nerves is taken care of before you have to ask.
Status in every phase
Documentation, BSFZ, tax office, payout: you can see at any time which phase the application is in and what happens next.
Timesheets that withstand every audit
Your developers record their hours, everything else is taken care of: allocation to projects, completeness, audit-proof filing. Nothing has to be reconstructed years later.
No deadline slips through
Application deadlines, BSFZ feedback and tax office notices are monitored. You are informed before something is due, not after.
A person, not a ticket
You always talk to someone who knows your case. Everything is covered in 4 calls, under 5 hours of your time.
The founders
Experience from Y Combinator, venture capital and hundreds of applications
Zeitmaker was founded by Erich Lehmann and Daniel Höpfner. Erich is responsible for the technical side and application quality, Daniel for sales, go-to-market and partnerships.
Daniel Höpfner
Co-FounderOver 20 years building venture-backed tech startups in Germany and Silicon Valley, serial founder with an exit (pressmatrix), then built the VC fund b10.vc. Daniel is responsible for sales, go-to-market and partnerships, including with PE and VC funds.Daniel Höpfner on LinkedIn →
Erich Lehmann
Co-FounderY Combinator alumnus, serial founder and deep in the BSFZ process for years. Erich is responsible for the technical assessment of R&D projects and the quality of every application. As a developer, he understands your project before you have explained it.Erich Lehmann on LinkedIn →
Who we work for
We guide fast-growing AI startups, industrial SMEs and listed software companies through the application process. PE and VC funds commission us to go through their entire portfolios.
280,000€ Forschungszulage
for MedTech
From AI to hardware to SaaS — these types of projects get funded through the Forschungszulage.
Mobile body scanners: a virtual copy of the body, posture analysis, and health-related parameters in a single measurement process. 280,000€ in Forschungszulage for developing the 3D body scanners.
What our customers say about working with us
Founders and finance leads from YC companies and established mid-market businesses — on what working with us has meant for them.
“Erich secured €350k per year in funding, exceeding our expectations by +€75k per year.”
Kai Klasen
Head of Finance · Ona
“Erich supported us very well and we could focus on our product. Extremely efficient in just 4 calls.”
Sascha Lang
Founder · YC S23 · AiSupervision
“Super fast and efficient support with the Forschungszulage. The process was completed in just 4 calls.”
Fabio Schmidberger
Founder · YC W22 · voize
“We put it off for years, afraid we'd end up wasting time on it. Erich organized everything so we had to invest as little time as possible.”
Nikolay Leons
Co-Founder · Scaneca
“Excellent support. We were able to advance our airborne wind power systems faster. Only 3 calls needed.”
Florian Bauer
Founder · YC W22 · KiteKraft
“Excellent work and documentation. I had very little effort, everything was done in 3 calls.”
Marc Metz
Founder · YC W23 · MeetAnyway
Where we are going
Funding as simple as online banking
Check, click, receive money. That is how the Forschungszulage should work, and that is how we build Zeitmaker.
- Digital from application to payout
- A person who knows your case
- The standard for audit-proof R&D documentation
Check your Forschungszulage, free and success-based
Send us a line about your work and we'll come back to you with an initial assessment.