Forschungszulage for software and AI companies: fund your R&D without giving up equity
System architecture, scaling under load, model and retrieval quality, robust data and MLOps pipelines: in software and AI teams the development work sits with people, not in a lab. That is exactly where the Forschungszulage has the most impact, returning 25% of your eligible R&D costs, or 35% for SMEs. It applies retroactively for up to 4 years and works even if you are not yet profitable.
- success-based
- 100%success-based
- retroactive
- 4 yearsretroactive
- success rate of our applications
- 92%success rate of our applications
Software accounts for the most applicants
The BSFZ numbers dispel the idea that the Forschungszulage is for lab research: most of the companies applying come from IT services.
Applicant companies
have submitted 63,718 projects to the BSFZ up to 30 June 2026
Of them from IT services
the largest sector, ahead of mechanical engineering with 3,069 companies
Applicants in electronics & optics
plus almost as many (1,174) from information services
Micro companies
plus 31% small companies, startups are not a fringe group
As of: BSFZ statistics, data as of 30 June 2026 (retrieved 26 August 2026). Success rates: BMBF letter of 24 June 2024, as of May 2024.
Success rate compared
Product, process and software innovation are therefore a central driver of the Forschungszulage. But a large sector share does not mean applications are waved through: roughly a quarter of all projects are rejected, usually because novelty and uncertainty are argued too weakly, the systematic approach is not visible, or the line between routine work and R&D stays blurred. In software and AI projects, that is exactly what tends to happen.
Which software and AI projects are eligible
The industry is not what decides it, the BSFZ's three assessment criteria are. “We build software” or “we work with AI” is not enough; genuine technical advancement at the core of the project is. What sits behind the individual characteristics:
Reliable, GDPR-compliant agents
Agents and chatbots for document and customer processes whose reliability and data protection requirements cannot be met with standard solutions.
Retrieval and RAG quality
New methods for retrieval, hallucination reduction, guardrails and evaluation, where your target metrics are out of reach with standard RAG.
Data, labelling, synthetic data
Technically novel approaches to data preparation, labelling and synthetic data, including privacy by design.
MLOps under real-world conditions
Robust deployments, monitoring, drift detection and safe model updates whose behaviour can only be measured in operation.
Specialised models for regulated domains
Models and algorithms for industrial, medical, legal or finance applications with demonstrable technical hurdles.
Scaling and performance
Architecture work where latency, throughput or cost per request are technically uncertain under real-world load.
Distributed systems and data processing
Event-driven architectures and real-time or high-volume data processing where consistency, throughput and resilience only emerge from how the components interact.
Algorithms for complex domain logic
Optimisation, planning or simulation at the core of your software, where standard methods fail on runtime, accuracy or problem size.
Interfaces with real technical risk
Integrations into undocumented legacy, machine or line-of-business systems where reliable synchronisation and data consistency are technically open. Standard API integrations do not count.
Not sure whether your project goes beyond the state of the art? A short call clears that up, 5 minutes are enough for a first assessment.
Check eligibility in a callWhich costs count for software and AI teams
In software and AI companies, most eligible costs are engineering, data and ML time. That is why the Forschungszulage has such a strong effect here, long before significant revenue comes in.
- Personnel costs
- 100% claimable: data, ML, engineering, proportional to time spent in the R&D project
- Contract research
- 70% of the fee for external R&D contracts (for expenditure up to 27.03.2024: 60%), contractors based in the EU/EEA. It does not apply to contractors outside the EEA
- Overhead flat rate
- A 20% flat rate on direct project costs, for projects starting in 2026 or later
- Own contributions
- €100/h for work from 2026 (until the end of 2025: €70/h), for sole traders and partners, max. 40 hours per week
- Funding rate
- 25% of eligible expenditure, 35% for SMEs
- Assessment base
- Up to €12 million per year from 2026 (28.03.2024 to the end of 2025: €10 million, before that €4 million); retroactive applications are capped at the limits in force at the time
- Even without a tax burden
- The allowance is credited via the tax assessment and can effectively result in a payout. How it plays out exactly depends on the individual case
Common doubts
The doubts that hold software and AI teams back
What we hear again and again in first calls with software and AI teams, and what actually applies:
“We only build software, that is not research.”
Software development with an open technical outcome is the normal case for the Forschungszulage, not the exception: IT services are the largest group of applicants, ahead of mechanical engineering. What matters is not the label on your product, but whether there is a technical uncertainty at its core.
“We work with existing models and libraries, that cannot be eligible.”
You do not have to start from zero. What counts is the technical uncertainty at the core: robustness in edge cases, error rates below what standard components deliver, data protection requirements existing solutions do not meet, scaling under real-world conditions. Plus target values that make it measurable.
“We have no research department and no PhDs on the team.”
Eligibility depends on the project, not on your org chart. A third of all applicants are micro-enterprises, and what gets counted is the R&D time of your existing team, including proportionally alongside product work.
Do you recognise yourself in one of these sentences? Then let's clarify in a call what actually counts in your case.
Check your eligibility in a call8 benefits
Why is the Forschungszulage a good funding option?
Compared to traditional funding programmes, the Forschungszulage is the better choice for most companies.
- 1
Legal entitlement
No competition for budgets: if the criteria are met, funding must be granted.
- 2
Up to 4 years retroactive
Even completed projects can still be funded.
- 3
Open to all industries
Software, mechanical engineering, MedTech, construction: R&D is R&D, whatever the industry.
- 4
Even without profit
No tax burden needed, the allowance is paid out as a credit.
- 5
Less bureaucracy
No upfront project plan, no interim reports, no proof of use.
- 6
Fully digital process
Application via BSFZ portal and ELSTER, no paper, no postal mail.
- 7
Thematically open
No rigid topic catalogue: product development, process innovation, everything counts.
- 8
Broad cost base
Personnel costs, contract research and capital assets are eligible.
From real projects
Real projects from this industry, with the funding amounts that were actually approved.
AI-powered voice documentation for nursing care. 315,000€ in Forschungszulage for advancing their AI models.
Event platform for real-time interactions with thousands of participants. 167,000€ for advancing their technology.
Common questions from software and AI teams
Talk to people who understand your stack
In a first call we clarify which of your software and AI projects go beyond the state of the art and which costs you can realistically claim. 5 minutes are enough for a first assessment, without your engineers losing days to it.
More industries
Eligible R&D looks different in every industry. Here is what counts in the other sectors.
Mechanical engineering
Forschungszulage for mechanical and plant engineering: eligible projects, cost types, common pitfalls. Recover 25%, or 35% for SMEs, of your eligible R&D costs.
View industry page →
MedTech & HealthTech
Forschungszulage for medical technology and digital health: eligible projects, R&D versus regulatory work. Recover 25%, or 35% for SMEs, of eligible R&D costs.
View industry page →
Food industry
Forschungszulage for food manufacturers: eligible recipe, process and packaging development. Recover 25%, or 35% for SMEs, of your eligible R&D costs.
View industry page →
Construction
Forschungszulage for construction companies: eligible projects from concrete formulations to AI scheduling, claimable costs and how it differs from ZIM, KfW and state programs.
View industry page →
Automotive
Forschungszulage for automotive suppliers: what is eligible, how to separate series launch and OEM contracts. Recover 25%, or 35% for SMEs, of eligible R&D costs.
View industry page →
Defense tech & dual-use
Forschungszulage for defense tech and dual-use: why the FZulG is technology-neutral, and how secrecy, dual-use demarcation and public procurement contracts play out in the application. 25%, 35% for SMEs.
View industry page →