With the "Invest — Venture Capital Grant" funding program, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) has been supporting private investments in startups since 2013. Current figures show how the program is being received.
As part of the Invest program Business angels receive a tax-free acquisition grant of 20 percent of the investment amount when they invest in innovative startups. One prerequisite: the startups have previously obtained certification of their innovativeness and eligibility for funding from the Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control (BAFA) and are listed in the database on the BMWi's Invest website.
With the entry into force of a further funding guideline on January 1, 2017, a tax-free exit grant of 25 percent of the capital gains was also introduced, which represents a flat-rate refund of the taxes payable on capital gains.
Over 110 million euros in donations
Since the launch of the funding program in 2013, 110 million euros in grants have already been approved, as current figures from BAFA show (as of March 31, 2019):
Business applications: 6,452
Investor applications: 8,311
Approved grants: 110.28 million euros
The directory listing all eligible startups can be found here: www.invest-wagniskapital.de. And startups that want to be included in the list, find further information here.
