Half-Billion-Euro Program for German SMEs Goes Digital

The Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, which administers the EUR 500 million initiative, announced the more efficient application procedures. They will also allow several people to work on applications simultaneously. 

ZIM is a pilot completely digital project on the German government’s new Support Center Germany (FZD) ZIM aims to foster the innovative capacity of SMEs. It launches several thousand new projects every year all around Germany, making it the country’s largest state innovation program for SMEs.

“With the complete digitization of the application process, we are setting standards for a modern, digital funding policy and making innovation faster and easier to access for small and medium-sized enterprises,” said Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy Katherina Reiche in an official statement. “In this way, we are creating momentum, transparency and trust, and putting Germany back at the forefront. Small and medium-sized enterprises are the heart, backbone, and powerhouse of our economy. Without them, neither education nor research nor integration nor defense capabilities would be possible. With EUR 500 million in the Central Innovation Program for SMEs, we are providing targeted support to small and medium-sized enterprises to turn ideas into marketable products.”