New funding boosts deep tech innovation ecosystems in Germany

The Joachim Herz Foundation is launching a new program to strengthen Germany’s deep tech innovation ecosystem. To this end, it is funding two projects aimed at improving funding structures for deep tech startups, with up to one million euros allocated to each. German universities and research institutions are eligible to apply. The goal is to improve the structural framework for transferring scientific projects into practical applications, thereby enabling more deep tech spin-offs. Applications are accepted until June 14, 2026.

Deep tech applications have great potential and make an important contribution to solving societal challenges, for example in the areas of resource efficiency and climate protection. However, technology-focused startups face numerous risks after their founding: they are capital- and time-intensive and require well-functioning framework conditions in which stakeholders from science, business, industry, and public and private capital collaborate. Structural deficits in this regard persist within the German innovation ecosystem. These range, for example, from the lack of integration of entrepreneurship support into the research and higher education system, to the absence of networks between scientists and representatives from industry and business in many areas, to the professionalization of regional innovation ecosystems.

With its new funding program “Deeptech Innovation Ecosystems,” the Joachim Herz Foundation is addressing precisely these issues. It is funding two model projects, each with up to one million euros over a maximum period of three years.

Funding is provided for innovative programs that address structural challenges in innovation ecosystems—for example, through new training and support formats for researchers, by accelerating transfer processes, or by strengthening networking among stakeholders from academia, business, and capital. The focus is on model projects that strengthen deep-tech startups and further develop innovation ecosystems; the projects should be scalable, transferable, and effective in the long term.

“We want to specifically empower institutions to quickly test new approaches and put them into practice. Especially in the deep tech sector, greater speed and agility are needed to develop concrete, usable applications from scientific findings. Our funding creates the space to pilot innovative projects and inject new momentum into the innovation ecosystem,” said Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dr. Sabine Kunst, Chair of the Board of the Joachim Herz Foundation.

Eligible applicants include German universities, tax-exempt research institutions, public-law entities, and non-profit organizations with a focus on deep tech entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystems.

Detailed information about the funding program and the online application form can be found at www.joachim-herz-stiftung.de/deeptech. Applications are accepted until June 14, 2026.