For EXIST, Forschungstransfer & IGP
Get the grant. Skip the agency cut.
A workspace built for German startup grant applications - EXIST Gründerstipendium, EXIST Forschungstransfer, IGP, BW Pre-Seed. Replaces the Word file you keep losing track of, the Google Doc your team can't format, and the grant consultant who wanted 25% of your award.
Built by
We are Julia and Finn, the Co-Founders of Grants. We answer the support email ourselves, and ship with our small team.
Grants is built and run from Germany. We do not sell to enterprise on the side, we do not have a sales team to escape from, and we do not call anyone who did not ask first.
What you get
A workspace shaped like a grant application.
Ideenpapier, business plan, references, budget table - structured the way reviewers read them, not the way Word would let you scatter them.
Ideenpapier with structure
Sections that match what PTJ + Bewilligungsbehörden actually look for. No staring at a blank Word page wondering what "innovation threshold" means.
Cheaper than a consultant
Förderberatungen take 10-25% of your award - typically €15k-€25k for an EXIST stipend. We charge a flat monthly fee that costs less than a single consultant call.
Smarter than ChatGPT
Generic LLMs do not know what your Projektträger reads for. We carry that context - PTJ language, EXIST criteria, common rejection reasons - so the writing fits without copy-pasting checklists.
Deadlines + status, never lost
Every application carries its submission deadline and status (drafting → submitted → awarded → reviewed). The 4-week revision window after a Nachbesserung-Aufforderung is tracked, not ignored.
Built for two- and three-person teams
Co-founders, the academic mentor at your TU, the research office contact - everyone on the same draft. Live edits, version history, no "final_v17_finalfinal.docx".
Hosted in Germany, your IP stays yours
Your application data lives on German servers, owner-scoped at the database. We do not train models on your draft, and we do not hand it to a US provider via the back door.
What we replace
The three things founders try first.
Honest about what we are not, and where each alternative actually still wins.
vs Word + Google Docs
Word knows nothing about EXIST. Google Docs gives you up-arrow comments and broken numbering. We give you the structure reviewers expect.
vs ChatGPT + generic AI
Generic models write polite proposals. They do not know what your Projektträger reads for, and reviewers spot the generic tone in two paragraphs.
vs Förderberatung agencies
Consultants charge 10-25% of award - typically €15k-€25k. They do not pick up small grants. We charge a flat monthly fee and you keep the IP and the cheque.
Submissions that read like a startup, not a thesis.
EXIST + Forschungstransfer + IGP applicants describe the change after they moved off Word and away from a percentage-fee consultant.
"We were three weeks before deadline, deep in 'final_v9.docx' chaos. Switched mid-week and got the Ideenpapier into a shape PTJ actually reads. Bewilligt in the first round."
"The Förderberatung quoted us 18% of the awarded sum. We did our own Forschungstransfer Phase I in here, kept the €25k, and the polish is on par with what they showed us."
"ChatGPT got us the first 30%. The last 70% needed someone who knows what 'Innovationshöhe' actually means. This is the first tool that does."
Read next
Going deeper on what Grants is for
Hand-picked deep dives, definitions, and opinion pieces from the people who built this. No comparisons, no pricing - just the thinking behind the product.
After the Bewilligung: Mittelabruf, Zwischenbericht, and the obligations nobody warns you about
Calling down funds, interim reports, and keeping receipts audit-ready.
EXIST Gründerstipendium in numbers: 2007-2024 statistics
What 17 years of EXIST data tell us about your chances.
The grant-consultant 10% trap: how to negotiate your fees (or skip the consultant entirely)
When a Förderberater earns their fee - and when they don't.
Rejected EXIST application: your 4-week recovery plan
Week-by-week plan to turn a Nachbesserungs-Aufforderung into a Bewilligung.
Why 44.7% of EXIST applications get rejected (and what makes the 55% that pass)
Read this before you submit, not after.
What reviewers actually score: inside the EXIST Bewertungskriterien
The four criteria buckets and how to write to each.
Regional vs federal: when a Bayern, NRW, or Berlin programme beats a Bundesprogramm
How the two layers differ, where each wins, and how to sequence them without double funding.
Success story: NextStepHR – AI-powered recruiting with EXIST
Validate first, co-locate early, and keep a single sharp focus.
The team gap: how to name a missing role without sinking the team criterion
Why a named gap beats a faked competence, and the four credible ways to close one.
Behind the scenes: how Grants reviews your EXIST application
An inside look at our four review dimensions.
Why the Finanzplan sinks applications: the eight rejection patterns reviewers see
Round numbers, orphan lines, double funding, and five more patterns that cost points.
Success story: how aicuflow secured EXIST funding
Clear application, pilot customers, and follow-on financing planned early.
Start your EXIST application this week
Free to start, no credit card. Hosted in Germany. Export and delete are self-serve. The grant consultants do not need to know.