How can I get EXIST funding for my startup idea?

What is EXIST?

The EXIST Startup Grant (EXIST-Gründungsstipendium) is Germany's federal start-up grant for university founders. It funds you for 12 months while you turn an innovative idea into a business plan and a working product or service, before you found a company. Tomorrow University is a registered sponsoring university, so we can submit an application on your behalf.

Official programme page: exist.de: EXIST Startup Grant

What the grant covers

Personal stipend, per team member per month, based on each person's own qualification: €3,000 (PhD), €2,500 (university graduate), €2,000 (vocational qualification), €1,000 (student).
Child allowance: €150 per child per month.
Material costs: up to €30,000 for a team (up to €10,000 for a single founder). This covers things the project itself needs, such as prototyping equipment, not general items like laptops.
Coaching budget: €5,000 for a business coach or mentor of your choice.
Access to Tomorrow University's support during the funding period.

The stipend is a grant, not a salary, and does not have to be repaid. Whether you count as a student or a graduate depends on whether you already hold a bachelor's degree. For example, if you have a bachelor's and are now doing a master's with us, you are paid at the graduate rate.

Who is eligible

You (the applicant with the Tomorrow University connection) must be one of the following:

A current Tomorrow University learner who has completed at least half of your degree, which we measure as half of the ECTS required for your programme.
A Tomorrow University graduate within 5 years of graduating.

Your team must meet these rules:

1 to 3 people. Single founders are now allowed, but applications with at least two people have noticeably better chances.
At least one member holds a university degree.
No more than one current student in the team.
No more than one member whose highest qualification is vocational, or whose degree is more than 5 years old.
Other team members do not need to be Tomorrow University learners or alumni.

Your company: must not be founded before the funding period starts. You may found it during the 12 months, but you don't have to. If your company is already founded and trading, you are not eligible.

What kind of idea qualifies

It must be innovative, with a clear unique selling point, and rooted in knowledge from your studies or research.
It does not have to be a technology innovation. Social entrepreneurship and ecological sustainability ideas are welcome.
Usually not eligible: improving a product that already exists, combining existing products where the combination itself isn't new, standard service businesses, or ideas without scientific or data grounding.

Full-time commitment

EXIST expects the project to be your main activity during the 12 months. Teams where everyone works on it part-time are unlikely to be funded, and a single applicant who is still studying will very likely be rejected. If you are only a few months from graduating, it usually makes sense to finish your degree and then apply. Preparing a strong application takes about that long anyway.

Location and language

You do not need to live in Germany to apply, and fully remote teams are fine.
Applications can now be submitted in English. Feedback from the funding body is given in German, and we help you with it.

Check yourself first: the official EXIST eligibility check takes a few minutes and shows what you already have and what is missing.

How Tomorrow University supports you

Triage: the VP Research reviews your registration and checks your eligibility.
EXIST advisor: our EXIST advisor works with you on the substance of the application: business idea, 12-month work plan and budget.
Academic supervisor: we assign one for you. You don't need to find a supervisor yourself.
Submission and administration: applications are submitted by the university, not by founders directly. We submit for you and handle the administration if you are funded.
Venturing Lab and thesis: you can develop your EXIST application alongside your Venturing Lab or thesis work.

How to apply

Step 1: Register your interest using this form.

→ Register your interest in EXIST

The form takes about 10 minutes. It asks which EXIST programme you are interested in, your connection to Tomorrow University, your team, whether a company has already been founded, and a short description of the problem, your solution and what makes it innovative. It doesn't need to be polished.

Not sure yet? Talk to our EXIST advisor first. In the same form, choose "Talk to the EXIST advisor first". After you submit, you are taken straight to the booking page for a 30-minute call with our EXIST advisor, Dr. Katharina Funke-Braun. You can then decide whether to go ahead with an application.

What happens next

Triage, within 5 working days. We review your submission and check your eligibility.
Booking link. If your project passes triage, you receive an email with a link to book a 30-minute consultation with our EXIST advisor. If it isn't a fit, we'll tell you why.
Consultation with the EXIST advisor. Together you look at the feasibility of your project in more detail and agree on next steps.
Preparing the application. You work with the advisor on your business idea, 12-month work plan and budget, and we assign your academic supervisor.
Submission. Tomorrow University submits the application. There is no deadline, so we submit when it is ready.
Decision. Expect first feedback about 4 weeks after submission. A revision request is the normal outcome at this stage, not a rejection. Plan on roughly 6 months from submission to the first payment.

Prepare for your consultation

Before you meet the EXIST advisor, have a short draft of:

The problem and your solution
What is innovative about it
Your unique selling point (USP)
Your team's background and expertise
A first idea of your 12-month plan

EXIST Women: for women who want to found

EXIST Women is a federal programme for women at universities who are thinking about starting a company, including those at the very beginning with only a first idea. Tomorrow University is currently looking into becoming an EXIST Women institution. We have not applied yet and cannot promise a place. If you are interested, now is the time to tell us: the number of interested women is part of how we decide.

What the programme offers

A 12-month qualification programme (workshops, mentoring, coaching and networking) that you can take alongside your studies or work
An optional stipend for up to 3 months to work intensively on your idea: €1,000 per month (students), €2,000 (vocational qualification), €2,500 (graduates), €3,000 (doctorate), plus €150 per child per month
Up to €2,000 for materials such as prototypes, coaching or travel

Who can take part

Women who are current learners and have completed at least half of the ECTS for their degree, or who already hold a bachelor's degree
Graduates and researchers
Women with a vocational qualification and a link to the university
Your company must not be founded yet. You can found during the programme.

Good to know about EXIST Women

EXIST Women comes before the EXIST-Gründungsstipendium, not after. If you have already received an EXIST-Gründungsstipendium, you cannot join EXIST Women. Many participants go on to apply for the Gründungsstipendium afterwards.
The university applies for the programme, not you. If we go ahead, we run our own selection (a motivation letter and a short pitch) to choose participants.

Preliminary timeline

These dates are subject to our decision and to funding approval.

When	What
Now to summer 2027	Register your interest; optional call with our EXIST advisor
By 30 September 2027	Tomorrow University decides whether to apply and, if so, submits its application to the funder
Early 2028 at the earliest	If approved: we open our selection call to registered candidates
2028	12-month programme, with the optional 3-month stipend

Register your interest in EXIST Women

Use the same form and choose "EXIST Women" as your programme. We'll keep you updated as our plans firm up. If you'd like to talk it through first, choose "Talk to the EXIST advisor first" and you can book a 30-minute call straight away.

→ Register your interest or talk to our advisor

Which programme is right for me?

	EXIST-Gründungsstipendium	EXIST Women
Who	Teams of 1 to 3 founders	Individual women
Format	12 months, full-time on your start-up	12 months of qualification alongside study or work
Stipend	12 months	Up to 3 months (optional)
Materials	Up to €10,000 to €30,000 depending on team size	Up to €2,000
Graduates	Within 5 years of graduating	No time limit
At Tomorrow University	Available now, apply any time	Being explored: register your interest

If you are a woman at the very start, with an idea but no team or plan yet, EXIST Women is designed for you. If you have a team and want to work full-time on your start-up now, the Gründungsstipendium is the better route. Not sure? Talk to our advisor first.

Good to know

If you are rejected, you can reapply with a different project, but not with substantially the same one.
EXIST offers no follow-on funding after the 12 months. Plan early for how the business will be financed afterwards, for example through accelerators, investors or other programmes.
The university also receives funding if an application succeeds. This is not deducted from your stipend.
Tomorrow University is applying to EXIST for the first time this year, so you are among our first teams, and we will learn the process together.

Useful links

Questions? Contact Prof. Dr. Jonathan Costa, VP Research, at jonathan@tomorrow.university.