Which products are eligible?
Marketable digital products with high innovation potential — newly developed or substantially enhanced. The product must address a concrete target group, promise realistic market exploitation and use at least one key technology: AI, machine-learning algorithms, data mining, real-time/high-speed processing or AR/VR. The application must substantiate these criteria — and that substantiation is exactly what we work out with you.
Is our in-house development eligible?
No — funded are project-related expenses for external services, i.e. the work of an external contractor. Your own staff, internal effort or own hardware do not count. That makes the programme ideal for bringing in an experienced external development team without carrying the full cost risk.
How does the lottery procedure work?
In two stages: you express your interest in the NRW.BANK customer portal; 16 slots are drawn monthly for MID-Digitalisierung. If your entry is drawn, the application is unlocked automatically and you have 28 days to submit. If not, you take part again the next month without re-registering — which is why the product concept and quote should be ready before the draw.
How much funding do we actually get?
50% of eligible costs, with a minimum grant of €4,000 and a maximum of €15,000. Your project therefore needs at least €8,000 of eligible volume; the cap is reached at €30,000 — higher spending is allowed, funding stops at €15,000. VAT is not eligible.
When is the money paid out?
After the project: the programme works on a cost-reimbursement basis. You commission after approval, pay the invoices yourself first, and submit the proof of use, final report, invoices and payment evidence after completion — then the grant is paid in one sum. Plan for this pre-financing.
Can we combine this with other MID tracks?
The tracks are separate: each may be used once per company within two years — for MID-Digitalisierung the period runs from receipt of the proof of use. The same measure may never be funded twice; a product development project and, say, a separate security or process project are not mutually exclusive in principle. We check the scoping and your de-minimis headroom in the funding check.
Why a security company as the development partner?
Because your new product is sold into a regulated world: the Cyber Resilience Act demands security evidence for products with digital elements, the AI Act transparency and risk management for AI features — and your enterprise customers ask for both in procurement. We build AI-powered products ourselves (our Vami solutions) and design security and conformity requirements in from sprint one instead of retrofitting them expensively after launch.
