The aws First Incubator combines a non-repayable grant of up to €55,000 with a twelve-month support program - for people right at the start of their founding journey. Call #2 runs until June 23, 2026.
What to expect in this issue
- Deep Dive - aws First Incubator: up to €55,000 for your founding idea
- StartMatch News - Our new dashboard with tutorials and grant search
- FörderRadar - New and expiring grants
There is that one moment when a thought turns into a real venture. That is exactly where the aws First Incubator comes in. The program by Austria Wirtschaftsservice is aimed at people right at the start of their founding journey and combines a non-repayable grant with a twelve-month support program.
Specifically, up to 90% of your project costs are funded, with a maximum of €49,000. With the female founders' bonus, the funding rate rises to 100% and the maximum amount to €55,000. You don't have to repay the money - it is a genuine grant for the early, risky phase in which traditional financing is still hard to come by.
The First Incubator has two ways in:
Module A is for natural persons who have not yet founded a company. You have an idea but no company yet? Then this is your module.
Module B is for newly founded companies that are at most 6 months old and have made no more than €10,000 in revenue.
In both cases, it's about teams of one to four people, from all industries. You don't need a technical background or a finished product, just an idea with innovation and market potential.
Now is exactly the right time: Call #2 is open and runs until June 23, 2026, 12:00 noon. This call is open to everyone aged 18 and over, with no upper age limit, and submission is in English. Submissions are made online via the aws Fördermanager.
For the application you need three things: a three- to five-page project description, a budget plan and an application video of no more than four minutes in which you present your idea and your team. The jury then evaluates the degree of innovation, the entrepreneurial potential of the team, the coherence of the idea, the market potential and the feasibility.
The First Incubator is one of the few grants that truly meets you at zero. You don't need a limited company, no pre-financing and no long track record. Besides the money, you get access to a structured program with coaching and a network that many founders describe in hindsight as the actual lever. Anyone walking around with an idea in their head and just waiting for the right push will find both momentum and capital here in one.
Are you wondering whether your idea fits, or would you like help with the project description and video? Just write to us at robert@startmatch.ai and we'll take a look together.
All information and the current deadlines are available here: aws First Incubator on StartMatch
We've revamped our platform. As soon as you sign in, you land on your personal dashboard and have everything in one place: an overview of your funding applications and projects, the grant search that helps you find suitable programs, and our funding tools.
The highlight are the funding guides: step-by-step tutorials on the most important grants, from the Austrian research premium to the FFG basic program and small project all the way to aws Deep Tech and aws Innovative Solutions. On top of that there are practical helpers like the research premium calculator, and new ones are added all the time.
The best part: the dashboard is free for everyone. You only need an account, then you have immediate access to the project overview, the grant search and all tutorials.
Sign up here: Sign up now
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Best of luck with your projects!
Best regards,
Robert & your StartMatch Team 👋
Robert Kopka
StartMatch Founder & CEO
With Energy Research 2026, the BMIMI funds technical and societal solutions for the green transformation – €100,000 to €2M is possible per cooperative R&D project.
With the new AI Ecosystems 2026 program, the FFG funds cooperative R&D projects in Hybrid AI and Green AI with up to €1M per project.
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