Our Förder-Bibel is here: 45 pages of funding knowledge on strategy, the application process and the use of AI, completely free. Also in the Deep Dive: the FFG Skills Schecks 2026, with up to €25,000 for your team's training.
What to expect in this issue
- Deep Dive - Up to €25,000 for your team's training
- StartMatch News - The Förder-Bibel is here
- FörderRadar - New and expiring grants
In the Deep Dive we regularly present a financing or funding topic in detail. Today: FFG Skills Schecks 2026, up to €25,000 for your team's training.
Training in future technologies is expensive, especially for smaller teams. This is exactly where the Skills Schecks 2026 from BMWET and the FFG come in: the state covers 50% of the costs for external training, straightforward and with no minimum project size.
The format is a success story: since 2021, 10,000 vouchers worth more than €21 million have already been awarded, around 5 per day on average.
Managing directors, sole proprietors and shareholders who work in the business can be funded as well. That makes the Skills Schecks especially interesting for startups and one-person businesses.
External professional training with a clear focus on digitalization and/or ecological sustainability. Especially sought after: the nine key technologies of the Industry Strategy 2035, such as AI and data innovation, chips, robotics, quantum technology, life sciences, energy and environmental technologies or mobility.
The training has to take place at an approved provider: Ö-Cert-certified adult education institutions, universities of applied sciences and universities (EU/EEA) or COMET competence centers. Online courses from these providers are eligible, but the course must be publicly bookable on the website.
It's worth taking a look at the guidelines, because some of the usual suspects are excluded: conferences and conventions, product training from the software manufacturer, in-house training, flat-rate offers, basic digital skills (Office, ECDL) as well as general management topics such as Scrum, Agile or project management, including in an IT context.
Companies of any size with a place of business in Austria (no GesbR, no companies in formation). Prerequisite: the de minimis limit of €300,000 over 3 years has not been exhausted. Submissions are accepted on a rolling basis until 15.12.2026, 12:00 noon, via the eCall. But beware: the budget is only €4 million and it's first come, first served. Once it is exhausted, the call closes early.
Important for planning: the application has to be submitted before the course starts, at most 4 weeks in advance. The training must be completed within 18 months of the application date, and the invoice must not yet have been issued at the time of application. Payment is made after completion: simply upload the original invoice as a final report in the eCall within 4 weeks of the end of the course.
Hardly any grant has such a low barrier to entry: no consortium, no proof of R&D, no lengthy application process. If you were planning to train your team in AI, data or GreenTech this year anyway, you get half the cost back here. But at an average of 5 vouchers a day, it's worth not waiting until December.
All information is available here: FFG Skills Schecks on StartMatch
It has been live since yesterday: the Förder-Bibel, our guide to grants in Austria. 45 pages, 8 chapters, completely free.
For years we have worked with grants every single day. Along the way we have learned a lot: what works, what goes wrong and what really matters in your strategy and your application. We now want to make this knowledge accessible to everyone, whether you are working on your first or your third application.
Here's what's inside:
You can download it for free here: Download the Förder-Bibel
FFG Skills Schecks 2026
See the Deep Dive above. Up to €5,000 in funding per employee for external training, continuous submission until 15.12.2026, early closing possible once the budget is exhausted.
AI Ökosysteme 2026
Cooperative R&D projects in Hybrid AI and Green AI. For companies of all sizes, startups and research institutions. Submission: 18.05.2026 to 06.10.2026.
FFG Energieforschung 2026
Up to €2,000,000 for R&D projects on the green transformation. Submission: 27.05.2026 to 30.09.2026.
Mobilitätswende - Mobilitätstechnologie 2026
R&D projects in vehicle technology and automated mobility. For companies, startups and research institutions. Submission: 27.05.2026 to 30.09.2026.
Mission Klimaneutrale Stadt 2026
Research and demonstration projects for climate-neutral cities, districts and buildings. Submission: 13.05.2026 to 01.10.2026.
Multilaterale Eureka Leichtbau Ausschreibung 2026
Transnational R&D projects in lightweight construction: designs, materials, circular economy, digital technologies. In Austria only with a mobility focus. Submission: 06.05.2026 to 12.10.2026.
Go!Tech Praktika 2026
Funds multi-month internship placements for high school graduates for career orientation in scientific and technical fields. Submission: 04.05.2026 to 04.11.2026.
Medienprojekt der Wiener Medieninitiative
Non-repayable grants for new, high-quality journalistic projects. For existing companies and associations in the Viennese media industry. Submission deadline only until 31.07.2026.
Best of luck with your projects!
Best regards,
Robert & your StartMatch Team 👋
Robert Kopka
StartMatch Founder & CEO
The FFG Basisprogramm Kleinprojekt offers up to €88,500 in non-repayable funding for your development. We show you how to build the complete application with our new AI tool in hours instead of weeks - end-to-end all the way to the eCall.
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.
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