1. What is the IGP?
The Innovation Program for Business Models and Pioneer Solutions (IGP) is a funding program by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK). Unlike traditional technology funding, the IGP specifically supports non-technical innovations – the focus lies on the novelty of the problem-solving approach, not on technology development.
Official information: BMWK – Innovation Program IGP
2. Who is Eligible?
| Target Group | Criteria |
|---|---|
| Micro enterprises | < 10 employees, turnover/balance ≤ €2M |
| Small enterprises | < 50 employees, turnover/balance ≤ €10M |
| Medium enterprises | < 250 employees, turnover ≤ €50M / balance ≤ €43M |
| Startups & Founders | Including pre-founding phase |
| Self-employed | Sole proprietors and freelancers |
| Social enterprises | Common-good-oriented companies |
| Research institutions | As cooperation partners |
3. What is Funded?
The IGP funds innovations in four key areas:
- Creative Industries: Design innovations, music industry, architectural concepts.
- Social Innovations: New organizational models from social startups.
- Digital Business Models: New platform formats, GovTech, smart city/village solutions.
- Cross-Innovations: Joint projects between startups + SMEs or crafts + digital companies.
4. Current Call: Q2/2026
The next funding call is expected to start in Q2 2026.
- Focus: Collaboratively developed business models and pioneer solutions.
- Requirement: At least two participating companies (cooperation project).
- Approach: Cross-industry services, new organizational designs, or digital applications developed by partners from different disciplines.
5. Top Recommendation: Lieferator
Based on an analysis of all 16 brainstorming ideas, the project Lieferator – The Fair Delivery Platform was identified as the strongest candidate for the Q2/2026 call:
- Innovation Type: Social innovation & business model innovation.
- IGP Fit: Excellent – addresses systemic market failure through a cooperative model.
- Cross-Innovation: Meets the cooperation requirement through collaboration between restaurant associations, municipalities, and IT partners.
Other strong candidates: Refurbished Automation (Circular Economy) and Attack Competitors (Open-Source Disruption).
6. Ideas by Category
🤖 AI Platforms & Infrastructure
- AI Kickoff Platform – AI onboarding platform for SMEs
- Agent Platform – No-Code/Low-Code orchestration for AI agents
- Knowledge Base – AI help pages & chatbots from manuals
💻 Software Development & Tooling
- Developer Avatar – Full-AI team with human oversight
- Internal Tools – AI-powered bug fixing & documentation
🎨 User Experience & Interfaces
- On-Demand Mini-UIs – Generative user interfaces for complex applications
- Chat Avatar & Robot Frontend – Empathetic AI avatars for point of sale
🛒 E-Commerce & Marketplaces
- AI Shop System – Automated multi-channel sales platform for SMEs
- Refurbished Automation – AI-powered purchasing & valuation for second-hand goods
- Lieferator – Cooperative alternative to Lieferando & Co.
📣 Marketing & Campaigns
- Auto Marketing – AI-powered 360-degree marketing for SMEs
- Micro Campaigns – Psychographic microtargeting beyond politics
💡 Ideation & Innovation
- Idea Generation via Domains – Industry-specific AI innovation assistant
- Idea Generation via Domain Names – Business model design from industry terms
⚔️ Competition & Disruption
- Attack Competitors – Open-source alternatives to tech giants
🔮 Future Technologies
- Future Tech – Transfer bridge for quantum computing & robotics in SMEs