Start financing compass
Here you will get an overview of possible forms of financing to support your business start-up. You can find out which forms of financing could suit you and your start-up by answering the questionnaire in the Financing Compass.
To give you a basic overview of the various forms of financing, we have summarised the most common options below.
Grants (EXIST)
Grants are financial resources from the public sector that are provided to founders or companies but do not have to be repaid. The prerequisite for funding is that the start-up project is sufficiently innovative.
EXIST start-up grant
The EXIST funding programme aims to strengthen the transfer of knowledge and technology from universities and non-university research institutions to industry. The EXIST start-up grant supports students, graduates and scientists in the pre-start-up phase with grants for living expenses and material costs. Funding is conditional on the start-up projects being innovative, technology-orientated or knowledge-based projects with significant unique selling points and good prospects of economic success.
The following partner offers this form of financing:
Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection
EXIST research transfer
The EXIST funding programme aims to strengthen the transfer of knowledge and technology from universities and non-university research institutions to industry. The EXIST research transfer programme supports particularly ambitious and research-based start-up projects that involve complex and risky development work to prove the technical feasibility of the product idea.
The following partner offers this form of financing:
Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection
Grants (IFB Hamburg)
Grants are financial resources from the public sector that are awarded to start-ups or companies but are non-repayable. The prerequisite for funding from Investitions- und Förderbank Hamburg (IFB Hamburg) and its subsidiary IFB Innovationsstarter GmbH is that the degree of innovation of the start-up project is sufficient and that the (planned) company headquarters is located in Hamburg.
InnoFounder
The InnoFounder funding programme supports founders and teams of founders in the pre-start-up and start-up phase with a lump-sum personal grant with the aim of getting the preparation and implementation of innovative and knowledge-based start-ups from all sectors off the ground in Hamburg. The focus is preferably on innovative digital start-up projects. The business idea must stand out significantly from the competition, have good prospects of success and be risky due to its novelty. Companies that have already been founded may not be older than one year.
The following partner offers this form of financing:
IFB Innovationsstarter GmbH
InnoRampUp
The InnoRampUp funding programme is aimed across all sectors at start-ups and companies that are no more than two years old and based in Hamburg. Innovative technology-based and knowledge-based projects with a realistic chance of commercial success are supported. The grant is intended to strengthen the local start-up scene and contribute to the development of promising companies.
The following partner offers this form of financing:
IFB Innovationsstarter GmbH
Venture Capital
Venture capital (VC) is a form of financing in which institutional investors provide start-ups with large sums of money, often in the millions, in return for a stake in the company. The investor takes a considerable risk in return for which he expects to have a say in business decisions and high profits on the sale of his shares (exit).
Private sector VCs
Private VCs Private VC companies are professional investors that only enter the market in later financing rounds, but with larger investment capital. As the capital is non-repayable, the VC bears a considerable risk and in return expects significant profit sharing as well as control and information rights from the start-up. VCs are primarily interested in companies that target a huge market with a scalable business model and therefore promise above-average growth.
High-Tech Founders Fund
High-Tech Gründerfonds is Europe’s most active seed investor. In addition to funding from the BMWi and KfW, HTGF has 34 industrial investors. Investments are made in innovative companies from the hardware, software and life science sectors with a strong technological focus that require capital for ambitious research and development projects and are less than three years old. In the first financing round, HTGF is investing up to one million euros directly in the companies’ equity.
The following partner offers this form of financing:
The following partner offers this form of financing:
High-Tech Gründerfonds Management GmbH
Innovationsstarter Fonds Hamburg
The Innovationsstarter Fonds Hamburg invests venture capital in young, innovative Hamburg companies in order to strengthen the Hamburg start-up scene and contribute to the development of promising companies. Provision is made for open participations in corporations up to a maximum amount of one million euros. The fund focuses on above-average innovative start-ups in Hamburg that are less than five years old and have significant potential for value growth. IFB Innovationsstarter GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hamburgische Investitions- und Förderbank, has been entrusted with the management of the fund.
The following partner offers this form of financing:
IFB Innovationsstarter GmbH
Bank and promotional loans
Loans are sums of money provided by the bank that must be repaid through regular interest and repayments. As the bank concentrates purely on financing, no accompanying counselling and coaching services can be expected for the founders. Conversely, the bank waives its right to have a say in the management of the company. A robust business plan and, for larger loan amounts, additional collateral such as real estate or guarantees are expected before a loan is approved. There are various promotional loans specifically for business founders (e.g. Hamburg-Kredit Gründung und Nachfolge and KfW ERP-Gründerkredit – StartGeld); these cannot be applied for directly from the lender, but via a financing partner such as your bank. Lower interest rates are possible with subsidised loans than with a normal loan. The IFB Business Advisory Centre provides comprehensive advice on the KfW and IFB funding programmes for start-ups, even before contacting your bank.
KfW Bankengruppe
Hamburgische Investitions- und Förderbank (IFB Hamburg)
Crowdfunding
Crowdfunding is a form of swarm financing in which a large number of internet users (the “crowd”) jointly pre-finance a planned project with small amounts. This form of financing originally focussed on the artistic and creative sector. Crowdfunding is now increasingly being used for the development of new products and for marketing purposes. With crowdfunding, supporters usually only receive a non-financial reward in return, e.g. free products or premium memberships.
Crowdinvesting
Crowdinvesting is swarm financing with equity capital for start-ups in the early phase. A swarm of private investors invests small amounts together in a project via a digital platform. In return, the “crowd” participates financially in the success of the project. Many crowdinvesting platforms require an already established capital company to launch a campaign.
Business Angels
Business angels are private investors who invest their own capital in start-ups and receive company shares in return. As they are often successful entrepreneurs themselves, they also support the start-up in the critical initial phase with a great deal of expertise and a network. Business angels are often the first investors and get involved before institutional VC companies.
Mezzanine
The word mezzanine is derived from the Italian mezzo (half) and refers to a hybrid form between equity and debt capital. In accounting terms, the money is equity and therefore improves the creditworthiness of the company, but without giving the investor the corresponding say. Mezzanine capital is correspondingly expensive: investors such as banks, private equity firms or crowd investors demand a high profit share and the money must also be repaid.
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