Industries
All – few exceptions (see program document)

Company size
Projects with 1 - 4 project members

Development phase
Pre-start-up phase and start-up phase: from business idea to business model to start-up and/or market maturity
 

Requirements

• Pre-foundation phase: from business idea to business model
• You are innovative people with an entrepreneurial spirit.
• You have a first innovative idea that can be developed into a business model and / or for which you still need essential know-how for your first steps on the market.
• You meet the requirements of the program document.

Success rate
10 – 20 %

Type of support

• Coaching and mentoring by experienced experts
  and founders
• Personnel costs
• Project budget
• Workshops on matters that are relevant to start-ups
• Classes for further developing the idea
• Coworking space
• Travel expenses
• Network: aws First Community, events, excursions

Funding amount

• Projects are funded up to a total project cost of EUR 55,000 (see respective tender documents).
• The grant can amount to a maximum of 90% of the costs or a maximum of EUR 49,000.
• The remaining 10% of the planned and incurred costs (personnel and investment costs) must be paid by the funding recipients themselves.
• Gender bonus: If, at the time the grant is awarded, the project includes (one or more) women who (will in future) own more than 25% of the shares in total, the grant awarded increases to up to 100% of the eligible costs or a maximum of EUR 55,000.

Eligible costs

• Personnel costs
• Material costs
• Third-party costs
• Rental costs
• Travel expenses

Project duration
1 - 2 years

Disbursement

• personnel costs: monthly
• Project budget: in 2 – 3 tranches upon reaching predefined milestones

Repayment
Nonrepayable

• Companies which were founded more than 6 months ago
• Projects without any product or process innovation

Application deadline: 

Call #1 for people aged 18 and over (no age limit) and suitable for multilingual submissions (English as project language): May 7 - June 27, 2024

Call #2 for people aged 18 to 30 and German-language submissions (German as project language): May 23 - July 11, 2024

We are happy to inform you about current submission phases via our Facebook & Instagram channel.

• You apply online via aws Funding Manager incl.
  • Application video
  • Personal data
  • Project description
  • Declaration of consent to participate in the aws First Start-up Camp
  • Proof of identity

You can find more information in the download section. Please pay particular attention to the tender information.

Selected projects including funding applicants will be invited to the aws First Start-up Camp, where the most promising projects for participation in the aws First Incubator will be selected by a jury of experts. Participation in the aws First Start-up Camp is mandatory in order to be accepted into the program. With your application you confirm that you can participate in the aws First Start-up Camp.

We will inform you in writing as soon as possible.

Duration of approval
2 months after the application deadline