Skip to content
DE

Funding is decided before you sign anything.

Austria has federal and regional money for digitalisation projects. But you only get it if the order is right. Sign the contract first and ask afterwards, and in many programmes the claim is already gone.

Federal and regionalApply first, commission secondCertified consultant in the teamFirst conversation costs nothing

The order

This works

Talk first, calculate second, sign third.

  • You roughly know what you want, but nothing is commissioned yet.
  • Together we look at which programme is even an option and whether there is money in it right now.
  • You get a quote structured so that it matches what the programme asks for.
  • You file the application and wait for confirmation. Only then do we start.
This goes wrong

The claim is usually gone before the first handshake.

  • Contract signed, project running, and only then does somebody think of the funding. Many programmes no longer accept that.
  • The deposit has already been transferred. In some programmes that counts as project start too.
  • The application is filed but not confirmed, and work starts anyway. At your own risk.
  • The pot was already empty. That happens more often than people think, usually mid-year.

The exact rules are in each programme's guidelines and are binding there, not here. What is written here is experience from projects — not a substitute for the guidelines.

What we do

01

Check first

Before anything is planned: is there a programme right now that fits your project, and is there still money in it? Both change constantly. That question takes ten minutes and decides everything else.

02

Scope

Not everything you need is eligible, and not everything eligible is something you need. We separate the two cleanly instead of inflating a project just to fit a programme.

03

A quote that fits

Funding bodies want line items, not a lump sum. Our quote is built so the individual items reappear in the application and stay traceable when you settle up.

04

Waiting it out

Weeks pass between application and confirmation. During that time we do not start, however urgent it feels. We hold your slot and work on what does not count as project start anyway.

05

Documentation

In the end the funding body wants to see that what was applied for was delivered. Invoices, evidence and documentation of the work come in the form you can submit.

06

The consultation itself

Where a programme requires a certified consultation before it funds the implementation, we do it in house — one of us is accredited for it, including for KMU.DIGITAL. You need nobody extra, and the consultation knows what will be built afterwards.

Where the money comes from

There is no single funding scheme but several layers running in parallel that partly exclude one another. Here is what they are and how they differ. No amounts and no deadlines anywhere — the reason is at the bottom.

Federal The best-known federal track for SME digitalisation runs through the chamber of commerce and aws. It has two stages: a funded consultation first, funded implementation second. Without the consultation there is no implementation grant.
Province Every province has its own programmes, guidelines and budgets. Salzburg, Styria, Tyrol and Carinthia fund digitalisation differently. Some can be combined with the federal track, others cannot.
Sector Tourism, agriculture and the trades have their own tracks, often through the relevant chamber or a regional association. For tourism businesses that is nearly always the first place to look.
Order For nearly all of them: the application must precede the project start. What counts as the start is in the guidelines — often the signed contract, sometimes the deposit.
Budget Most programmes work first come, first served. Budgets regularly run dry mid-year and are topped up later or the following year. An empty pot is not a no, but it is a wait.
Not eligible Running costs such as hosting and maintenance are outside most programmes. What gets funded is the project, not the operation afterwards. Projects already under way are excluded almost everywhere too.
Binding Only the programme guidelines and the funding body's approval are binding. Not even a certified consultation can pre-empt that — it can only make sure the application holds up.
No figures This page carries no amounts, rates or deadlines. They would already be wrong as you read them. Look it up today and you will find three different maximums and two contradictory budget statements for the same programme, on the same day.

Questions about funding advice

Does the funding advice cost me anything?
The first conversation does not. There we look at whether there is a suitable programme for your project at all and whether there is money in it right now. If not, we say so in five minutes and you have lost five minutes instead of three weeks. The actual consultation afterwards is itself part of the funding — so you do not pay all of it, the programme covers the larger share. What is left over we tell you in advance, with a date.
Do you do the funding consultation yourselves?
Yes. Where a programme requires a certified consultation before it funds the implementation, only an accredited consultant may carry it out and bill for it. Someone in our team is accredited, including for KMU.DIGITAL. For you that means one contact instead of two, and a consultation that knows from the start what will be built afterwards. What we still cannot do is promise you an amount — that is the funding body's call, and only after the application.
How long does all this take?
Count on weeks, not days, and plan for them. Between the decision and the point where we are allowed to start lie the consultation, the application and the wait for confirmation. If you need a new site for the autumn season, start asking in spring. Start asking in autumn and you either do it without funding or wait a season.
I have already signed. Have I missed the boat?
For this project, in most programmes yes. Not necessarily for the next one. What still works: splitting the scope. If a second, clearly separate stage follows — a shop after the website, an interface after the shop — that can be its own project and stay eligible. But it has to be genuinely separate, not retrofitted on paper.
Why are there no amounts on this page?
Because they would be wrong. Look up one of the common digitalisation programmes today: on the first page of results you will find three different maximums and two contradictory statements about whether applications are open at all — all from the same day, all about the same programme. A figure on a website ages quietly, and someone calculating from it may sign a contract they cannot afford without the funding they expected. We give you the figure in conversation, with a date, and say where it comes from.
What if the application is rejected?
Then you decide whether to do the project anyway — and you decide that before anything is commissioned. That is exactly why we wait for the confirmation. Start first and get rejected afterwards, and you are left with a running contract and a hole in your budget. Wait, and you decide again calmly.
Is the effort even worth it?
For a small project, often not. Application, consultation, waiting and settling up cost you time, and that has value too. For a new website with a shop and interfaces it looks different — there the grant is large enough that a few weeks of patience pay off. Where the line falls in your case, we tell you honestly, including when the answer is: skip it and get started. More about the projects themselves under Websites and online shops.

Ask about funding first

Better to ask too early than too late.

One call before you sign anything. We tell you whether there is a programme for your project right now, what you have to do in what order, and whether the effort pays off for you at all — including when the answer is no.

Ask beforehand +43 (0)676 3342360 Reply within 24 hours on working days.