Most funding guides list the same programmes every year and never check whether money is left. In 2026 that matters more than usual: several flagship pots ran dry mid-year. Here is the verified state of play as of 9 July 2026, and the three timing rules that decide whether you actually get funded.
Austria: the famous one is empty, the good ones are not
KMU.DIGITAL is the programme everyone cites, and right now it is exhausted. The official site states that no applications are possible for either consulting or implementation funding. The budget refills in annual tranches; the 2026 tranche opened in January and was gone by early summer. The programme runs until the end of 2026, so if a new tranche appears, the rates are: consulting 50 to 80 percent (up to €3,000 total) and implementation 30 percent up to €6,000, with a funded consultation required first. Lesson: have your application ready in January.
aws AI programmes (AI-Start up to €15,000, AI-Adoption up to €150,000) run in discrete call windows, and no call is open as of mid-2026. New rounds are announced at aws.at; approval must come before the project starts.
What is actually open in Austria right now:
- Wirtschaftsagentur Wien, Förderung Digitalisierung: 50 percent of costs up to €50,000 for Viennese SMEs, with quarterly cut-off dates through 2026. The strongest open programme in the country, and far less talked about than KMU.DIGITAL.
- FFG Innovationsscheck: 80 percent up to €10,000 for projects with a research partner, open all year.
- FFG Basisprogramm: ongoing submission, grant plus soft loan covering roughly half of larger development projects with technical risk.
Germany: no federal grant, three strong regional ones
The federal programmes (go-digital, Digital Jetzt) are gone with no direct successor. What remains lives in the Länder:
- Digitalbonus Bayern: open until end of 2027. 50 percent, up to €7,500 (Standard) or €30,000 (Plus, which explicitly covers AI introduction). Small companies under 50 employees only. Applications open at 10:00 on the first working day of each month and the quota goes fast.
- NRW, Mittelstand Innovativ & Digital: restructured in 2026; now 50 percent up to €15,000, allocated by monthly lottery because demand exceeds budget.
- Sachsen, Digitalisierung Zuschuss: up to 60 percent, max €10,000, for micro-enterprises.
- Thüringen and Berlin: exhausted or expired. No relaunch planned.
Also free: the roughly 29 Mittelstand-Digital Zentren offer vendor-neutral workshops, AI trainers and individual consulting at no cost through 2026.
EU-wide: the hubs almost nobody uses
Every region in the EU has a European Digital Innovation Hub. For SMEs they offer "test before invest" support, AI experimentation and training, free or heavily subsidised. There is no grant application; you contact your regional hub directly and sign a service agreement. If you want to trial an AI use case before committing budget, this is the cheapest legitimate route in Europe.
The three rules that decide everything
- Apply before you start. Every programme above requires it. Costs incurred before the application date, sometimes even the order confirmation, kill the grant.
- January is harvest time. Budgets refill in annual tranches and exhaust mid-year. The pattern across 2026 was consistent: KMU.DIGITAL gone by June, FFG Impact Innovation gone by March.
- Small grants stack. Most of these fall under the EU de-minimis ceiling of €300,000 per three years, so a funded consultation plus a funded implementation plus free EDIH support is a legal combination, as long as the same costs are never funded twice.
We check which programme fits your project as part of the free intro call, and we structure proposals so the application date never becomes the problem.
Verified 9 July 2026 against official programme pages. Budgets are volatile; always confirm current status before planning around a grant. Not funding advice in the legal sense.