Funding and support for health startups in Germany
Some of my students are building startups in healthcare and asked what’s different for them when it comes to funding. This overview covers the programs and contacts that are specific to health, as of the end of October 2026. Everything general, like free advice in Cologne, EXIST, KfW loans, business angels or the Forschungszulage, works for health startups too, and it’s all in the general post on funding and support. Please check dates and amounts on the linked pages before you apply.
Help and advice
Health is heavily regulated, so it pays to get advice early, before you build too much. The BfArM, which decides on medical devices and DiGA, has an Innovationsbüro for exactly this. It offers orientation talks for developers of new health products and specific advice on DiGA, so you can find out early which rules apply to you and what evidence you’ll need.
In the region, the Gesundheitsregion KölnBonn is a network of more than 130 companies and organisations from the health sector, and it has run formats that bring health startups together with clinics, insurers and established companies. For a health startup, those contacts are often worth more than money, because you need clinics to test with and partners to get into the system.
If you come from a university, the startup office can also help you find a clinical partner. In Cologne that’s Gateway, which I describe in the general post.
EIT Health
EIT Health is the most relevant EU funder for health startups. As NI Business Info summarises, it had two calls this year. The Transformative Healthcare Instrument gave SMEs in biotech, medtech, digital health, AI, biomarkers and diagnostics between €300,000 and €500,000, with EIT Health covering up to half of the project costs. The Innovation Uptake Call was for mature digital and AI health products that are ready to scale across Europe and paid up to €650,000 per project.
Both closed on 16 September 2026, so you’d be preparing for next year’s round. On eithealth.eu you’ll also find Catapult, where startups pitch to investors and industry.
KMU-innovativ: Medizintechnik
The German research ministry published a new guideline for this program on 6 February 2026. As PNO explains, digital health is now explicitly included, even if the product isn’t on the market as a medical device yet. You need a clear medical question and a plausible regulatory plan. Low-risk device classes are no longer excluded automatically.
A single company can use the simpler de-minimis route, with up to €300,000 over three years and up to 80% funding for small companies. In a consortium, users have to be involved and at least half of the money has to go to SMEs. Either way, the project needs a realistic path into patient care and reimbursement.
G-BA Innovationsfonds
The Innovationsfonds funds new forms of care and health services research in the statutory insurance system. Insurers or clinics usually lead these projects, and startups join as partners.
The budget is getting smaller. According to the G-BA overview, it was cut from €200 million to €100 million for 2026, and a law passed in July 2026 keeps it at €100 million a year from 2027 on. About €80 million of that goes to new forms of care. €10 million of it is set aside for short projects that can show results within two years, and you can apply for those at any time during the year.
DiGA: reimbursement instead of a grant
If you’re building an app for patients, a DiGA listing is often worth more than a grant, because doctors can then prescribe it to the roughly 73 million people with statutory health insurance. As this market-entry guide explains, BfArM decides within three months of a complete application.
The difficult part is the evidence. By 15 July 2026 there had been 251 applications, with 60 approved, 29 rejected and 131 withdrawn. You set the price yourself in the first year, and after that it’s negotiated with the statutory insurers, increasingly with parts tied to performance. The official directory is at diga.bfarm.de.
Accelerators and investors
The BIH Digital Health Accelerator at Charité supports projects from Charité and BIH research groups, so it’s only an option if you work with one of them. SPRIND has health topics as well, such as its current challenge on continuous hormone monitoring with biosensors for women’s health.
On the investor side, HTGF invests a lot in healthtech, and Heal Capital in Berlin is backed by private health insurers, which can help you get in touch with the industry.
What I’d do as a health startup in Cologne
I’d start with an orientation talk at the BfArM Innovationsbüro, so you know early what the regulation means for your product, and get in touch with the Gesundheitsregion KölnBonn to find clinical partners. If you already have a company and develop software, the Forschungszulage from the general post is a good first source of money, because it has no deadline. If you can work with a clinic or university, KMU-innovativ: Medizintechnik would be next, and I’d start preparing for the next EIT Health round. And if you’re building an app for patients, plan the evidence for a DiGA early on, because health investors will ask you about it.