Granting of Subsidies for the Promotion of Start-ups in the Pre-Seed and Seed Phase (Start-up Scholarship Guideline)

The Lower Saxony Start-up Scholarship targets natural persons who wish to establish innovative, digital, or knowledge-oriented companies in the state. The program aims to strengthen the start-up dynamic in Lower Saxony by supporting founders in the early stages of their business development.

The Lower Saxony Start-up Scholarship specifically promotes the development and realization of innovative, digital, or knowledge-oriented business ideas in the early founding phases. It supports the costs of company formation and the living expenses of the founders.

The Lower Saxony Start-up Scholarship is awarded as a non-repayable grant. It offers monthly financial support, the amount of which depends on the educational status, and is limited to a maximum duration of ten months.

Specific conditions apply to the granting of the Lower Saxony Start-up Scholarship regarding the founding status, accompaniment by an institution, and compliance with de minimis regulations. Furthermore, rules for the use of funds and reporting must be observed.

The application process for the Lower Saxony Start-up Scholarship involves submitting the required documents via the NBank customer portal and a selection decision based on a scoring model, possibly by a jury. The granting authority decides on the awarding of the scholarships.

The Lower Saxony Start-up Scholarship is based on specific guidelines from the Ministry for Economic Affairs, Transport, Building and Digitalization and is supplemented by European state aid regulations. These legal bases ensure the legitimacy and framework conditions of the funding program.