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Digitalbonus Bayern for AI projects

Bavaria covers up to half the cost when small companies digitalise, up to 30,000 euros for particularly innovative projects such as AI. Who gets the grant, what it covers, and the order to do things in.

The Digitalbonus Bayern is a grant from the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs for small companies that digitalise or improve their IT security. It does not have to be paid back, and the programme has its own site, digitalbonus.bayern. The current guideline runs until 31 December 2027. There is no legal entitlement: grants depend on available funds, and the programme accepts only a fixed number of applications per month.

We build AI systems and agents, including for small companies in Bavaria. This page sums up what the guideline says, with a source for every statement at the bottom. The application, the guideline and all official pages are in German only.

Who is eligible

A company can apply if all of this is true:

  • It is subject to trade tax (gewerbesteuerpflichtig). A sole proprietorship with a registered trade can apply too.
  • It has fewer than 50 employees, counted as full-time equivalents, and an annual turnover or balance sheet total of at most 10 million euros. Only the applying company counts, not its group.
  • It has a site in Bavaria, and the funded project is used there.

A newly founded company without its first annual accounts estimates its figures in good faith.

Excluded are, among others:

  • liberal professions (freie Berufe), unless they are practised in a commercial legal form,
  • hospitals, clinics, medical care centres and similar institutions. The implementation notes exclude commercial health-sector companies as a whole, and the programme page names doctors' practices explicitly.
  • primary agricultural production,
  • companies exempt from trade tax,
  • state-owned enterprises and companies in which public bodies hold 25 percent or more.

A doctor, lawyer or tax adviser planning an AI system should therefore check eligibility first.

Standard and Plus

There are two levels. Both cover up to 50 percent of eligible costs. For companies entitled to deduct input VAT, eligible costs are net amounts.

  • Digitalbonus Standard: a grant of at most 7,500 euros, from 4,000 euros of eligible costs. At the full rate the cap is reached at 15,000 euros; above that the grant does not rise.
  • Digitalbonus Plus: a grant of at most 30,000 euros. The application form requires at least 15,000 euros of eligible costs. At the full rate the cap is reached at 60,000 euros. Plus is only for projects with "particular innovation content", and each company gets it only once.

The guideline names artificial intelligence explicitly as an example for Plus, next to intelligent robotics, simulation and digital twins. That is not automatic. The authority compares the innovation content with other applications across Bavaria, and a standard ERP or document management system does not count as innovative, not even as comparable custom programming. The project should focus on AI in content and in cost, and the application asks you to show that. As examples, the form names the model used and how far it is adapted, the kind of data, and how the quality and currency of results are ensured.

The programme page recommends talking to the responsible regional government (Regierung) before applying for Plus. Up to 15,000 euros, Plus brings no higher grant; the programme page then points to Standard, which is expected to be processed faster.

What is covered

Covered are services from external providers: development, setup, customisation, programming, documentation and project support, plus the software the project needs. Consulting and training count only together with an implementation, and for at most half of the eligible costs. Licence and service fees count for at most 18 months within the funding period.

Not covered, among others:

  • your own staff and in-house development,
  • providers where your own shareholders, managers, IT staff or senior staff work,
  • solutions meant to be used at other companies for a fee. An AI tool you build to sell to other firms gets no Digitalbonus.
  • projects that fulfil a legal obligation,
  • standard hardware such as servers, PCs, laptops and phones,
  • standard software such as office suites and operating systems,
  • standard websites, web shops and online marketing,
  • replacements, travel and shipping, leasing,
  • projects already funded elsewhere.

One point matters for AI systems: they are not finished at launch. They need ongoing care, new test cases and adjustments to new models. Only costs within the funding period are covered, so running the system afterwards is on you. Whether maintenance within that period is eligible, the guideline does not say explicitly. The implementation notes allow service fees for up to 18 months and name maintenance contracts as a possible part of the project. Ask the regional government before you apply.

The process

  1. Set up an ELSTER business account. The application is made online and must be authenticated with the company's ELSTER account (Mein Unternehmenskonto); the signed printout by post was dropped in May 2025. A sole proprietorship also registers "as an organisation". The tax administration sends an activation letter by post for the organisation certificate, which according to Mein Unternehmenskonto usually takes at least five working days. Start here, before you collect quotes.
  2. Collect quotes, but order nothing. The application needs every quote with provider, date, quote number and amount, and together they must add up to the total cost.
  3. For Plus: talk to the regional government. The responsible one is where the project is carried out; for Munich that is the Regierung von Oberbayern.
  4. Apply. The application is made on digitalbonus.bayern. Each month a new quota opens on the first working day at 10:00; once it is used up, you wait for the next month. In October 2026 that happened before the end of the month. You need your company data, a de minimis declaration, a financing plan and the quotes. The company applies itself: service providers and funding consultants are explicitly not allowed to use its ELSTER certificate.
  5. Wait for the receipt confirmation, then order. From the confirmation of receipt you may start, at your own risk; you do not have to wait for the approval notice. An order before that, even a verbal one, counts as the project's start and rules out the grant. The implementation notes name one exception: consulting to plan the project that has to happen before the application. Implementation, licences and maintenance contracts are not part of it.
  6. Carry it out. The project must be implemented and paid within the funding period. The approval notice sets that period, at most 18 months; in justified cases the regional government extends it on request. Report changes to price, provider or scope without delay. If no notice was received and a check shows the grant was not fully used for its purpose, the regional government withdraws it in full.
  7. Request the payout. That is possible once the approval notice has arrived. After completion you submit a project notice (Projektmitteilung) and request the payout. It is paid once, with no instalments. Invoices and proof of payment are uploaded with a statement of use (Verwendungsnachweis). It is always required above a 10,000 euro grant, and below that only on a spot check or on request. Unless the approval notice says otherwise, its deadline is six months after the project is completed, at the latest the end of the sixth month after the funding period.

There is no official processing time. Applications are handled in the order they arrive.

Also worth knowing

  • Each company can get the Digitalbonus at most twice while the guideline runs: once for digitalisation and once for IT security. Plus only once.
  • The grant is de minimis aid. All de minimis aid to the company's group may not exceed 300,000 euros over three years.
  • The funded system has to be used for its funded purpose for three years from commissioning.

How we help

You apply yourself, through your own ELSTER account. The guideline and the programme page require it, and we stick to that. What we contribute:

  • A quote with every detail the application asks for, within two working days of our conversation.
  • A project description that, for an AI project, covers model, data and quality assurance, as the form asks for Plus.
  • A fixed start date as soon as the receipt confirmation arrives.

If you want to use the Digitalbonus, say so in our first conversation, before anything is ordered. It takes 30 minutes and costs nothing. Our projects show what such work looks like. Write to us with the form at the end of this page.

Sources

As of 28 October 2026. This page is not legal or funding advice. The guideline and your approval notice are binding; your regional government is the point of contact. All sources are in German.

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