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Gemeinschaftsaufgabe "Verbesserung der regionalen Wirtschaftsstruktur" (GRW)

Investment grant for entrepreneurs and founders

Support under the GRW programme addresses companies and founders in the commercial sector. With a grant to cover investment or wage costs, IBB is working on behalf of Berlin's Senate Department for Economics, Energy and Public Enterprises in order to support investment projects to create and secure permanent jobs.

'GRW' at a glance

  • Grants for investment in fixed assets

  • Support rate of up to 30%

  • Investment period of up to 36 months

  • Can be combined with other financing measures

'GRW' in detail

    • Business start-ups and
    • existing businesses

    in the commercial sector with predominantly supra-regional sales.

    Who is not eligible for support?

    The freelance sector and other sectors do not qualify for support.

  • Grant for investment in fixed assets

    Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)

    • Investment in new assets
    • Investment in expansion projects
    • Diversification of production
    • Fundamental change in the entire production process
    • Acquisition of assets of a facility under certain conditions
    • Investment projects that enable the company to go beyond national and EU standards for environmental protection or to improve environmental protection in areas where standards are lacking (environmental protection assistance)

    Large enterprises

    • Investment in new assets
    • Diversification of the activities of an operating facility under certain conditions
    • Acquisition of assets of a facility under certain conditions and further on condition that another activity is being pursued at the facility
    • Diversification of an existing facility by adding new products or process innovations (in class-C support regions and under certain conditions)
    • Investment projects that enable the company to go beyond national and EU standards for environmental protection or to improve environmental protection in areas where standards are lacking (environmental protection assistance)

    Alternative: wage grant

    • Wage-related grants for new jobs
    • This requires that
      • at least five permanent jobs are created through the investment project,
      • the large part of the newly created jobs are of a high quality and taken up by highly qualified employees, and
      • the annual wage for employees paid by the employer is higher than EUR 30,000.
    • Wage costs eligible for support are linked to investments involving capital expenditure
    • Grants for investment projects with a minimum volume of EUR 10,000
    • The maximum investment period totals 36 months
    • The preconditions are considered to be fulfilled in the case of investments by a company not previously established in the municipality (traffic cell) or if an established company invests in a new business activity and acquires a facility that has been shutdown or is threatened by closure.


    Creation of permanent jobs

    • The number of permanent jobs must be increased by at least 10% or the investment amount must, calculated over one year, exceed by at least 50% the average depreciation earned over the past 3 years – excluding any special depreciation.
    • The permanent jobs and the assets financed must remain at the company for at least 5 years after completion of the project.
  • Maximum support rates for operating facilities in the C support region

    Investment grant of up to

    • 30% max. for small
    • 20% max. for medium-sized
    • 10% max. for large enterprises

    Maximum support rates for operating facilities in the D support region

    Investment grant of up to

    • 20% max. for small
    • 10% max. for medium-sized
    • EUR 200,000 over 3 years for large enterprises

    Your individual support rate depends, among other things, on the size of the company, the location of the establishment, compliance with special structural effects and the sum of other support.


    Berlin’s support regions

    Do you know the support region in which your operating facility is located? If not, you can find out by using the practical tool available at

    www.businesslocationcenter.de/en
    • The application must be submitted to Investitionsbank Berlin before the investment project commences. In the case of common task support (GRW), the time of commencement is, as a rule, considered to be the time when a delivery or service agreement is finally signed for the project. As of this point in time, you can commence your investment project at your own risk. This does not imply a binding commitment to grant support.
    • In order to apply, submit the completed application form along with the supporting documents (see checklist (german only) ). You can apply online using the application process provided on IBB’s customer portal. Alternatively, you can download your completed application form and send this by post or submit it in person.

    What happens after the application has been submitted?

    • You will receive a confirmation letter informing you whether your project is eligible for support and which documents must be additionally submitted for your project.
    • Following receipt of these documents, we will draw up a draft decision for the project. This is usually decided by an approval committee.
    • After the decision, you will receive notice of support.
    • The funding pledged can be paid out as soon as the investment is made and the preconditions for payout laid down in the notice of support have been fulfilled.

    Please contact us at the earliest possible date. Our Customer Centre will be pleased to answer detailed questions regarding the programme and assist you with your application.

    Please note: Applications are accepted in German only.

    • To qualify for support under the 'GRW' programme, the investment project must be capable of directly and, in the long term, substantially increasing the total income in the respective economic area by creating additional sources of income (primary effect). This condition is deemed to be fulfilled if goods are produced or services provided at the facility in Berlin to be supported which, by their nature, are regularly sold at supra-regional level*. This includes the activities of the so-called Positive List .

      Other companies can provide so-called 'case-by-case substantiation', i.e. prove that the goods or services provided are actually predominantly sold at supra-regional level*.

      In addition, it is possible to use a justified forecast to demonstrate that it can be expected that the goods or services provided will be predominantly sold at supra-regional level* after implementation of the investment project (proof must be provided no later than 3 years after completion of the project).

      *Supra-regional sales: outside a radius of 50km from the operating facility’s registered office

    • The maximum support rates in class-C support regions mentioned above can be utilised if special structural effects are present.

      A project has special structural effects if, for example, the investments:

      • help to increase or stabilise employment,
      • are particularly energy-efficient,
      • improve regional innovative strength,
      • are related to business start-ups,
      • create jobs and training places for women and young people.
    • The project begins either

      • when a delivery or service contract for the project is concluded or
      • when construction work begins for the investment, or
      • the first legally binding obligation is undertaken to order equipment, or
      • another commitment that makes the investment irreversible.

      The earliest of the above points in time is decisive.

      The purchase of land and preparatory work (such as obtaining permits and carrying out preliminary feasibility studies), as well as planning and soil investigation for construction work, are not considered to mark the beginning of the project.

    • You can also combine 'GRW' funding with other support programmes.

What happens next?

Contact partners

We will be pleased to answer detailed questions regarding the programme and to assist you with your application.

Application process

You can submit your application for this product along with the relevant documents on IBB’s customer portal (german only) or print out the application and send it by post.

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