The Berlin Startup
Scholarship.

Funding for the phase before market entry.

The Berlin Startup Scholarship supports founders who have a prototype and/or an MVP and are preparing for market readiness. The aim of the funding is the founding of the company and the startup’s market entry. We are looking for founders who, in line with the Lean Startup method, continuously test their ideas and develop their products in a user-centred way.

The scholarships are awarded at the Berlin School of Economics and Law (HWR Berlin) and funded by the European Social Fund (ESF) and the State of Berlin (Senate Department for Economic Affairs, Energy and Public Enterprises). In addition to financial support for the scholarship holders, each scholarship includes the use of the infrastructure of the SIB — Startup Incubator Berlin and HWR Berlin. The scholarship also includes support from our internal SIB coaching team, our pool of external advisors, scientific mentors from HWR Berlin, and partners from our business network.

Even before potentially receiving the scholarship, joining our Startup Now program can offer significant added value.

More than money — a package.

The BSS is more than money: scholarship, space, coaching, and network work together as one package — every benefit is anchored in the funding programme.

Workplace & labs

A workplace in the SIB Co-Working Space, labs and further infrastructure of the Startup Incubator Berlin and HWR Berlin.

Coaching & advice

Support from the internal SIB coaching team and our pool of external advisors throughout the entire funding period.

Mentors & network

Scientific mentors from HWR Berlin and partners from our business network.

From the call to the final pitch.

The next Berlin Startup Scholarship call (BSS VI) will be published on 18 June 2026. The deadline to upload your application documents is 13 September 2026. The scholarship starts on 1 November 2026.

• Application

  Call, online info sessions and upload of all documents by the deadline.

• Selection

  Pre-selection of the Top 20, pitch before the jury and the final funding decision.

• Funding

  Contract, programme start and 6 months of scholarship (up to 12 with extension) with coaching and space.

• Sprint & Demo

  Onboarding, intensive work on the venture and the final pitch.

A quick self-check.

A quick self-check of the key funding criteria — honest, anonymous and entirely in your browser. No data is collected or sent.

Anonymous · no data transfer · runs entirely in your browser.

• Do you have a prototype and/or an MVP and are you preparing for market readiness? YesNo
• Is the place of residence (registration address) of all founders in Berlin — at the latest by the funding commitment? YesNo
• Is your company not yet founded (no entry in the commercial register)? YesNo
• Do you work full-time on the venture, primarily on-site at the SIB? YesNo
• Are you 1–4 people with a women-majority (more than half of the team identifies as women)? YesNo
• No double funding: neither the EXIST Startup Grant nor another Berlin Startup Scholarship? YesNo

What the application asks for.

Before you open the online form: here you can see at a glance which areas the application asks about and what to prepare for each one. That way you can fill in the form without interruptions. The compact list of documents can be found further down in the Questions & Answers.

1. Founding team

   Who is founding — and in what set-up?

   First you set up your team. The scholarship funds solo founders as well as teams of up to four people (women-majority).

   • Name of the founding team
   • Number of founders in the team (1 to 4)

2. Personal details per member

   Contact and address details for each person

   The same personal details are requested for every team member. Have the information for all members ready.

   • First and last name
   • Email address Required
   • Phone number Required
   • Street & number, postcode and town (registered address in Berlin)

3. University & degree

   Academic background per member

   Study details are recorded for each person. A university degree is preferred, but not strictly required.

   • University / college
   • Degree program or field of study
   • Year of graduation

4. Personal documents per member

   Proof each person uploads individually

   Each team member uploads these documents individually. Prepare them per person as PDF.

   • Current curriculum vitae (CV) Required
   • University graduation certificate (if available)
   • Registration certificate or ID — residence in Berlin Required

5. Idea & concept

   Your business idea and planning as a team

   This is where you present your venture. You create these documents once for the whole team and upload them as PDF.

   • Idea paper — an overview of your business idea Required
   • Milestone plan — your roadmap for the scholarship period Required
   • Pitch deck — your presentation Required
   • Prototype — demo or click-dummy to test Required

6. Founding status & formalities

   Only if already founded — plus signature

   If your company has already been established (entry in the commercial register), additional details are recorded. To finish, every member signs digitally right inside the form.

   • Already founded? — date of commencement and economic activities conditional
   • Number of employees and, if applicable, turnover conditional
   • Copy/scan of the trade license conditional
   • Digital signature per team member Required

Note: An establishment with an entry in the commercial register excludes participation — founding status only becomes relevant in the case of economic activities that have already taken place. A compact list of all upload documents can be found in the Questions & Answers.

What applicants ask most often.

A programme of HWR Berlin.

The scholarships are awarded by the Startup Incubator Berlin, the founders’ center of HWR Berlin, and funded by the European Social Fund (ESF) and the State of Berlin · Senate Department for Economic Affairs, Energy and Public Enterprises.