Prototype Fund class 03: applications open from October 2026
Prototype Fund class 03 funds open source prototypes with up to 95.000 € for teams. Applications run from 1 October to 30 November 2026.
The Prototype Fund is opening class 03 for applications. The application period runs from 1 October 2026 to 30 November 2026. The programme pays individual developers and small teams in Germany to take an open source software idea to a working prototype.
The maximum funding amount in the regular six month phase is 95.000 € for teams and 47.500 € for an individual developer. The figures are based on an hourly rate capped at 50 € and on 1,900 or 950 working hours. Funding covers at most 95 percent of the project budget, so applicants carry a self contribution of at least 5 percent. A flat rate of 5 percent of personnel costs can be claimed for overheads. Selected projects may also apply later for a four month Second Stage, worth up to 63.333 € for teams and 31.667 € for individuals, but only if the original application said so.
Applicants are individual developers or teams of up to four people. Payments cannot go to companies, associations, universities or other institutions. An individual developer has to be resident in Germany and self employed or freelance and pay taxes there. Teams form a Gesellschaft bürgerlichen Rechts with its seat in Germany after selection, and no more than one third of the team may be registered outside Germany.
There are three funding streams: Innovation, Resilience and Up and Coming. The Innovation stream covers data security and software infrastructure, Up and Coming is for newcomers in those fields, and Resilience is for decentralised and open alternatives to large centralised platforms. The fund says it only supports software with social value that is freely available and customisable as open source.
The selection period runs from 1 December 2026 to 1 March 2027. The jury meets at the beginning of February and proposes 25 to 30 projects to the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space, which makes the final decision. All applicants are told the result in March. The regular funding period runs from 1 June 2027 to 1 December 2027, and selected projects must attend an application consultation and a kick off workshop.
The organiser notes that the application page is still being updated and that some details may change before class 03 opens.