TechBridge: Germany Call 2026 – Next-Generation Battery Technologies and Manufacturing

This TechBridge call is a joint initiative between the Netherlands and Germany. The Dutch contribution is funded by the National Growth Fund program Material Independence and Circular Batteries (MICB).

Objective

With this call, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy encourages Dutch entrepreneurs, knowledge institutes, and research organizations to establish R&D collaborations with innovative partners from Germany. The aim of these collaborations is to strengthen the development, prototyping, and testing of sustainable battery technologies and battery production. 

Dutch knowledge institutes can participate as project partners, provided that at least one Dutch company participates in the Dutch consortium. Project partners from Germany can receive funding if they comply with the rules and conditions of the funding organisation in their own country (Projektträger Jülich). In the Netherlands, the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) is the funding organisation.

Call

All details of this call can be found in the call text:

Key international conditions

• The consortium must include at least one company from the Netherlands and one company from Germany.
• If the consortium meets the above condition, other organisations, such as knowledge institutions, may also participate as project partners.
• Projects must be in line with the scope described in the call text and focus on civil applications.
• The project must deliver clear benefits and added value through technological collaboration.
• No single organisation or participating country may cover more than 70% of the total eligible project costs.
• The collaborative project must focus on researching or developing an innovative product, process or service, with the clear aim of commercialising the results.
• The product, process or service must be innovative, and there must be a technological risk for all participating partners.
• The maximum project duration is 36 months.

Key national conditions

• For national financial support, at least one Dutch company must participate.
• The lead applicant of the Dutch consortium must be a Dutch company.
• Only research and development activities are eligible for funding. The participating parties must finance all other costs through their own contributions.
• The Netherlands Enterprise Agency only funds projects with a balanced distribution of costs across the participating countries (no more than 70% in one country).

Budget

Each Dutch consortium may receive a maximum of € 2.000.000 per project.

Subsidy percentages

The national funding rates of total project costs:

• Research activities:
  • SMEs: 45%
  • Industry: 35%
  • Universities and knowledge institutions: 50%
• Development activities:
  • SMEs: 35%
  • Industry: 25%
  • Universities and knowledge institutions: 25%

Secure and resilient collaboration

International collaboration in knowledge-intensive technologies, products, and services may involve economic security risks. 

Economic security requires your attention. Investing now in awareness and resilience is important to protect your own and the Netherlands’ economic interests. If you plan to collaborate internationally, be aware of the risks and prepare carefully.

Read more about secure and resilient entrepreneurship (in Dutch), including the 'WeerbaarWijzer' and information from the Economic Security Entrepreneurs’ Desk (OLEV).

Prepare your application

The national application consists of:

• the application form 'International Innovation – TechBridge' (in the application portal);
• the project plan;
• the International Consortium Form;
• the project budget;
• the public summary;
• for each company: statement of no enterprise in difficulty (in Dutch);
• for each company: decision tree for the above statement (in Dutch);
• a signed consortium agreement (this may also be submitted at a later stage);
• only in the case of a consortium with multiple Dutch participants: for each company a completed Partner Form.

You can download the templates for the project plan, international consortium form, project budget and public summary (in Dutch) below:

2. Application in Germany

To qualify for German funding, your German partner(s) must submit a national application to Projektträger Jülich (PTJ).

All details of this call can be found in the call text.

After your application

During the assessment of your project, the Netherlands Enterprise Agency may ask questions regarding your project budget. We expect to be able to communicate the decision within 13 weeks of submission.

Administration

Do you want to make changes during the term of your project? Then we recommend that you first discuss this with one of our advisors. After the meeting, please notify us of the changes in writing as soon as possible.

During the course of the project, you must submit a written progress report once a year. Additionally, an advisor from the Netherlands Enterprise Agency will call you once a year to discuss the progress of your project.

At the end of your project, you must submit a request for assessment. Information about requesting assessment can be found in our subsidy rules. You must also submit a final report. A few weeks before the end date of your project, you will receive a reminder about the final report by email.

Read more about how to report changes, report your progress and apply for approval on our TechBridge homepage under After Your Application.

Background

The key technologies from the National Technology Strategy (NTS) of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy are the strategic building blocks for tomorrow's economy. In addition to offering opportunities for Dutch earning capacity, they also contribute to solutions for the major social challenges of our time. International cooperation is essential to accelerate these technologies and achieve global impact.

TechBridge offers Dutch companies and research institutions the opportunity to work with international partners on groundbreaking innovation projects. By joining forces with leading innovative economies such as Germany, new opportunities arise to strengthen key technologies and bring market-oriented solutions to fruition more quickly.

Read more about the National Technology Strategy (in Dutch)

Funding from the National Growth Fund

The Dutch contribution to this call is funded by the National Growth Fund programme Material Independence and Circular Batteries (MICB). The National Growth Fund (NGF) is a major investment source of the Dutch government, providing over €11 billion for 50 projects aimed at the sustainable economic capacity of the Netherlands. Its objective is to ensure long-term economic growth with positive societal impacts.

The NGF programme Material Independence and Circular Batteries (MICB) is one of the initiatives specifically focused on innovation and sustainability in battery technology and materials. This call supports the programme and strengthens the Dutch position in the international market.

For more information about the National Growth Fund, please visit the National Growth Fund (NL page).

More information

Read the TechBridge publication in the Dutch Government Gazette (in Dutch).