IT and Digitalisation Funding in NRW 2026: What Is Open and What Has Ended

Preparing an AI project while the funding window is closed? The AI process assessment reviews one business process with your data and systems and delivers a written decision paper, from €3,900 excl. VAT. All of WZ-IT's entry points are listed under consulting. Book a free initial consultation

Anyone planning an IT or digitalisation project with public funding in 2026 will find many guides that still mention programmes that no longer exist. go-digital ended in late 2024, Digital Jetzt in late 2023, the BAFA consulting grant only accepts applications until the end of the year, and the new NRW programme for AI is already closed again.

This post sets out the situation for companies in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), based solely on the guidelines and programme pages of the funding bodies: what is open, what is closed, what has ended, which conditions apply and which mistake costs the funding. As of 3 October 2026. Programme names are given in German as used by the funding bodies. This post is not funding or legal advice; the guideline and the funding body are authoritative.

Status at a glance:

Table of Contents

1. NRW.BANK.Impuls KI: suited to AI projects, currently closed
2. BAFA consulting grant: applications only until year end
3. MID-Digitalisierung: since 2026 only for digital products
4. go-digital and Digital Jetzt have ended
5. Loan instead of grant: the ERP-Förderkredit Digitalisierung
6. Free points of contact in NRW
7. Which programme fits which project
8. The most important rule: no contract before the decision
9. Common misconceptions about funding in 2026
10. Our approach at WZ-IT
11. Further guides

NRW.BANK.Impuls KI: suited to AI projects, currently closed

Since 17 August 2026, NRW.BANK.Impuls KI has funded projects in which small and medium-sized enterprises prepare the use of AI (NRW.BANK, press release of 16 July 2026). €3 million was available for the first year.

Status: As of 3 October 2026, no applications are possible. NRW.BANK states: "Eine weitere Antragstellung ist leider aktuell nicht möglich" (further applications are currently not possible). Application drafts already created in the portal will not be considered either (NRW.BANK, Impuls KI). IHK Köln gives the reason that the maximum number of applications was reached due to very high demand (IHK Köln). Neither source gives a date for reopening. The guideline itself runs until 31 December 2028.

The conditions come from the NRW.BANK.Impuls KI guideline, version 07/26:

The two modules. An application can cover one module or content from both (section 2.4).

Not funded under section 2.3 are, among others, general digitalisation consulting, automation without AI, inventories without AI concept work, training on the European AI Act, implementation beyond the test (purchasing an AI, implementation and commissioning after the test period), AI development for sale on the market, and processes that already use AI. Systems based exclusively on rules defined by people are explicitly outside the guideline's definition of AI.

Requirements for the provider. The guideline does not provide for authorisation or registration as go-digital once did. The contractor must have "eine dem Vorhaben entsprechende Fachkompetenz" (expertise appropriate to the project), which NRW.BANK may review, a registered office in the EU, and submit a quote in German and in euros. Subcontracting is only allowed in justified exceptional cases, and personal ties between applicant and contractor exclude funding (sections 3.2 and 4).

Anyone planning an AI project can use the time until a reopening to clarify the use case and prepare a quote. The contract is signed only after the decision. Which data protection and AI Act questions should be clarified early is shown in the posts Shadow AI in companies and RAG and the EU AI Act.

BAFA consulting grant: applications only until year end

The federal programme "Förderung von Unternehmensberatungen für KMU" applies "längstens für Anträge, die bis zum 31. Dezember 2026 gestellt werden" (at most to applications submitted by 31 December 2026) (BAFA, funding guideline, no. 8). No successor programme is announced on the BAFA programme page (as of 3 October 2026).

What this means for IT consulting. BAFA funds consulting on economic, financial, personnel and organisational questions of running a business (no. 2.1). Three rules narrow down which consulting qualifies:

• Registered consultants. The consultant must be registered with BAFA. The prerequisite is that their "überwiegender Geschäftszweck auf die entgeltliche Unternehmensberatung (mehr als 50 % des Gesamtumsatzes)" is directed (main business purpose is paid business consulting, more than 50 % of total turnover). In justified cases a time-limited exemption is possible. A quality assurance instrument is also required, such as a certificate or a documented manual (no. 4.2).
• Neutrality. Consulting is not funded if its purpose is "auf den Erwerb von bestimmten Waren oder Dienstleistungen gerichtet ..., die von den Beraterinnen oder Beratern selbst vertrieben werden" (aimed at buying goods or services the consultants sell themselves) (no. 2.2).
• No funding consulting. Consulting that is mainly about funding is excluded (no. 2.2).

An IT provider whose turnover comes mainly from implementation, licences or operation can therefore only be registered via an exemption. Anyone planning BAFA-funded consulting should check the consultant's registration before applying. The application is submitted online via a Leitstelle, such as DIHK Service GmbH or the Leitstelle für Gewerbeförderungsmittel des Bundes (annex to the guideline).

MID-Digitalisierung: since 2026 only for digital products

The NRW programme Mittelstand Innovativ & Digital has been managed by NRW.BANK since 1 January 2026. With the new version, the former funding focus "Digitale Prozesse" for internal digitalisation measures was dropped (NRW.BANK, MID-Digitalisierung).

MID-Digitalisierung therefore no longer fits the rollout of a wiki, internal AI search or a new collaboration platform. It fits when a company develops its own digital product for the market, such as an app, an IoT solution or an AI feature in its own product.

go-digital and Digital Jetzt have ended

go-digital "ist am 31.12.2024 ausgelaufen. Es können keine Förderanträge mehr gestellt werden" (ended on 31 December 2024; no funding applications can be submitted any more). The programme was not continued after its guideline expired because of the budget situation. As alternatives, the project management agency names the digitalisation programmes of the federal states, the Mittelstand-Digital centres and KfW funding (project management agency, notice of 1 January 2025).

Digital Jetzt was, according to its funding portal, "bis zum 31.12.2023 befristet. Das Förderprogramm ist ausgelaufen und das Förderportal wurde zum 31.03.2026 abgeschaltet" (limited to 31 December 2023; the programme has ended and the portal was shut down on 31 March 2026) (digitaljetzt-portal.de, archived July 2026). The address now redirects to the DLR project management agency.

Loan instead of grant: the ERP-Förderkredit Digitalisierung

For investment in hardware, software and digital business models, KfW offers the ERP-Förderkredit Digitalisierung (programmes 511 and 512). It is open to companies and freelancers with up to €500 million group turnover and is applied for through the house bank or another financing partner (KfW, ERP-Förderkredit Digitalisierung). Its predecessor, the ERP-Digitalisierungs- und Innovationskredit (380, 390, 391), has not accepted new applications since 1 July 2025 (KfW, 380-390-391). It is a loan, not a consulting grant.

Free points of contact in NRW

Alongside grant programmes, there are publicly funded bodies that support SMEs free of charge:

The WertNetzWerke centre explicitly describes its offers as vendor-neutral. Both bodies are suitable for initial orientation and questions about funding before a provider is commissioned for implementation.

Which programme fits which project

The most important rule: no contract before the decision

All three grant programmes exclude projects started before approval, and all three already count signing the contract as the start:

Obtaining a quote, on the other hand, is a prerequisite: for Impuls KI, eligible expenses are based on the quotes submitted with the application (section 5.3). A signed order before the decision costs the entire grant.

Common misconceptions about funding in 2026

Our approach at WZ-IT

WZ-IT implements AI projects in your own operation or in German data centres. The application is submitted by the company, and NRW.BANK decides on funding. To prepare the use of AI, there are two services with a defined result:

1. AI process assessment. The AI process assessment costs from €3,900 excl. VAT. It reviews one business process in a structured workshop with your sample data and systems and ends with a written decision paper: which part can be automated with AI, with fixed rules or not at all, with pilot scope and budget range. In substance it addresses what module A describes: defining and prioritising a use case. On its own, the assessment is below the minimum of €10,000 net in eligible expenses. Self-financed, this kind of prior work can provide the conceptual basis that module B requires.
2. Testing an AI system. The RAG Proof of Value from €9,900 excl. VAT makes a defined document collection searchable with AI and evaluates the answers against 40 to 60 agreed reference questions. The result is a quality report and a recommendation for production. Its structure matches what module B asks for: test version, test criteria, evaluation, recommendation.

If you plan an application once Impuls KI reopens, you receive a quote from us in German and in euros to submit. We sign the contract only after the funding decision. Rollout and operation after the test are not eligible and are offered separately. If it is still open which IT or AI topic comes first, the orientation workshop sorts the topics, remotely as a half-day session from €1,490 excl. VAT.

Further guides

• Shadow AI in companies, why a policy alone is not enough and what an approved assistant looks like.
• RAG and the EU AI Act, when a RAG system is high-risk AI.
• AI labelling obligations under Article 50, what has applied since August 2026.
• Local AI or ChatGPT Business, cost, control and use compared.
• Introducing a company wiki, approach, tool choice and operation.
• AI solutions from WZ-IT, the hub with all offers for AI in your own operation.
• Consulting at WZ-IT, all entry points from the initial consultation to the assessment.

Clarify the AI use case before the funding window opens. We review one process with your data and systems and deliver a decision paper that lets you plan and budget a test. Book a free initial consultation

Sources

• NRW.BANK, NRW.BANK.Impuls KI
• NRW.BANK, NRW.BANK.Impuls KI guideline 10096, version 07/26
• NRW.BANK, press release of 16 July 2026
• IHK Köln, NRW.BANK.Impuls KI
• BAFA, Förderung von Unternehmensberatungen für KMU
• BAFA, funding guideline of 14 December 2022 as amended on 12 December 2024
• NRW.BANK, MID-Digitalisierung
• Project management agency, go-digital has ended
• digitaljetzt-portal.de, archived 11 July 2026
• KfW, ERP-Förderkredit Digitalisierung (511, 512)
• KfW, ERP-Digitalisierungs- und Innovationskredit (380, 390, 391)
• Mittelstand-Digital Zentrum WertNetzWerke
• NRW.BANK, call for the Mittelstand-Digital centre network
• Zukunftszentrum KI NRW