aws Grants for Digitalisation 2026: What Is Open and the Alternatives

As of 1 November 2026

Many pages about Austrian aws grants for digitalisation and AI still list amounts and programmes that no longer apply. The current situation: no aws Digitalisierung call is open, and the KMU.DIGITAL budget is exhausted. There are open alternatives, mainly at regional level. This article shows what companies can apply for right now, who it is for and how much it pays.

One rule applies to every programme: the application must be submitted before the project starts.

Overview: which grants are open right now?

Sources: aws.at, kmudigital.at, sfg.at, wirtschaftsagentur.at, wko.at, ffg.at, retrieved 1 November 2026.

aws Digitalisierung: no call open

The aws (Austria Wirtschaftsservice, not Amazon Web Services) is Austria's federal promotional bank. Under "aws Digitalisierung" it awards non-repayable grants of up to €150,000 depending on the programme. Calls open and close; at the moment none is open:

• AI Start Green: "Derzeit ist kein Call offen" (no call open). The last call ran from 1 October to 30 November 2024.
• AI Wissen: "Es ist keine Antragstellung mehr möglich" (applications no longer possible).
• AI-Adoption: the call closed on 28 February 2025.
• Künstliche Intelligenz: "Derzeit gibt es keinen weiteren Call" (no further call at present).

The aws has not announced a date for new calls. Financing instruments such as the aws Garantie, which secures a bank loan, remain available, but they are not grants.

KMU.DIGITAL: exhausted and discontinued from 2027

According to kmudigital.at, the KMU.DIGITAL 4.0 budget is fully used up, applications are no longer possible, and the programme will not continue from 2027 due to federal budget consolidation.

Styria: the open SFG programmes

Cyber!Sicher: IT security and NIS-2

Funds risk analyses, consulting, training, certification and new security hardware, software and licences, including measures to implement NIS-2 and the Austrian NISG 2026. Every project must include an awareness measure for all staff with computer access. Pure hardware or software purchases are not funded.

• Grant: max. 30 % of eligible costs, up to €15,000
• Minimum project size: €5,000

Ideen!Reich: new digital products and services

Funds innovation, meaning new products, services and business models, explicitly including digital ones. Whether software development counts as an eligible cost is set out in the SFG's detailed programme information; clarify it before applying.

• Module XS: base rate 30 % plus 10 % bonuses each (seat outside Graz, cooperation with a research institution, digitalisation, sustainability), max. 70 %. Up to €20,000 eligible costs and €14,000 grant. Next XS cut-off: 16 November 2026.
• Module XL: up to 50 %, max. €75,000.

Lebens!Nah: micro-businesses with a shop

30 % of eligible costs, up to €2,500, from a project volume of €3,000, once per calendar year. Only for Styrian micro-businesses with a physical shop that make more than half of their turnover with private customers; online-only sales do not qualify.

Spur!Wechsel and Start!Klar

Spur!Wechsel is for production firms and production-related services that mainly served the automotive value chain: digitalisation, automation and software, max. 25 % of investment and 50 % of non-investment costs, up to €200,000, after a mandatory first meeting with ACstyria. Start!Klar gives innovative SMEs founded within the last five years up to €37,500 per application, including for digital measures.

Vienna and Lower Austria

• Vienna: the Vienna Business Agency's "Förderung Digitalisierung" pays 50 % of recognised costs, up to €50,000 per project, from a project volume of €10,000, including software, licences, external consulting and training. The SME must have been active in Vienna for at least one year. Next deadline: 31 December 2026.
• Lower Austria: "digi4wirtschaft" has been open since 1 October 2026, with up to €25,000 per project for consulting and implementation. Conditions are published on noe.gv.at.

Research and development: FFG Basisprogramm

For real development work with technical risk, such as a new software product, the FFG Basisprogramm is the better fit: a grant plus low-interest loan, usually up to 50 % of costs (start-ups up to 70 %). In Styria, the SFG Steiermark!Bonus raises the FFG loan by up to 20 %.

Common mistakes

• Applying after the project has started: the most common reason for rejection.
• Planning with outdated programmes: many sites still list KMU.DIGITAL or the aws AI calls as open.
• Vague project descriptions: funding bodies want concrete goals and cost items.
• Missing a cut-off: Ideen!Reich XS and Vienna work with fixed deadlines.

How we help

We build software, integrations and automation for SMEs and plan these projects so they can fit an open funding programme, with a clear project description, a traceable cost plan and a realistic schedule. In a first call we check which programme may suit your project. Your company submits the application; the funding body decides.

All details as of 1 November 2026, according to aws.at, kmudigital.at, sfg.at, wirtschaftsagentur.at, wko.at and ffg.at. Conditions change; the current programme document always applies.

Adam Khalil is the founder of EA Digital Solutions e.U. and has been building custom software and integration solutions for companies in Austria, Germany and beyond since 2019.