CZS Innovation Teams

Funding for startup teams from the academic community in the German states of Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate and Thuringia to commercialise their research findings.

Carl Zeiss Stiftung (CZS – Carl Zeiss Foundation) is a charitable foundation dedicated to the promotion of research and teaching with a focus on the natural sciences and engineering. The foundation’s activities are generally limited to the German states of Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate and Thuringia. The organisation’s funding activities are financed from the dividends of the foundation companies Carl Zeiss AG and SCHOTT AG.

As part of the CZS Innovation Teams programme, the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung promotes the transfer of scientific research findings in the fields of natural sciences, life sciences and/or engineering. The goal of the programme is to give potential founders from the academic community the freedom they need to develop a research finding into a marketable product. Funding is provided to teams that advance the technological and economic feasibility of such a transfer into commercial use to the point where market-oriented follow-on financing by third parties becomes possible.

The application requirement specifications are as follows:

• The startup project must be based on the team’s own research findings. 
• Initial insights into the potential business model, market potential and customer needs are already available. 
• The majority of team members must work on the project full-time.  
• The team is supported by a mentor.