# Funding – Ohne Startkapital

> Grants, microloans, sweat equity: money and substitutes for money.

- [Start-up Grant Germany: Gründungszuschuss Explained](https://ohne-startkapital.de/en/funding/germany-start-up-grant/): Germany's start-up grant, the Gründungszuschuss, is paid by the Federal Employment Agency to people on unemployment benefit (ALG I) who start a full-time business with at least 150 days of benefit left. For six months you get your previous benefit plus €300, then €300 a month for up to nine more. It is discretionary, so approval is never guaranteed.
- [KfW Startup Loan (StartGeld 067): A Guide for Founders](https://ohne-startkapital.de/en/funding/kfw-startup-loan/): The KfW startup loan, officially ERP-Gründerkredit StartGeld (programme 067), lends up to €200,000 to new businesses in Germany and firms under five years old, with up to €80,000 for working capital. Part-time founders qualify too. You apply through a bank before the project starts. KfW covers 80 percent of the bank's risk, but you owe the full amount.
- [Jobcenter Self-Employment Grant: Einstiegsgeld in 2026](https://ohne-startkapital.de/en/funding/jobcenter-self-employment-grant/): Einstiegsgeld is a jobcenter grant for people on Grundsicherungsgeld, formerly Bürgergeld, who start a main business of at least 15 hours a week. It runs for up to 24 months on top of your benefit. The base amount is at most half the standard rate, rising to 100 percent with supplements. Nobody has a legal right to it.
- [Sweat Equity in a Startup: Shares for Work, Done Right](https://ohne-startkapital.de/en/funding/sweat-equity-startup/): Sweat equity in a startup means someone receives shares in return for work rather than money, typically a technical co-founder who builds the product. It works most cleanly when founders take their shares at the very start at a nominal price, with vesting. People who join later and get cheap shares may face income tax on the difference to market value.

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