hessian.AI · the ai ecosystem of hesseapplications close 10 aug 2026

hessian.AI · LAISF

Lean AI Startup Funding (LAISF) — Application

LAISF is a six-month scholarship for teams with an innovative, AI-driven idea. Quickly test and validate your idea in AI and turn it into a prototype and business case — apply now!

You may complete this form in English or German.
Duration
6 months
1 Sep 2026 – 28 Feb 2027
Funding
5,000 € flat
+ up to 30,000 € to win at the mid-term presentation
Scholarship
2 persons full-time
splittable across up to 3 people · ≤ 200% total
Deadline
10 Aug 2026
12:00 noon (CEST)

key dates

Workshop — LAISF Funding-Ready: Shape Your AI Startup ConceptRegister · 8 Jul ↗Register · 5 Aug ↗
8 Jul 2026, 10:00–12:00 · 5 Aug 2026, 10:30–12:30
Application FAQ (live)Register · 20 Jul ↗Register · 29 Jul ↗
20 Jul 2026, 14:00 · 29 Jul 2026, 16:00
Application deadline
10 Aug 2026, 12:00 (CEST)
Final-round selection
12 Aug 2026
Final round — 3-min pitchprovisional— exact slot depends on jury scheduling
14–20 Aug 2026

what you'll provide

Project & applicant details — title, contact, the basics.
The person(s) to be funded — 1 to 3, with the funding split.
Your AI business idea — 5 short written sections.
A project plan — goal, 5 milestones, funding utilization.
Two short declarations — eligibility & privacy.
Before you send: submitting is final — afterwards you can't edit, re-open, or view your application (there's no account to log back into). While you fill it in, your progress is saved as a draft in this browser, so take your time and review everything before you submit.
New to LAISF? We recommend a quick chat with the AISR team before applying — aisr@hessian.ai.
We restored your saved draft.

section 1

Project & applicant

section 2

Person(s) to be funded

Funding covers the equivalent of 2 full-time persons, splittable across up to 3 people (≤ 200% total).

Person 1
Split rule: the combined funding percentage across all listed persons must not exceed 200% (e.g. 2×100%, or 100% + 50% + 50%).

section 3

AI business idea

Five short written sections. Each has a character limit shown live as you type. You may write in English or German.

Enter a concise, memorable title for your AI business idea.

What do you do for whom and why? What is the current status of your idea?

What is the problem you solve, how is it solved today, and how will you solve it? Highlight your USP and especially the value creation for your customer, plus a description of your technical AI application.

Describe your market environment (industry, general circumstances, potential regulatory requirements, customer conditions and competitors) and how you plan to enter this market.

Describe your team members and the competences they bring in to make the project market ready. Then describe roughly what you want to achieve during the LAISF financing period (which goal) and the major things you will do with your team during the period (e.g. market validation efforts for customer feedback, prototype building).

section 4

Project plan

e.g. Market-Ready MVP — in one or two sentences, what will success look like at the end?

Milestone timeline
Start
1 Sep
Mid-term
presentation
End
28 Feb
Milestone 1
Milestone 2
Milestone 3

e.g. We'd use the 5,000 € flat materials budget mainly for prototype development (cloud and AI/API costs), basic design and branding, and a small budget for early user interviews. With the additional funding won at the mid-term presentation (up to 30,000 €), we would bring on a part-time developer, expand testing, and start initial marketing to acquire first paying customers.

section 5

Declarations

After submitting, we'll e-mail you a confirmation link. Your application only counts once you click it.
Apply — Lean AI Startup Funding (LAISF) · hessian.AI