AU Launch

Any startup or spinout project based on academia from Aarhus University can apply for the AU Launch grant. We accept applications from both incorporated companies and early stage startup projects that have not yet founded a company. The applicant must be enrolled at The Kitchen or have an active patent process with AU.

The purpose of this program is to:

– demonstrate the commercial potential of a certain technology/concept or –

– de-risk further investments in a startup case from investors or grant providers.

We have four application tiers with increasing requirements and evaluation criteria:

• DKK 1 – 50,000
• DKK 50,001 – 100,000
• DKK 100,001 – 200,000
• DKK 200,001 - 400,000

You can see the requirements and evaluation criteria for the different tiers in the yellow boxes below.

Please note that there is a cap of DKK 500.000 in total for two consecutive rounds of AU Launch. Please consider this if you received AU Launch in the last round (March 2025).

You can use the grant for any specific, documented activity that meets the purpose of AU Launch, for example:

• User surveys, customer preference analysis, conceptual trials etc.
• Raw materials or components for lab work or prototype development.
• Patent screening or other assessment from law firm.
• External evaluation or analysis that reduces the risk of a certain technology, e.g. toxicological assessment, regulatory analysis, veterinary report or product adaptation survey.
• Rent of lab space or workshop facilities (at AU or externally) for proof-of-technology work.
• Access to specialist equipment (at AU or externally).
• Consultants and specialist ressources (at AU or externally) for a specific task, e.g. lab technician, machinery operator, UX designer, software developer, market analysis expert etc.

Ultimately, it is up to the evaluator panel to decide if an activity cost falls under the purpose. But generally don’t count on being awarded AU Launch for further academic research or for development of market-ready products. Also, you cannot apply for own salary for members of the applying team.

The next application round is open from October 1 2025. The deadline is November 2 2025 at 23:59.

First, read the FAQ below. This will answer most questions regarding the grant. When you are ready to apply, download the application template and follow the steps below.

AU Launch administers funds from The Research Reserve Funds, BII, The Salling Foundations and Vissing Fonden.

The grant notification letter contains information about the main provider of your grant.

An applying startup must be based on knowledge / technology developed or refined in academic work conducted at AU. This includes e.g. bachelor’s projects, master’s thesis’, PhD dissertations or other research projects, but can also include AU-owned patents. A personal affiliation from the team (as student or employee at AU) is not a requirement, however it will most often be the case.

AU’s Innovation Hub The Kitchen have business developers supporting startup/spinout cases at AU. In order to simplify the application process for the applicants, the business developers will both assist in the application process and be asked to give a statement in front of the panel of evaluators.

To enroll at The Kitchen, you sign up for Founders' Entry - The Kitchen's welcome event that takes place on the first Monday every month.

You can read more about the process and sign up for Founder's Entry here

If you are a researcher at AU and need more information before joining The Kitchen, you are welcome to book an initial meeting with one of our business developers before signing up for Founder's Entry.

We aim to answer all applicants within four to five weeks of the application deadline.

We aim to pay out the full amount within one month of a granted application and at the latest before the end of the application year.

If the applicant is already incorporated, then the money is granted to the company. If the project has not yet formed a company, then the money is granted to the department of the primary applicant.

Our current appropriation from The Ministry of Higher Education does not allow for overhead. However, it does permit a certain amount of the grant to be used for direct administrative cost by the Department. Therefore we have the following policy: Non-incorporated projects by employee teams can apply for up to 20% of the activity costs for direct administrative costs. However, the cost is considered part of the total application (an application cannot supersede DKK 400,000 including administration). Also, it is the applied amount including administrative cost that decides which evaluation tier the application falls under. Incorporated projects can not apply for administrative costs

Since we only fund documented costs, then it is relevant to ask if we also pay for the VAT on the invoice:
Incorporated startups can apply for total costs including VAT. However, since AU is exempted from VAT, non-incorporated projects can only apply for costs exclusive of VAT.

Yes. Rejected applicants can reapply (with an improved application) at the next round. The same project can also send in a maximum of two applications for different activities per round.

We actually encourage applicants to split larger projects into smaller activity packages that are easier to evaluate separately.

No project can be awarded more than DKK 400,000 in total for this round of AU Launch (November 2025). There is also a cap of DKK 500.000 in total for two consecutive rounds of AU Launch (e.g. March 2025 + November 2025).

The evaluators are asked to rate the applications on the following categories:

• Is the project based on academia from AU (Yes/No)?
• Is the project’s TRL between 3 and 5 or equivalent maturity for non-tech cases (Yes/No)?
• Are there a substantiated ProblemSolution Fit (Yes/No)?
• Is the applicant team the right group to demonstrate the commercial potential (Yes/No)?
• To which extend is the project innovative (Rated 0-5)?
• How strong is the proposed business model – and is it a good application of the underlying technology/concept (Rated 0-5)?
• To which extend will the project create a positive impact to the society by addressing challenges within e.g. health, security, green transition, democracy, climate, marginalized / exposed groups etc. (Rated 0-5)?
• To which extend will the proposed activities help demonstrate the commercial potential (Rated 0-5)?
• To which extend will the proposed activities help de-risk further investments in a startup case from investors or grant providers (Rated 0-5).

First of all, the panel of evaluators must agree that the case meets the basic requirements (expressed in the Yes/No questions above).
Secondly, all evaluators rate the case on the questions above on a scale from 0 to 5, and the average score is calculated (the two last questions regarding the purpose weighs the most in the average score).

The average score required to be awarded the grant depends on the applied amount:

Up to DKK 50,000 requires: 2.8
Up to DKK 100,000 requires: 3.0
Up to DKK 200,000 requires: 3.2
Up to DKK 400,000 requires: 3.5

What happens if we don’t have sufficient funds to award all approved applications? In that case, approved applications will be prioritized according to the margin between the required score and the evaluator’s score, and applications will be awarded in that order.

Technology Readiness Level – or TRL – is a common measure of a technology’s maturity. This program is targeting projects in the late research phase and the entire prototype phase, which in TRL terms translates to level 3 to 5.

For non-technological projects, the evaluators will assess the maturity without specifically using the TRL scale, however still targeting projects at the late research phase / entire concept prototyping phase

You can download the TRL definition here

Yes, incorporated startups will be asked to sign a De Minimis statement.

In some cases, the panel of evaluators might rule that not all proposed activities live up to the purpose of the program. In this case the applicant can be offered a partial funding.

Funded projects will be asked to document the cost. Unused funds must be returned.

The project period is 12 months from the grant letter is received. After the 12 months a financial report is required. Financial receipts and a short progress report must be sent to launch@au.dk no later than 12 months after receiving the grant letter.

.

1. Send financial receipts to launch@au.dk
2. Send short progress report to launch@au.dk. There is no template, the format is up to you. We reserve the right to share cost- and progress reports with the grant provider specified in the original grant notification letter.

We allow small budget adjustments of 10% of the total amount without formal approval.

If the changes are more that 10%, please contact launch@au.dk for approval.