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tech companies supported
> €0M
> €0M
in public funding secured for clients
2
offices in Berlin and Munich
Companies that work with Zebra Embassy
The funding jungle for startups and tech companies
Thousands of programmes. Few of them fit.
Federal, state, EU, tax. Anyone who looks into public funding quickly gets a long, confusing list along with the advice to take care of everything.
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Every programme has its own rules, deadlines and contacts.
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Time goes into applications whose chances were slim from the start.
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And in the end you are left wondering whether you missed something important.
Zebra Embassy would rather tell you what we don’t recommend from today’s perspective, and why.
How Zebra Embassy works
Understand first. Then apply.
Zebra Embassy won’t recommend funding you don’t need. That’s why every engagement starts with your company, not with a funding programme.
Step 1
Understand
We listen and ask: what are you working on, what does the roadmap look like, is a funding round coming up, where are you based, and what funding have you had so far?
One conversation
Step 2
Still in the call, we tell you what we see as relevant today, what can wait, and what we don’t recommend from today’s perspective. Each with our reasoning, so you can follow it.
A clear recommendation instead of a list
Step 3
What fits, we deliver with you: the R&D tax credit, and other programmes in individual cases. A detailed written funding strategy is a separate project.
Your team stays focused on its work
More on funding strategy
What Zebra Embassy does for you
For most tech companies, Zebra Embassy starts where public funding pays off most: the R&D tax credit. Which other funding programmes fit, we look at individually every time.
Individual funding analysis
Which funding pays off for you?
Zebra Embassy gives you an overview of the public funding programmes that actually come into question for your company and assesses them with you.
Analysis of your projects, plans and financing
Assessment: now, later or not recommended for now
Implementation of the R&D tax credit, other programmes in individual cases
An honest answer, even when something does not pay off
Request a funding analysis
The starting point for most
R&D tax credits
Anyone developing new technology in Germany can get part of their development costs back from the state. Without giving up shares and without a new investor at the table.
Technical scoping in conversation with your CTO
Application to the certification body and documents for the tax office
Tax office application by you, your tax adviser or our partner law firm ZE Tax & Legal
Success-based
Why Zebra Embassy
Three reasons companies come to Zebra Embassy.
What counts is how Zebra Embassy works and who sits at the table with you.
01 · From the startup scene
Zebra Embassy knows startup life because we have lived it ourselves.
Most of us at Zebra Embassy have worked in startups and scale-ups or founded one, including in our tech team. That’s why we also tell you when a programme eats more time than it brings.
Our experience
Lessons learned
Applying in parallel slows the main application down.
Some programmes take more time than they return.
Our advice
Less effort for the scarcest resource in the team.
In R&D funding, most of the input falls to CTOs and tech leads. At Zebra Embassy, they talk to tech consultants, among them founders, engineers and PhDs, who quickly understand what your team is working on and meet it as peers. The conversation is shorter and gets to the point faster.
Without Zebra
Funding in lots of small blocks
With Zebra
One meeting with us
Zebra Embassy only wins if you win.
For the R&D tax credit, Zebra Embassy works on a success basis: the first instalment of our fee becomes due once the certificate from the BSFZ (the federal certification body for the R&D tax credit) is issued. That’s why we have our own stake in making it work and stay with you from the analysis to the very end. If the tax office comes back with questions later or a tax audit follows, we compile the documents from your project for you, and representation is handled by your tax adviser or our partner law firm ZE Tax & Legal.
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Who Zebra Embassy works for
From founding teams to listed companies.
Depending on the company’s size, different people sit at the table: founders, CFOs or heads of tax. The goal is the same: using public funding sensibly without it becoming an extra job.
Founders
Funding as part of your financing.
Zebra Embassy gives founders more room for development and growth without giving up shares. And without the topic keeping you from your core business.
CFO and Head of Finance
One partner instead of many separate topics.
Zebra Embassy gives CFOs a clear overview of what the R&D tax credit brings your company, and an implementation that puts as little load as possible on your finance team.
Head of Tax
Properly documented, clearly assigned.
Heads of tax get traceable documentation and clear roles from Zebra Embassy when the tax office asks questions or an audit is due: we compile the documents, and representation is handled by your tax adviser or our partner law firm ZE Tax & Legal.
What clients say
What mattered to us was having a partner who drives the process forward largely independently and only involves our internal teams where it is really necessary. That is exactly what Zebra Embassy delivered. The collaboration was efficient and reliable, and it noticeably eased the load on our organisation.
Jonas Rieke
Co-Founder & COO, Personio SE
Zebra Embassy has the rare ability to present complex engineering topics in a way that is both easy to understand and technically precise. The team asked the right questions, understood the decisive aspects of the innovation and turned them into a convincing funding application. This allowed us to present our projects efficiently and on a solid basis.
Georg-Friedrich Graf
CEO, Munich Electrification GmbH
For an international technology company like Delivery Hero, funding projects are particularly demanding. Zebra Embassy won us over with a high level of expertise, a pragmatic approach and excellent communication. The collaboration was professional and efficient, and it created tangible added value for our company.
Dr. Christian Herbst
Head of Tax, Delivery Hero SE
Frequently asked questions
And if your question isn’t here: that’s exactly what the intro call is for.
Do you only do the R&D tax credit?
No. For most tech companies it’s the most important programme, and that’s often where we start. Which other funding makes sense for you, for example for investments, new locations or research projects, we assess together. In individual cases, we take on other programmes if they are worth it for both sides.
What does it cost us?
How much effort is it for us?
We already work with someone. Is a conversation still worth it?
What happens if the tax office asks questions later?
About our partner law firm
