Media Project Funding under the Vienna Media Initiative

Your funding expert can tell you during a consultation whether your project formally meets the eligibility criteria. Elisabeth Kuntner and Gabriel Schlesinger are available to assist you with the Vienna Media Initiative’s Media Project Grant.

To receive funding from the Vienna Media Initiative’s Media Project Funding, you must submit a funding application. Consult your funding expert, submit your application online, and—this is important—do not make any investments until you have submitted your complete funding application. This is because the Vienna Business Agency only funds projects that begin after the application has been submitted.

The Vienna Media Initiative’s Media Project Funding supports existing companies and associations based in Vienna. Particular emphasis is placed on the journalistic quality and novelty of your media format.

The Vienna Media Initiative’s Media Project Funding covers costs for education and training, workshops and consulting, internal personnel costs, and travel expenses.

A jury makes the decision based on clearly defined evaluation criteria. Typically, it takes one to two months for the Vienna Media Initiative’s Media Project Grant to determine whether your project will receive funding.

Through the Media Project grant from the Vienna Media Initiative, you can receive a maximum of 100,000 euros per project. Before submitting your application, please consult your personal grant advisor for details on the funding.

The Media Project grant from the Vienna Media Initiative supports projects with a budget of at least 35,000 euros.

The funding rate indicates the percentage of your project’s costs that will be covered. The funding rate varies by grant program. For example: If the funding rate is 75%, the Vienna Business Agency will pay 7,500 euros if 10,000 euros of your project costs have been approved by us. Under the “Media Project” grant program of the Vienna Media Initiative, the funding rate is a maximum of 45%.

You can conveniently submit your project online. To do so, register on our website and create a profile. In your profile, select “My Submissions” and “All Grants.” The grant settlement is also handled online in our system.

Complete the grant application online in full and, for the Vienna Media Initiative’s Media Project Grant, also include an application confirmation. The certificate is automatically generated in our online system as you fill out the application. The document is then added to the application with an official signature. Additionally, we require a de minimis declaration and the most recent annual financial statements or an income and expenditure statement, as well as the résumés of all project participants.

For the Media Project Grant from the Vienna Media Initiative, you can submit a grant application at any time. A submission deadline means that all grant applications submitted in full by that date will be processed simultaneously by the Vienna Business Agency. If you are unable to submit your application in full by the submission deadline, your application will be processed on the next submission deadline.

Under the Media Project funding program of the Vienna Media Initiative, you will receive support from the Vienna Media Initiative Lab to further professionalize your projects. Funded journalists are offered a compact workshop program. The main focus is on defining the target audience of your media outlet, further developing the business model, and building your network.

Yes, partnership applications are possible. In case of a partnership submission, two companies or organisations submit a joint funding application. The lead company submitting the application is responsible for allocating the respective share of the funding amount granted to its partners.

The Vienna Media Initiative will be extended and further developed. As part of the next submission round, the maximum grant amount for “media projects” will be increased to 150,000 euros. Submissions will be accepted starting in 2027. Further information will be announced shortly.