FAQ

• Persons and institutions from countries on the list of states pursuant to Section 13 (1) No. 17 of the Security Clearance Act (SÜG) (List of states according to Section 13 (1) No. 17 SÜG)
• Persons or institutions included in the sanctions list pursuant to Council Regulation (EU) No. 269/2014 of 17 March 2014 concerning restrictive measures in view of acts undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine (as amended),
• Employees of the Cyberagentur and the participating partner organisations, the participating service providers and jury members.

Submissions are only possible via the challenges portal of the KOINNO Competence Centre for Innovative Procurement of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (https://app.koinnovationsplatz.de/challenges).

Documents submitted by any other means cannot be considered. The official language of the challenge is German; submissions will, however, be accepted in both German and English.

25.08. – 28.09.2025 – Phase 1 – Applications open
Online submission of a solution outline

7. – 8.10.2025 – Pitch Days:
Presentation of the solution to a jury of experts; selection of 10 solutions per track for phase 2

9.10. – 30.11.2025 – Phase 2 – Work and development phase:
all participants or teams continue to work independently, receive feedback and coaching to further develop their solutions

1. – 5.12.2025 – Practice Week:
Testing of the solution in a realistic application scenario. Solutions are tested, adapted and finalised, and then evaluated by the jury

Questions can be sent at any time to challenge@cyberagentur.de.

Degree of innovation – 40%
The jury will assess the extent to which the solution introduces new methodological approaches, technologies or operating principles that go beyond the state of the art, create practicable options for action for the first time or significantly surpass existing paradigms. Both the originality of the approach and the extent to which it opens up new areas of thought or action in the field of electronic effects will be evaluated.

User-friendliness / military added value – 25%
User-friendliness, or in this case primarily military added value, is measured by how concretely and effectively the solution contributes to ensuring the operational capability of the company’s own unmanned systems. The decisive factor is the extent to which it offers a measurable advantage in realistic deployment scenarios and whether it is so user-friendly that soldiers can use it reliably even under high pressure and acute stress. If this is not yet the case in phase 1, an assessment is made as to whether there is a plausible plan for improvement by phase 2 or whether other factors could contribute to high military utility in the future.

Feasibility / Applicability / Relevance – 25%
The practical track examines whether the solution is technically feasible within the challenge period. The current state of development, the technical readiness level (TRL), a comprehensible implementation plan and a realistic assessment of technical risks are evaluated. The aim is to develop a functioThe aim is to develop a functional prototype or test setup.nal prototype or test setup.

The Moonshot Track focuses on the relevance of the approach to the underlying problem. The clarity of the operating principle, whether all elements of the concept work together in a meaningful way, and whether it is technically plausible, original and theoretically sound are evaluated. Even visionary concepts must be designed in such a way that they can be further developed in later phases with a promise of success.

Technical expertise – 10%
This criterion assesses whether the team has the necessary technical expertise, experience and structure to successfully implement the idea. This criterion assesses whether the team has the necessary technical expertise, experience and structure to successfully implement the idea. This includes technical and scientific skills as well as the organisation and resources to reliably manage the schedule, development and communication.

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In phase 2, the degree of innovation of the end result, the user-friendliness of the end result, the quality of the end result; problem-solving ability, and development during the challenge are then evaluated.

The amount of the expense allowances and development fees depends on the respective track (practical track or moonshot track) and the placement achieved.

Practice Track
A total of up to ten solutions will be selected for the Practice Track in Phase 2. Selected participants and teams can receive a development grant of up to EUR 50,000 (net) to cover proven material and development costs.

Note: In order for the development grant to be paid out, a cost plan must be submitted in advance, showing all items with their respective purpose and cost. Corresponding invoices must then be submitted to prove the actual expenses.

In addition, the three participants or teams with the best solutions will receive a development fund to further develop their solutions. The development funds are graded as follows:

1. Highest ranking: EUR 100,000
2. High ranking: EUR 50,000
3. Above-average ranking: EUR 20,000

Moonshot track
No development grant will be awarded in Phase 2 for moonshot entries. However, the three participants or teams with the best solutions will receive a development fund in the end to help them further develop their solutions.

1. Highest potential: EUR 30,000
2. High potential: EUR 20,000
3. Above-average potential: EUR 10,000

The participants with the aforementioned potential will be announced at the end of the Practice Week on 5 December 2025. The participants with the assessed potential will only be announced during the closing event. The Cyberagentur reserves the right not to pay development funds for less than average potential or to name fewer than three participants per track if the desired result of the challenge cannot be achieved or cannot be achieved to a sufficient extent.

Intellectual property rights
All rights to the submissions remain with the participants.

Termination of the competition
As the challenge organiser, Cyberagentur reserves the right to cancel the innovation competition at any time for good cause and to terminate or end it at any time. The Cyberagentur also reserves the right to change the dates for in-person events during the course of the challenge. This applies in particular in cases of force majeure or if the ideas competition cannot be held or continued for other organisational, technical or legal reasons. In such cases, participants shall have no claims against the Cyberagentur.

Data
Personal data will be handled in accordance with the privacy policy available at https://www.cyberagentur.de/datenschutz.