Mittelstand-Digital Centers to phase out by the end of 2026: what businesses can still get now

For many small businesses, the Mittelstand-Digital Centers are the only place where they can get vendor-neutral advice on digitalization and AI free of charge. This funding is ending. Anyone who still wants to use the offer should know that there is no shared cutoff date for it, but rather a separate one for each center.

When do the Mittelstand-Digital Centers phase out?

According to the funding notice from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs, funding for the existing Mittelstand-Digital Centers ends “in stages by the end of December 2026”. A new, modified network is to start in 2027. For businesses, this means the local center's offer can end considerably earlier than December 2026, and there is no entitlement to a successor offer in the same region. This can be read in the funding notice in the Bundesanzeiger of December 22, 2025.

Why there is no uniform end date

Each center has its own funding period because the centers started at different times. The notice describes this very precisely in a footnote: the centers “started at different times between 2021 and 2024”, the base term is three years, after which there is an extension option of a maximum of two years. A center that started in 2021 without a full extension has therefore, by calculation, long since reached the end of its base term, while one that started in 2024 is still running.

This leads to the one step that cannot be postponed: ask your center directly until when its funding has been approved. This information is not listed in any overview and cannot be derived from the year 2026. Which center is responsible for you is shown in the overview at mittelstand-digital.de.

What comes after 2027, and where does the gap arise?

A new network is to start in 2027, structured differently from today's. The federal government currently funds up to 29 Mittelstand-Digital Centers. According to the notice, “initially six regional Mittelstand-Digital Centers” are to be funded for the new network, plus industry- and topic-specific centers whose number is still open. The two figures are not directly comparable, because the 29 covers both types. What is clear, however, is the new structure: a regional center is in future to span at least two federal states, with at least one physical location per state.

There is also a new content focus. In addition to digitalization and AI readiness, IT and cybersecurity are to be strengthened from 2027, meaning CYBERsicher trainers alongside the AI trainers. The target group is being focused more sharply on small and micro enterprises (see the press release from the BMWE of December 23, 2025).

The gap arises from the timeline: the old network is phasing out in stages by the end of 2026, the new one does not start until 2027, and the notice explicitly states that “there is no legal entitlement to follow-on funding”. So there can be time between the end of your center and a new offer in your region. Whether that gap occurs depends on the respective center, not on a nationwide date.

What businesses can still get for free right now

As long as a center is funded, its offers are bindingly free of charge for SMEs. The notice formulates this as a requirement placed on the centers, not as a courtesy: the funded offers must be “provided free of charge to the target group” and must be made available “free of discrimination and freely accessible”. Charging course fees is explicitly prohibited. It is therefore worth doing anything that creates orientation and continues to carry weight afterward, without the center:

• Get a baseline assessment: A maturity or AI readiness check costs nothing and provides an assessment that remains valid later on.
• Check cybersecurity: The CYBERsicher check from the Transfer Office for Cybersecurity in SMEs provides recommendations tailored to the business.
• Start an implementation project while there is still time: A guided pilot project needs lead time. If the center is ending in a few months, that is no longer a realistic option, but a workshop still is.
• Take and keep the results: Reports, checklists, and demonstrators belong to you. A center whose funding ends will at some point no longer be available as a contact.

Are March 31 and April 30, 2026 deadlines for my business?

No. These two dates are currently cited often, but they do not affect a single business. Outlines for regional centers could be submitted until March 31, 2026, and for industry- or topic-specific centers until April 30, 2026. Only consortia of universities, research institutions, chambers, and associations that want to operate a center themselves are eligible to apply. Applications from individual institutions are not permitted. As an SME, you do not submit an application, you use the offers. Anyone who reads these dates as a deadline for action for their own business is waiting for a train that is departing from a different station.

How this fits sensibly together with paid consulting

The centers are good for orientation and explicitly vendor-neutral, but they do not implement anything in your business. That is exactly where their mandate ends: the notice states as its goal “to avoid situations of competition with market-oriented service providers”. In our work, we therefore see the clean sequence like this: first clarify what actually makes sense, then implement it. Anyone who moves from an assessment by the center into an implementation project is no longer discussing whether, but rather the scope. This noticeably shortens the preliminary work, regardless of whether it is afterward about AI consulting or specific AI agents.

How free centers and subsidized consulting can be combined without the same service being paid for twice from public funds is covered in our article on combining BAFA funding and Mittelstand-Digital Centers. This article here answers the deadline question, that one the combination question.

Frequently asked questions

Do all Mittelstand-Digital Centers phase out on December 31, 2026?

No. Funding ends in stages by the end of December 2026. Because the centers started between 2021 and 2024 with a base term of three years and an extension option of a maximum of two years, each center has its own end date. December 31, 2026 is the outer limit, not a shared cutoff date.

Are the offers of the Mittelstand-Digital Centers really free of charge?

Yes, for SMEs within the meaning of the EU definition. The funding notice obligates the centers to provide their funded offers free of charge, free of discrimination, and freely accessible. They may not charge course fees. This applies as long as the respective center is funded.

Will there be a successor offer in my region from 2027?

That is open. A new network is to start in 2027, initially with six regional centers, each covering at least two federal states, plus industry- and topic-specific centers. According to the notice, there is explicitly no legal entitlement to follow-on funding. Which consortia are awarded the contract will be decided in the funding competition.

What should I do specifically as a business now?

Ask your responsible center until when its funding runs. Everything else follows from this one piece of information: with several months of remaining term, a guided implementation project is realistic, with only a few weeks left, a check or workshop is more likely. This information is not listed in any public overview.

Is the content focus of the centers changing?

Yes. In addition to the previous AI focus, IT and cybersecurity are to be strengthened from 2027. Alongside AI trainers, CYBERsicher trainers are planned, and the target group is being focused more sharply on small and micro enterprises.