# German Funding Monitor (`sgforce/german-funding-monitor`) Actor

Monitor new German public funding programmes from official public feeds. Export clean grant and subsidy rows for research, advisory, sales, API, CSV, and alert workflows.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/sgforce/german-funding-monitor.md
- **Developed by:** [Francesco Scilipoti](https://apify.com/sgforce) (community)
- **Categories:** Business
- **Stats:** 4 total users, 2 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$1.50 / 1,000 funding programme rows

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## German Funding Monitor

![German Funding Monitor data foundation hero](https://scilipoti.de/assets/apify-store/german-funding-monitor.png)

Monitor new public German funding programmes from the official Foerderdatenbank feed and export clean rows for research, advisory, sales, API, CSV, and alerts.

Use it when you want to notice new grants, subsidies, loans, or public funding programmes in Germany without checking funding pages every day.

### What it does

- Reads the official Foerderdatenbank funding-programme RSS feed.
- Normalizes each programme into a clean dataset row.
- Enriches rows from the public detail page where available.
- Supports keyword, region, eligible-recipient, and funding-type filters.
- Supports `newOnly` mode for scheduled monitoring.
- Returns source-health and state information in the `SUMMARY` key.

### Start with these runs

Start with a small search so you can inspect the rows before scheduling anything.

#### AI / KI funding in Germany

```json
{
  "keyword": "KI",
  "region": "bundesweit",
  "maxItems": 10
}
```

#### Grants for companies

```json
{
  "eligibleFor": "Unternehmen",
  "fundingType": "Zuschuss",
  "maxItems": 20
}
```

#### Daily monitoring

The first run creates the baseline. Later runs with the same `stateKey` return only programmes that were not seen before.

```json
{
  "newOnly": true,
  "stateKey": "digital-funding-daily",
  "maxItems": 20,
  "keyword": "Digitalisierung"
}
```

### Good fit

| User | Use it for |
| --- | --- |
| Agencies and consultants | New funding topics for client advisory, newsletters, or market scans |
| Founders and SMEs | A lightweight alert when a relevant public programme appears |
| Grant scouts | Normalized rows that can be exported to CSV, Sheets, Airtable, or a CRM |
| Economic development teams | A simple feed of current programme signals without manual checking |

### Output fields

Each row contains:

- `title`
- `summary`
- `funder`
- `fundingType`
- `fundingArea`
- `fundingRegion`
- `eligibleEntities`
- `publishedAt`
- `sourceFreshness`
- `leadReason`
- `detailUrl`
- `rankScore`

Example row shape:

```json
{
  "title": "KMU-innovativ: Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologien",
  "funder": "Bundesministerium fuer Bildung und Forschung",
  "fundingType": "Zuschuss",
  "fundingArea": "Digitalisierung; Forschung und Innovation",
  "fundingRegion": "bundesweit",
  "eligibleEntities": ["Unternehmen", "Forschungseinrichtung"],
  "sourceFreshness": "current",
  "leadReason": "Matched keyword KI; matched region bundesweit",
  "detailUrl": "https://www.foerderdatenbank.de/..."
}
```

Fields vary because public funding pages vary. The row always keeps the official `detailUrl` so the source can be checked before anyone acts on it.

### SUMMARY and source health

Each run writes a `SUMMARY` record to the key-value store. Check it when a run is empty or lower than expected.

The summary includes:

- normalized input
- source URL
- raw RSS item count
- parsed item count
- emitted item count
- filter counts
- source health
- `newOnly` state when monitoring mode is used

### Why not just search manually?

Manual search is fine for a one-off check. This is for repeated checks that should return the same kind of rows every time.

It gives you:

- official-source rows instead of scraped search snippets
- stable JSON/CSV output
- cheap small runs
- a `newOnly` mode for scheduled alerts
- a `SUMMARY` object that makes empty runs explainable

### Source and limits

This version uses the official Foerderdatenbank RSS feed for current funding programmes. The broader website search is not used in this release because direct non-browser requests currently hit a Radware loader. Stable public data is better here than fragile browser automation.

Important limits:

- It is not a full historical funding database.
- It does not guarantee that every German funding programme is present.
- Detail-page enrichment is used only where the public detail page is reachable.
- Always check the official detail page before applying.
- The Actor does not provide legal, tax, or funding advice.

### Pricing

This Actor charges per emitted dataset row:

- `$0.0015` per funding programme row
- 10 emitted rows cost about `$0.015`
- 100 emitted rows cost about `$0.15`

There is no Actor-start fee at launch. If a run returns zero rows, there are no dataset rows to charge for.

### Related German opportunity Actors

- [German Tender Monitor](https://apify.com/sgforce/german-tender-monitor) for public procurement tenders.
- [German Trade Fair Exhibitor Monitor](https://apify.com/sgforce/german-trade-fair-exhibitor-monitor) for public exhibitor directory rows.

### Changelog

#### 0.1.0

- Initial funding-programme monitor.
- Official RSS source.
- Detail-page enrichment where available.
- Keyword, region, eligible-recipient, and funding-type filters.
- `newOnly` monitoring state.
- Source-health summary.

# Actor input Schema

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Maximum funding programme rows returned. Keep this low for first tests and scheduled checks.

## `keyword` (type: `string`):

Optional case-insensitive keyword filter across title, summary, funding area, region, eligible entities, and funder.

## `region` (type: `string`):

Optional filter for funding region, e.g. bundesweit, Bayern, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Sachsen, EU.

## `eligibleFor` (type: `string`):

Optional filter for eligible recipients, e.g. Unternehmen, Kommune, Hochschule, Existenzgründer.

## `fundingType` (type: `string`):

Optional filter for funding type, e.g. Zuschuss, Darlehen, Bürgschaft, Beteiligung.

## `newOnly` (type: `boolean`):

Return only funding programmes that have not been seen before for this monitoring state.

## `stateKey` (type: `string`):

Optional stable key for newOnly state, e.g. startup-funding-daily or ai-grants-weekly.

## `resetSeen` (type: `boolean`):

Clear the previous seen state before this run.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "maxItems": 20,
  "newOnly": false,
  "resetSeen": false
}
```

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("sgforce/german-funding-monitor").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("sgforce/german-funding-monitor").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{}' |
apify call sgforce/german-funding-monitor --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,sgforce/german-funding-monitor"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/fUu9T0WBfF8o86mWm/builds/QPxWbu7HQhiBYwWat/openapi.json