With its StartUpSecure project, the ministry is supporting research teams at universities and the industry who are involved in IT security. There are two funding phases for this: In the development phase, the technical implementation of the idea will be elaborated; the research team will also create a business plan to accompany it. Marketing and sales strategies for a successful startup will be supported in the subsequent founding phase.

In the founding incubators that have been set up at the three competence centers on IT security research at CISPA Saarbrücken , at CRISP Darmstadt , at KASTEL Karlsruhe , and at the Ruhr-University Bochum , interested parties will given comprehensive consultations for new startups in IT security. Startups that have already been granted funding are CIFuzz , (detecting security vulnerabilities in IoT software), Edgeless Compute (platform for verifiably secure and traceable data processing), ProChain (secure blockchain systems) and QuantiCor , (quantum computer-resistant security solutions for the Internet of Things).