INQA Coaching Rostock: 80% funding for SMEs

INQA Coachingsupports companies inRostockwith80% of the consulting costs– up to €11,520 for twelve coaching days, own contribution €2,880. Because Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is classified as a structurally weak region, the BAFA consulting subsidy with the full 80% applies in Rostock instead of the 50% that apply in the old federal states.

Rostock: largest location in the state, typical SME structure

With around 209,000 residents, Rostock is the largest city in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and the state’s economic center: Port and maritime economy, logistics, healthcare, a growing IT and startup hub around the university, as well as a broad base of skilled trades and service providers.

Despite the city’s size, the business structure remains dominated by medium-sized companies. This is exactly where the funding gap addressed by INQA-Coaching lies: companies with 20 to 200 employees have clear digitalization needs, but rarely a dedicated unit to manage a project alongside day-to-day operations.

What coaching is particularly suitable for in Rostock

Dispatching and scheduling – when orders, vehicles or teams are reassigned every day
Inquiries and quotes – automated initial qualification instead of repeated phone-based data entry
Documentation – structured, searchable filing instead of an organically grown folder structure
Knowledge retention – an internal AI assistant that works with the company’s own documents instead of tying knowledge to individual people

Requirements

Fewer than 250 employees
Annual turnover of at most €50 million or annual balance sheet total of at most €43 million
At least one full-time position subject to social security contributions
For at least two yearsin the market
Registered office and place of work in Germany – including freelancers and non-profit organizations

Example: logistics service provider in Rostock with 60 employees

A typical case: A logistics service provider in Rostock coordinates orders between dispatch, drivers, and customers mainly by phone and email. Status inquiries tie up several hours in the office team every day. In the coaching, the first step is to identify which inquiries are recurring – in such cases, these are usually between 60 and 80% pure status requests. An automated information process is then set up and tested with the team, so that the office team only handles the real exceptions.

INQA consulting center for Rostock

According to the INQA map (as of September 2026), the following advisory centres in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, among others, offer the free initial consultation:

Unternehmerverband Rostock-Mittleres Mecklenburg e.V. (August-Bebel-Straße 55, 18055 Rostock)
AGENTUR DER WIRTSCHAFT (Wismarsche Straße 302, 19055 Schwerin)
AGENTUR DER WIRTSCHAFT GmbH (Gebrüder-Boll-Straße 1b, 17033 Neubrandenburg)

After the free initial consultation, the advisory center issues the INQA coaching voucher, but may not recommend a specific coach – you choose one yourself via the map of INQA coaches.

What changed with the guideline from June 2026

Coaching vouchers are until 30 June 2028 issued; the coaching must be completed by 31 December 2028.
A change of legal form, owner, or a business takeover no longer matters if the business itself has existed for at least two years.
The following still applies: the Reimbursement principle: The coaching is paid in full upfront and then reimbursed at 80%.

For comparison: BAFA consulting funding in Rostock reimburses 80%, up to a maximum of €2,800, and only for applications submitted by 31/12/2026.

Frequently asked questions about INQA coaching in Rostock

Does the INQA coach have to be from Rostock?

No, what matters is authorization as an INQA coach. bettersorted is an authorized INQA coach based in Schwerin, around 90 kilometers from Rostock. The coaching days take place on site at the company, supplemented by digital appointments in between.

How many coaching days do I get?

Up to twelve coaching days are funded. How many of them make sense depends on the project and is clarified in the initial consultation – the funding rate of 80% applies regardless of the number.

Is proximity to the university also relevant, for example for start-ups?

Not for eligibility. What matters, among other things, is that the company has been on the market for at least two years – young start-ups below this threshold are not yet eligible to apply for INQA-Coaching.

What happens after the twelve days?

The coaching ends with a final meeting. Since the solutions were developed within the company and together with the employees, the team continues working independently – this is explicitly the aim of the program and it is not intended as follow-up consulting.

Next step

The Funding Check shows in just a few minutes which funding may be available for your Rostock-based company. More about the program on the page INQA Coaching.

As of September 2026. Funding rates according to INQA-Coaching (BMAS) and BAFA consulting funding. Funding conditions may change – we check the current status before each application.