Public tenders for startups and small companies

Public contracts are awarded in competition and through transparent procedures, and the interests of small and medium-sized businesses are to be taken into account first and foremost (§ 97 GWB). In an open procedure the buyer publicly invites any interested company to tender (§ 119(3) GWB). In EU terms, a small or medium-sized enterprise has fewer than 250 employees and an annual turnover of at most €50 million or a balance sheet total of at most €43 million (European Commission: SME definition).

Requirements have limits. Suitability criteria must be proportionate to the subject and value of the contract (§ 122(4) GWB). In EU-wide procedures, a required minimum yearly turnover may exceed twice the estimated contract value only because of special risks, and with lots the limit applies per lot (§ 45 VgV).

None of this makes a contract easier to win. It means a small firm can compete on the strength of its tender, and the notice shows early whether a bid is realistic.

Lots

Contracts are to be divided into lots by quantity and by type (§ 97a GWB). Small lots, bids for a single lot and a cap on the lots one bidder can win leave room for smaller suppliers.

Suitable for SMEs

eForms has an indicator for this, BT-726, set for a lot, a group of lots or a part (TED developer documentation). It is the buyer’s own statement, not a rule about who may bid, so read the requirements either way.

A value below the EU threshold

For most supplies and services, the EU threshold for 2026 and 2027 is €140,000 for central government authorities and €216,000 for other buyers such as Länder and municipalities (European Commission: thresholds). Below it, national procedures apply.

Proportionate requirements

A turnover requirement in line with the value, references from private or public clients, and self-declarations first.

Below the EU thresholds, supplies and services follow the Unterschwellenvergabeordnung (UVgO), which the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs published in 2017. It is not a law: federal and Länder budget law put it into force, so whether and how it applies depends on the buyer (explanatory notes to the UVgO). Construction work below the thresholds follows Section 1 of the VOB/A instead.

The UVgO provides the public tender (Öffentliche Ausschreibung), the restricted tender (Beschränkte Ausschreibung) and the negotiated award (Verhandlungsvergabe), the last two with or without a public call for competition (§ 8 UVgO); very small purchases may be ordered directly (§ 14, Direktauftrag). Without a public call, the buyer asks selected companies for offers, so not every national contract starts with a notice you can find.

The UVgO also divides contracts into lots (§ 22) and treats groups of bidders like single bidders (§ 32). The value limits for each procedure type differ between the Federation and the Länder; the notice names the procedure the buyer chose.

Every bidder must be suitable: qualified to practise the profession, economically and financially sound, and technically and professionally capable (§ 122 GWB). Typical proof includes references, a turnover statement, insurance and staff qualifications. Self-declarations come first; in EU-wide procedures the European Single Procurement Document counts as preliminary proof (§ 48 VgV).

For supplies and services in EU-wide procedures, references are a list of significant contracts from at most the last three years, with value, date and the public or private recipient; a buyer may also consider older ones to ensure enough competition (§ 46(3) VgV). Work for private clients counts.

Young companies have a rule of their own. A bidder that cannot provide the documents asked for, for a legitimate reason, may prove its economic and financial standing with other documents the buyer considers suitable, and being a young company can be such a reason (§ 45(5) VgV).

Small firms can bid together. Groups of bidders (Bietergemeinschaften) are treated like single bidders, and the buyer may not require a particular legal form for the bid, only, where necessary, after the award (§ 43 VgV).

A bidder may also rely on the capacities of other companies to meet the suitability criteria, if it shows that it will actually have their resources, for example with a commitment from them. For professional experience and qualifications this works only if those companies carry out the part of the work that needs them (§ 47 VgV).

Subcontracting is allowed too. The buyer may ask which parts you plan to subcontract and to whom (Nachunternehmer), and the main contractor stays liable to the buyer (§ 36 VgV).

When a buyer needs something the market does not yet offer, it can use an innovation partnership: a procedure to develop an innovative supply, work or service and then buy it (§ 119(7) GWB). After a call for competition, the buyer negotiates with selected companies; the partnership runs in a research and development phase and a performance phase with interim targets, and the award is never based on price or cost alone (§ 19 VgV).

The European Commission collects guidance for buyers and suppliers on innovation procurement, including brochures on how start-ups fit in. The procedure type of a notice (BT-105) tells you which procedure a buyer chose; the guide How to read a tender notice explains it.

The category pages list the open tenders of a CPV division by deadline, each linked to its official notice: IT services, software packages and information systems, business services, including consulting and research and development services. Topic pages cut across divisions, such as software development and artificial intelligence; Inteliwert assigns topics from the words of the notice and shows the passage each topic rests on.

To narrow by place, add a Land in the search, for example IT services in Berlin. The guides CPV codes explained and NUTS regions in Germany explain both filters. Counts on these pages cover the sources Inteliwert imports, not the whole market (coverage).

1. Pick the lot that matches your size and check how many lots one bidder may win.
2. Compare the suitability criteria with your proof: turnover, references, insurance, qualified staff.
3. If a document is missing, check whether other evidence is allowed, or rely on a partner’s capacity.
4. Decide early on a joint bid or subcontractors, and collect their declarations in time.
5. Ask questions in writing on the buyer’s platform before the deadline for questions.
6. Read the award criteria and their weighting, and write your tender to them.
7. Check for change notices before you submit.

Inteliwert shows each opportunity on one page, with its lots and a link to the official notice and the time it was last checked. Search IT services, or read the guide Public tenders for tradespeople for construction work.