FRA9 FILE · Business & work
French AI funding application: budget, evidence and timeline
Turn an AI product into a fundable application: customer problem, technical risk, data, milestones, costs, co-funding and compliance.
Turn an AI product into a fundable application: customer problem, technical risk, data, milestones, costs, co-funding and compliance.
An application funds uncertainty, not the word AI
Start with a verified customer problem and an obstacle the team cannot remove without further work. Describe the decision the model improves, the user, current alternative, measurable value and why AI is necessary. A generic chatbot, software subscription or marketing label proves neither innovation nor technical risk.
Map maturity and milestones
Place the product on evidence: accessible data, prototype, baseline performance, pilots, intellectual property and industrialisation capacity. Turn the roadmap into testable milestones—qualified dataset, prototype, robustness test, security audit, customer pilot, compliance and release. Every milestone needs an owner, date, cost and success criterion.
Build an eligible, traceable budget
Separate fully loaded payroll, subcontracting, compute, licences, data, trials, certification, intellectual property and depreciable equipment. Link each line to a work package and quote or calculation. Do not commit expenditure before the authorised date. Separate requested aid, own funds, debt, investor money and other public support; check cumulation rules and keep enough cash until payment.
Document data, model and compliance
State data origin, legal basis, reuse rights, location, retention and treatment of sensitive information. Describe the model, evaluation, bias, human oversight, cybersecurity, dependencies and fallback plan. Where the AI Act may apply, anticipate classification, technical records, logging and accountability without claiming that an ethics statement alone creates compliance.
Prove the team, market and ability to deliver
Reviewers must see who owns product, research, data, domain, sales and finance. Include relevant CVs, roles, committed time, partners and genuine pilot letters. Size the market through reachable customers, price, sales cycle and deployment cost rather than an arbitrary slice of a global headline. Explain what continues when the funded period ends.
Prepare submission and audit evidence
Use the official rules, finance annex and timetable. Cross-check figures, intellectual property, aid already received and signatures. Retain versions, invoices, time records, contracts, deliverables and payment evidence in an audit file. After award, report material budget, partner or timetable changes under the agreement; funding does not remove delivery and evidence obligations.
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