Start Your Business for Free with AVGS Coaching in Munich

That depends on your benefit. If you receive ALG I, the Employment Agency in Munich is responsible (Kapuzinerstraße 26, 80337 München; phone 0800 4555500). If you receive basic income support (ALG II), your local Jobcenter Munich is responsible. In both cases your caseworker decides on the AVGS. In-person visits are only possible by appointment; we prepare you flexibly online for the conversation.

You can find an official list of AZAV-certified providers in the KURSNET of the Federal Employment Agency (Bundesagentur für Arbeit). We, UW Unternehmensweg GmbH, are an AZAV-certified provider (provider certificate Z-000392-2, area 1) based in Leverkusen that offers AVGS programs nationwide. Our programs are delivered entirely online, flexibly and without travel. We offer two programs: “Businessweg” (Z-000482-2) for start-up coaching and “JobWeg” (Z-001366-3) for applicant & job coaching.

The approval time depends on your caseworker and the current workload of the Employment Agency in Munich. It typically takes 2–4 weeks from application to approval. For well-prepared applications with a clear rationale and a viable concept, the approval rate is considerably higher. We prepare you for the conversation with your caseworker, online and at flexible times that suit you. To get an appointment, you can reach the Employment Agency at 0800 4555500 and the Jobcenter Munich at 089 45355-0.

According to the added-up monthly reports of the Bayerisches Landesamt für Statistik, there were 15,350 business registrations in Munich in 2025, just over a fifth more than the year before. In its 2026 annual economic report, the city describes Munich as the “start-up capital of Germany,” measured by new businesses per inhabitant; according to figures from the Startup-Verband (German Startups Association), which are not official statistics, Munich was ahead per inhabitant in the first half of 2026 and behind Berlin and Hamburg in absolute terms. In addition to UnternehmerTUM in the TUM environment, there are the Strascheg Center for Entrepreneurship of Hochschule München (Munich University of Applied Sciences), the digital start-up center WERK1, and BayStartUP with the Münchener Businessplan Wettbewerb (Munich business plan competition). On November 25, 2026, BayStartUP invites you to the Startup Demo Night at the Tonhalle München.

That depends on your home address, not just on your postal code; the city’s responsibility finder shows you the right center. The twelve Sozialbürgerhäuser are: the center for Berg am Laim, Trudering, and Riem (Streitfeldstraße 23), Nord (Knorrstraße 101-103), Giesing-Harlaching (Werner-Schlierf-Straße 9), Laim-Schwanthalerhöhe (Ridlerstraße 75), Mitte (Schwanthalerstraße 62), Neuhausen-Moosach (Ehrenbreitsteiner Straße 24), Orleansplatz (Orleansplatz 11), West (Landsberger Straße 474), Süd (Schertlinstraße 2), Ramersdorf-Perlach (Thomas-Dehler-Straße 16), Schwabing-Freimann (Heidemannstraße 170), and Sendling-Westpark (Meindlstraße 20). For young people under 25, there is the JiBB service at Kapuzinerstraße 30. You can reach all of them via the service center at 089 45355-0.

That is possible. The city’s guide to starting a business from basic income support (as of September 18, 2026) explicitly names start-up coaching with an AVGS alongside the entry allowance and assistance under § 16c SGB II, which is usually paid as a loan. Whether you receive the voucher is decided by your integration specialist at their discretion; there is no legal entitlement. The prerequisite for the entry allowance and § 16c is a full-time start-up; if you only start a business on the side, usually up to 15 hours per week, you receive neither. Bring your idea, initial figures, and quotes for planned purchases to the meeting.

At the IHK for Munich and Upper Bavaria, €250 including VAT. The IHK only writes the expert opinion for commercial start-ups, not for the skilled crafts or freelance professions, and only via the Unternehmenswerkstatt Deutschland. Among other things, it requires the agency’s form, your CV and certificates, and a business plan with a revenue plan or profitability forecast and a liquidity plan, each over 36 months; processing currently takes four to six weeks from the invoice. The city’s start-up portal names other bodies: the AktivSenioren Bayern for €130, GründerRegio M for €199, and, for freelance professions, the Institut für Freie Berufe for €149. In the skilled crafts, the business consultants of the Chamber of Crafts issue the expert opinion; the chamber does not publish its fees. In principle, you may choose the qualified body yourself; ask your agency beforehand whether it recognizes the body. How the expert opinion fits into your application is explained on our page Start-up grant in Munich.

Online with the BayernID, which you can create directly in the application, or with an appointment at the trade office at Implerstraße 11 (phone 089 233-96030). Depending on the legal form, registration costs €50 to €60, and you can also pay online; the city sends you the trade license by post. Enclose a register extract, permits, or your craft card (Handwerkskarte) if you need them. You then register with the Finanzamt München via ELSTER using the questionnaire for tax registration; freelancers register only there.

Garching, Unterföhring, and Ottobrunn are in the district of Munich. The Employment Agency Munich on Kapuzinerstraße is also responsible for the district, but the Jobcenter is not: the district runs its own Jobcenter, with its contact point in the district office (Landratsamt) at Mariahilfplatz 17 (phone 089 6221-0). Germering belongs to the district of Fürstenfeldbruck and therefore to the Employment Agency Weilheim, with its office in Fürstenfeldbruck. Trade tax is lower in the surrounding area: in 2025, the multiplier was 330% in Garching and Unterföhring, 340% in Ottobrunn, and 380% in Germering.

Primarily ALG I recipients whose caseworker sees a need for counseling get an AVGS. People receiving basic income support (ALG II) can also receive an AVGS in certain cases. Issuing the AVGS is at the caseworker’s discretion; there is no legal entitlement to start-up coaching. Important: you must apply for the AVGS BEFORE the counseling begins, otherwise later funding is not possible.

With an AVGS voucher: 100% funded after written approval, so you pay nothing at all. The costs are billed entirely through your activation voucher. If you do not receive an AVGS, there are alternative routes: BAFA-funded consulting with a reduced personal contribution, or self-pay consulting. In the free initial consultation we clarify which route fits your situation.

AVGS coaching comprises up to 120 teaching units (UE), spread over 2–6 months. The exact number is stated in your AVGS voucher. We align the schedule flexibly with your availability, for example 2–3 sessions per week of 90 minutes, online via Zoom or Teams. Content: business plan, financial plan, marketing, and preparing the start-up grant application.

The AVGS is a COUNSELING voucher for coaching (for example start-up coaching). The start-up grant is direct FINANCIAL support for your living costs during the start-up phase (6 months of ALG I plus €300 per month). The two can be combined: AVGS coaching can be exactly the way to prepare your start-up grant application professionally. Qualified bodies, costs, and the process in Munich are described on our page Start-up grant in Munich.