How to get free founder coaching through an AVGS voucher.

What the voucher is.

The AVGSAktivierungs- und Vermittlungsgutschein: an activation and placement voucher is a voucher under § 45 SGB III. With it, the Arbeitsagentur pays a certified provider for a measure that helps you back into work. Founder coaching counts as such a measure: the voucher type is called AVGS MATthe variant for a measure delivered by a provider, Maßnahme bei einem Träger, and self-employment ends unemployment just as a job does.

Three things follow from the law and the agency’s own guidance:

• The voucher is discretionary. The law says the agency can fund the measure, not that it must. Your caseworker decides.
• It is free for you. The provider bills the agency directly. You never see an invoice and nothing is sold to you during the coaching.
• The coaching must not start before the written approval. Sessions held earlier are not covered.

Who may get it.

The agency’s guidance names two groups: people who are unemployed, and people who are threatened with unemployment, which means notice received or a contract that is ending. If you receive Arbeitslosengeldunemployment benefit from the Arbeitsagentur, the Agentur für Arbeit issues the voucher. If you receive Grundsicherungsgeldbasic income support from the Jobcenter, since July 2026, the Jobcenter decides, and there placement into a job comes first, so the voucher is harder to get.

Who does not fit: people in a permanent job who want a change for personal reasons, and people who are already self-employed. The coaching comes before you start.

Nationality plays no role. What matters is your situation at the agency and, for the benefit behind it, the months you paid into unemployment insurance. If your right to work is unclear, clarify your permit first; ask the Ausländerbehörde or an immigration lawyer.

How to ask for it.

Say it in your first appointment, or write it in the agency’s online portal. Keep it to one message: you plan to start a business, you want founder coaching, and you ask for the voucher for a measure under § 45 SGB III. Name the type of coaching, not a provider.

Ich möchte mich selbstständig machen und bitte um einen Aktivierungs- und Vermittlungsgutschein (AVGS) für ein Gründungscoaching nach § 45 SGB III.

“I want to become self-employed and ask for an activation and placement voucher for founder coaching under § 45 SGB III.”

In English, the same thing: I am planning to start my own business and would like founder coaching. Could you issue an AVGS for a Gründungscoaching under § 45 SGB III? Most caseworkers know the request; it is a routine one with a form behind it.

If you are asked how many units you need, have a number and a reason ready. The Hours Guide works one out from four questions.

How many hours, and in what format.

The agency sets the number of units on each voucher; there is no fixed standard, and vouchers for founder coaching often carry 40 to 60 units. One unit, a Unterrichtseinheitteaching unit, is 45 minutes. The number on the provider’s offer is the one the agency works with, so you and the provider should name the same figure.

Online coaching is allowed as long as it is live and synchronous: you and the coach in a video call, not recorded videos. One-to-one sessions are fine.

What happens after you ask.

1. The provider sends you an offer. It names the measure, the number of units and the format. The provider must be AZAV-certified, which is the certification the agency requires.

2. You hand the offer to your caseworker. In the appointment, by post or through the portal.

3. The agency decides. Approval usually takes a few weeks and comes in writing. If the answer is no, ask for the reason; a more concrete plan can change it.

4. The coaching starts. Only after the written approval. From then on the provider deals with the agency; you deal with your business.

What it costs you.

Nothing. The agency pays the provider for the units it approved. If you stop the coaching, you owe nothing either. What you invest is time: sessions on at least two days a week over about twelve weeks, and the work between them.