Funding for business development in disruptive circumstances

Please note!

Application period for Funding for business development in disruptive circumstances has ended 8th of June 2020 4:15 pm. 

Cancelling your application and repaying any advances received

• If you have not yet received a funding decision and you want to cancel your application, you can send an email to our record office. Please include the application reference number and your company's name in your email. Once you have submitted your application, you cannot cancel it online yourself.
• If you no longer wish to proceed with your project and want to repay any advances that you may have received, you will need to email our record office. Please include the project reference number and your company's name in your email. We will send you a cancellation request, including the number of the account into which you should return the funds.

Reporting on your project

Please see the instructions

How much funding can you get?

This funding constitutes a grant that does not have to be paid back. There are two types of funding, which, barring special exceptions, a company may only receive once. You are not permitted to apply for both forms of funding simultaneously. Development funding may be applied for without an initial preliminary project.

1) Preliminary funding for companies during business disruptions: maximum of €10,000. The grant for an exploratory/feasibility/preliminary study is 80% of the project's approved total costs. Up to 70% of this grant may be paid in advance. The funding provided by Business Finland has a maximum value of €10,000 (making the total project budget €12,500).

2) Development funding for companies during business disruptions: maximum of €100,000. The amount of funding for a development project is 80% of the project's approved total costs. Up to 70% of the amount of funding may be paid in advance. The funding provided by Business Finland has a maximum value of €100,000 (making the total project budget €125,000).  

What can the funding be used for?

1) Preliminary funding for companies during business disruptions. Companies can use the funding to investigate and plan new business, alternative subcontracting chains, and ways to organize production during and after the disruption caused by the coronavirus. The recommended project duration is 4 months.

2) Development funding for companies during business disruptions. Companies can use the funding to carry out development plans, as identified in an exploratory study or otherwise in their operations, in order to improve their potential for success during and after the disruption caused by the coronavirus. These measures are solely intended for companies to create new product- or production-related solutions. The recommended project duration is one year. Private traders cannot apply for further funding from Business Finland, even when receiving a positive funding decision to an application filed by 27 March.

Examples of how funding can be used

A) The funding may be used for pilot tests of new business innovations within a company. Potential targets for development measures include, for example:

• New services and products
• New partnership and subcontracting models
• New operating models for the organization of work and production and their relocation to Finland
• Any other new measures that the company deems necessary in the present circumstances

B) Investigation of measures necessary to address disruptions in the supply chain, regardless of industry Typical areas of application for the funding include new solutions and operational models for the company, for example

• Relocations due to the breakdown of international production chains
• Repatriating production
• Removing the causes of logistical disruptions

C) Tourism business development Typical uses of funding:

• New accommodation and travel services for the company
• Services directly associated with tourism that are directly affected by the business impact of reduced tourism
• Service development and other business development

D) Development of services and business operations for the creative industries Typical uses of funding:

• Services for companies in the copyright industries (e.g. video games, audiovisual arts, music) and event management services, and business development of art and culture services, to the extent that these are new to the company.

What may the funding not be used for?

• Technical setting up of e-commerce. Alternatively, funding can be awarded for mapping out the implementation options for e-commerce, for example.
• Marketing expenses
• Cash flow shortages and operational salary costs
• Straightforward implementation of existing activities
• Costs of operational production
• Direct costs related to the establishment and operations of a distribution network and other export activities
• Offsetting losses caused by business disruptions.

Eligible costs

The funding uses a cost estimate (salaries + indirect personnel costs + purchased services + other costs). Eligible costs include the salary costs of the company's employees to the extent that the employees are engaged in exploratory or planning tasks. A maximum of 30% of the salaries paid, which have been approved for the project, will be accepted as indirect personnel costs. The funding can also be used to procure exploratory/feasibility/preliminary investigation and planning services as a purchased service. Eligible costs also include 20% of the total sum of salary costs and purchased services. Learn more about the terms and conditions of funding

The funding falls under the de minimis exemption

The funding may be granted provided that the company has not exceeded its de minimis quota. The maximum permissible amount of de minimis aid is €200,000 over the current and two previous tax years. De minimis aid is granted by many public organizations, including Finnvera and ELY Centres. Read more about de minimis aid.