This is a preliminary notice of a call opening on 15 December 2025
Target group/Who can apply
The target group consists of Finnish SMEs and mid-cap companies that manufacture food and beverages (definitions of size categories). In addition to companies manufacturing food and beverages, companies producing dietary supplements, novel foods and pet foods may also apply.
Type and amount of funding
The funding is a de minimis grant that does not need to be repaid. The amount of funding is EUR 5.000–20.000. The funding covers 50% of the project's approved total costs, which may therefore be at least EUR 10.000 and at most EUR 40.000. The funding is paid to the company after the project has ended, based on approved costs actually incurred and reported to and accounted for with Business Finland.
Total amount of funding available under the call
The total amount of funding available is up to EUR 510.000 in 2026 and up to EUR 250.000 in 2027.
Description of the call
The funding is intended for market research projects by Finnish companies that manufacture food, beverages, dietary supplements, novel foods or pet foods, in which one of the following applies:
- improve the readiness of companies starting their exports to internationalize into new markets, or
- promote the launch of new export activities or the opening of a new market area, or
- promote the entry of existing products and new innovations into new markets.
The funding is discretionary. First, it is assessed whether the general conditions are met and whether the general obstacles prevent funding. Thereafter, the application is evaluated against the assessment criteria.
Intended use of the funding
With the funding, a company manufacturing food or beverages can procure, as a purchased service, information about a new export market for them. Funding may be granted to a company for one project at a time. The project duration is up to 12 months.
With the project, a company can, for example:
- develop an internationalization plan and strategy
- conduct market research
- assess the competitive landscape
- determine the product’s competitive advantage and value proposition
- analyze the need for localization
- identify reseller and distribution partners
- examine legal and standard requirements as well as international product/IP protection
The procured expert competence must provide the applicant with documented and relevant information on the subjects investigated from the target market in question.
The following costs are eligible for the project:
Eligible purchased service costs:
- Costs of purchased expert services arising from market studies that relate to acquiring information on a new international market or customer segment.
- The service provider must have sufficient competence and experience in producing expert services related to internationalization.
Other costs:
- Other project-related costs are accepted using a flat rate of up to 20% of the total of the above purchased service costs.
- Other costs include, for example, overheads, travel, freight, material and supplies, premises rents, as well as equipment purchases, equipment depreciation and rentals (incl. cloud services). These costs are not reported to Business Finland and do not need to be included in the beneficiary’s project accounting.
Funding may NOT be used for, for example:
- The company’s own salaries
- Purchased services from group companies or from an entity with which the applicant company has a related-party relationship, for example through ownership, board membership or family ties
- General business consulting services
- Product development and piloting
- Operational sales, marketing and advertising, including translation services, brochures, advertising costs or building websites
- Test marketing
- Having a commercial contract drafted
- Staff training
- Trade fair participation costs for sales purposes (e.g. booth costs). Costs of expert services related to trade fairs are eligible when fairs are used to research and explore a new market.
- Costs arising from testing, labelling, and applying for or extending product or IP protection
- Costs of accelerator programs
- Having a commercial contract drafted, agreeing on commercial cooperation, and commercial cooperation
- Measures prohibited under the de minimis Regulation:
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- Quantitative export support (subsidization)
- Establishing a distribution network after the studies and surveys, such as contract negotiations or other costs related to partner/customer selection, as well as other costs related to export activities
- Costs of maintaining a distribution network
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Read more about eligible costs in the funding terms (pdf)
General conditions for granting funding
The following general conditions must be met:
- The applicant must be a company with a Finnish Business ID and a permanent establishment in mainland Finland, and the funding applied for must relate to business operations carried out in mainland Finland.
- In addition, for Food Market Explorer funding, the following call-specific general conditions apply:
- The applicant must be a company that manufactures food, beverages, dietary supplements, novel foods or pet foods.
- The product under investigation must be an edible or drinkable product.
- The applicant must be an SME or mid-cap company (definitions of size categories).
- At least two people must be working in the company in Finland at the time of applying for funding, at least one of whom is full-time. The full-time input of the second person may consist of part-time contributions from several people. The entrepreneur’s own work can be included even if they do not draw a salary from the company. One-person companies are not funded.
- The applicant’s Rating Alfa from Suomen Asiakastieto Ltd must be at least A, based on financial statement information.
- The applicant must have at least one full financial year completed, with an approved financial statement filed with the Trade Register.
- The application must be submitted via Business Finland’s e-service.
General obstacles to granting funding
The items in the list opened via the following link are obstacles to funding:
In addition to the above, funding will not be granted if:
- The applicant’s de minimis quota is exceeded. De minimis aids granted to companies belonging to the same group or under common control are aggregated (information about de minimis aid).
- The project targets a sector for which de minimis-type funding cannot be granted (primary production in agriculture, fisheries and aquaculture).
- The applicant is a sole trader/private entrepreneur (toiminimi), general partnership, limited partnership, cooperative, public or non-profit organization, foundation, association, or a company registered in Åland that does not have a permanent establishment and operations in mainland Finland.
- The applicant engages solely in reselling.
- The applicant has previously received public funding for a market study for the same market, unless the target is a new customer segment.
- The applicant has an ongoing Business Finland Food Market Explorer, Young Innovative Companies (YIC) or DeepTech Accelerator project.
Assessment criteria for granting funding
The following assessment criteria are applied if the general conditions are met and the general obstacles do not prevent funding:
- The applicant’s readiness to conduct continuous and profitable export operations in the selected target market and customer segment.
- The applicant must have its own product that is at least in the development or piloting phase.
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- The market or customer segment to be studied must be new to the company and has not been investigated in the company’s previous projects.
- A single sale or indirect exports to the target market does not prevent funding, but if the company already has, for example, a reseller in the target market or customer segment, the market is not new.
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- The novelty of the applicant’s product and its credible competitive advantage in the intended international target market.
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- The application must justify the product’s competitive advantage in the target market and the reasons why a potential customer would buy the applicant’s product.
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- The competence and experience of the service provider to be used in the project in producing internationalization-related expert services in the target market.
- The alignment of the project content with the intended use of the funding. High-quality expert competence must be procured as a purchased service to help the company improve its readiness to start or expand export activities for its product offering.
- The project’s suitability for funding. How the project:
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- improves the readiness of companies starting exports to internationalize into new markets, or
- promotes the launch of new export activities or the opening of a new market area, or
- promotes the entry of existing products and new innovations into new markets.
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- In addition, it will be assessed whether the applicant’s previous Market Explorer projects, if any, have led to international business.
Standard terms of funding
Funding terms and conditions for the de minimis funding (pdf)
Instructions for applying for funding
The application must be sent via Business Finland’s e-services. Business Finland accepts costs at the earliest from the date the application is sent.
Only a person entered in the Trade Register as the company’s responsible person with the right to represent the company alone, or a person who has been granted a Suomi.fi authorization, can create the application template. Go to the Suomi.fi Authorizations page, where you can grant or request the authorization topic "Applying for business financing". Read more
The customer must enter the project plan into the application form; project plans submitted as separate attachments are not accepted. You can track the processing of the application via the e-service.