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Business Finland organized a competition where it challenged leading companies with international operations to resolve significant future challenges and increase their research, development and innovation investments in Finland. In the summer of 2020, three projects by four leading companies (Neste, Nokia, Metsä Group, Fortum) were selected as the winners. Business Finland will now provide partnership funding for research, development and innovation projects related to the themes of these leading companies' ecosystems. The funding is particularly intended for joint projects between companies and joint projects between companies and research organizations.
The aim of Business Finland's partnership funding is to increase innovation activities and the competitive advantage of Finnish companies in the international market. This is a pilot, for which Business Finland has a special funding authorization of EUR 15 million in 2020. Business Finland may also use other funding authorization for this purpose.
The application cycle for funding is constantly open. Business Finland aims to make decisions on applications received by October 30, 2020 by the end of 2020. The duration and scope of the projects will be determined by the project targets.
Joint projects may involve the leading companies, but the leading companies are not eligible for this funding. The leading companies involved do not therefore need to submit a funding application for their contribution.
For which topics is funding available?
Funding can be applied for projects that relate to the themes stated in the leading companies' ecosystem roadmaps.
Read about the roadmaps here:
- Neste's ecosystem roadmap:
Tackling climate crisis: Novel sustainable & scalable solutions for transportation and chemicals (PDF) - Nokia's ecosystem roadmap:
Unlocking Industrial 5G Beyond Connectivity (PDF) - Metsä Group and Fortum's ecosystem roadmap:
ExpandFibre - Accelerating the development of sustainable bioproduct (PDF)
For what kinds of projects is funding available?
Companies may apply for funding for
- Co-Innovation joint actions between companies or between companies and research organizations
- their own research and development projects
Research organizations can apply for funding for
- Co-Innovation joint actions between the research organization and companies.
- individual research projects. The research projects must involve international cooperation, co-funding from at least three companies, and participation in the steering group of the project in question. The funding companies may include leading companies.
Read more about Business Finland's R&D funding:
- for Co-Innovation joint actions
- for SMEs and mid cap companies
- for large companies
- for research organizations
How to apply for funding?
You should discuss the project scope and implementation with Business Finland and the leading companies' contact persons (see the left side oh this page) before submitting the funding application. This is not a precondition for funding, however.
Business Finland will make the funding decisions at its discretion in accordance with the normal selection criteria.
Apply for funding in the Business Finland online services
Enter "Kumppanuusmalli – [project name]" as the project name in the funding application.
