Business Finland opens a call for applications for funding to support the activities of an innovation clusters related to ice-going vessels.
Objectives of the call
The aim of the call is to support the launch of a new innovation cluster related to ice-going vessels.
Background:
In recent years, Finland has significantly intensified cooperation with the USA and Canada in the construction of icebreakers and other ice-going vessels, including by signing the ICE Pact cooperation agreement with them. Finland's NATO membership, combined with expertise in icebreakers and other ice-going vessels and technologies related to Arctic shipping, opens up new opportunities for Finnish companies to participate in large-scale shipbuilding programs in North America.
Objective:
The aim of this call is to form a domestic innovation cluster related to ice-going vessels and arctic shipping and to launch its operations. The innovation cluster brings together expertise in the field in Finland. It may include companies, research institutes and authorities. The aim of the innovation cluster is to prepare Finnish entities for international commercial and research cooperation and to create future-oriented joint development and research activities in the field. The operator selected through the application must be able to form and launch an innovation cluster and facilitate its operations together with Business Finland.
Financing method
Business Finland may grant innovation cluster funding for the operating costs of innovation clusters formed and organised jointly by innovation actors. Innovation clusters and the infrastructures they implement are commercial market-based actors. The innovation cluster funding granted by Business Finland is intended to support the cluster's operating conditions in its early stages, when the utilisation rate of cluster services is still low and the prerequisites for income-funded cluster activities do not yet exist. The objective of the funding is to cover losses caused by the initial underutilisation of the cluster organisation. The aid shall not be used to subsidise the price of services provided by the cluster or otherwise transferred to users of the cluster.
General conditions for financing
Innovation clusters refer to means structures or organised groups of independent parties (such as innovative start-ups, small, medium and large enterprises, as well as research and knowledge dissemination organisations, research infrastructures, testing and experimentation infrastructures, Digital Innovation Hubs, non-for-profit organisations and other related economic actors) designed to stimulate innovative activity and new ways of collaboration, such as by digital means, by sharing and/or promoting the sharing of facilities and exchange of knowledge, and expertise and by contributing effectively to knowledge transfer, networking, information dissemination and collaboration among the undertakings and other organisations in the cluster.
Access to the cluster's premises, facilities and activities shall be open to several users and be granted on a transparent and non-discriminatory basis. Undertakings which have financed at least 10 % of the investment costs of the innovation cluster may be granted preferential access under more favourable conditions. In order to avoid overcompensation, such access shall be proportional to the undertaking's contribution to the investment costs and these conditions shall be made publicly available.
The fees charged for using the cluster’s facilities and for participating in the cluster’s activities shall correspond to the market price or reflect their costs including a reasonable margin.
The applicant for funding must be a cluster organization formed by members of an innovation cluster. Business Finland will not grant funding if
- the applicant has arrears, payment defaults or other outstanding financial obligations related to previous loans granted by Tekes or Business Finland
- the applicant is not in the prepayment register
- according to the Finnish Tax Administration, the applicant has overdue taxes or payments for which a payment plan has not been agreed upon
- the applicant has neglected registration, notification or payment obligations related to other statutory obligations.
Public support shall not be used to subsidise the price of services provided by the innovation cluster or otherwise transferred to the users of the innovation cluster. The cluster's services must be widely used by SMEs and other companies.
Funding conditions for the innovation cluster (pdf)
Eligible costs
In this call, aid is granted for the cluster's activities, but not for the construction and improvement of its infrastructure. The eligible costs of operating aid for innovation clusters shall be the personnel and administrative costs (including overhead costs) relating to:
(a) animation of the cluster to facilitate collaboration, information sharing and the provision or channelling of specialised and customised business support services;
(b) marketing of the cluster to increase participation of new undertakings or organisations and to increase visibility;
(c) management of the cluster's facilities; organisation of training programmes, workshops and conferences to support knowledge sharing and networking and transnational cooperation.
Monitoring of funded projects
The activities of an innovation cluster organisation are economic activities. The cluster organisation must aim to achieve profitable business.
The beneficiary shall keep separate accounts for the cluster activities, showing both the income from the use of the cluster's infrastructure and services, the income from participation in the activities and the costs incurred from the operation of the cluster. If the cluster organisation has other activities not covered by funding, the cluster organisation must be able to separate the activities covered by funding from other activities in its accounting.
The income generated from the cluster's operations shall be taken into account when calculating the maximum amount of operating aid to be paid. The final level of operating aid at the end of the support period may be less than 50%. Business Finland may reduce the amount of support to be paid or recover support already paid in order not to exceed the maximum amount of operating support allowed.
Funding and criteria
In this call, support is granted for a cluster startup phase of up to 24 months according to project plan. Business Finland is prepared to finance one innovation cluster with a maximum of 500,000 euros. The support intensity is a maximum of 50% of eligible costs. The applicant must have credible self-financing.
Applications will be evaluated on the basis of the following criteria:
- Cluster activities’ focus on call theme
- Fulfilment of the general conditions for financing described in this call
- Project plans credibility to develop the cluster and boost innovation
- Planned impacts of the cluster on business, exports, job creation and investments
- The extent of the clusters' membership when submitting the application, the ambition of the membership growth target and the credibility of the target
- Added value and resources of the cluster organisation and its prerequisites to make its operations profitable
Schedule
The application period ends 6.6.2025. The application is submitted in Business Finland's online service. Select Research, Development and Piloting as your funding service.
The online service utilises Suomi.fi authorization. Please read the instructions and obtain the necessary authorization well in advance before submitting the application.
