Utvecklingsprojekt i inkubatorer 2025

The goal of this call for proposals is to ensure that Sweden has an internationally competitive incubator system that is characterized by quality in the incubators' business development, capital and skills supply.

The call for proposals aims to strengthen national incubation capacity by enabling incubators to develop and test new working methods and tools. The offer also opens up the possibility of disseminating and implementing already developed working methods and tools that have proven to be effective in incubator operations.

Proposal can be submitted from the publication of the call for proposals on June 25, 2025 until September 30, 2025. The budget for the call for proposals is in a first stage at least 3.5 million SEK to be distributed in competition.

Vinnova's mission is to promote sustainable growth by improving the conditions for innovation. Improved conditions for innovation strengthen the capacity to achieve the sustainable development goals in Agenda 2030. Through our efforts, we contribute to the global commitment to achieving the goals.

Read more about how Vinnova works to achieve the goals of Agenda 2030.

The call for proposals aims to finance project that strengthen and develop the Swedish incubator system, which in turn contributes to improving the conditions for sustainable growth and development of the companies in the incubators.

Project that have the potential to be widely used and that identify weaknesses and opportunities regarding current working methods and tools will be prioritized. Therefore, proposed project should be based on the development needs identified within SISP (Swedish Incubators and Science Parks) activities with ERFA or Peer Review.

Inom SISP's ERFA activities bring together the incubator system's actors around thematic orientations for knowledge transfer and identification of opportunities and needs. SISP's Peer Review consists of a structured self-evaluation followed by a comprehensive strategic review, where incubators evaluate each other's activities with the aim of raising the quality of the individual incubator's activities and the entire incubator system.

Read more about identified development needs on SISP's website.

The main results that Vinnova wants to achieve with the call for proposals

• Developed common methods and tools for the benefit of the national incubator system
• Increased implementation and dissemination of working methods and tools that have already been developed and proven to work well in an incubator or other relevant activities
• Funding for increased gender equality within incubator activities and in incubator companies
• Increased proportion of incubator companies initiated and run by women
• Increased investments in female and mixed teams
• Developed operationalization of Agenda 2030 so that (i) the positive sustainability contributions of incubator companies are greater than the negative ones, and (ii) sustainability becomes a business-driving competitive advantage for incubated companies.

The call for proposals is aimed at incubators whose objective is to strengthen the competitiveness of incubator companies by having sustainability and a gender equality perspective as a clear driving force in the selection and development of business ideas and companies. The application coordinator, i.e. the person submitting proposal, must be one of the incubators that are included in the current excellence funding. See Appendix 1 where the authorized coordinators are listed.

Vinnova is keen to see the project have multiple project partners. In addition to the applicant coordinator, project partners receiving funding can be other incubators and/or other relevant actors outside the incubators.

It is possible to apply for funding for one of the following three activities:

• Feasibility study for a full-scale project. A feasibility study involves an analysis of opportunities and risks, identification of the resources required to implement the project, an account of which incubators are in demand for the method/tool and the business model that shows how a successful results can be implemented in the incubator system. The maximum amount that can be applied for is SEK 300,000.
  • Aid intensity in different companies:
    • Large: 50%
    • Medium: 60%
    • Small: 70%
• Develop methods and tools intended for open dissemination in the incubator system. In order to proceed directly to developing a new method and/or new tool, data equivalent to that expected to emerge from the preliminary study above needs to be included in proposal.
  • Aid intensity in different companies:
    • Large: 40%
    • Medium: 50%
    • Small: 60%
• For methods and tools that have already been developed and proven to work well in an incubator or other relevant activities, at least five or more incubators can together seek support for dissemination and implementation in their own activities.
  • Aid intensity in different companies:
    • Large: 15%
    • Small and medium-sized: 50%

We do not finance routine operation and use of the incubator's regular services or the development of an individual incubator company.

We also do not finance marketing and sales, investments in equipment/tools that have lasting value after project implementation, or training efforts and courses.

Our funding is subject to state aid rules. The rules govern what types of costs we can finance. These are called eligible costs.

In this the call for proposals these types of costs are eligible:

• Personnel costs: Salaries, social security contributions and other personnel costs.
• Equipment, land and buildings: Instruments, equipment and rent for premises other than regular business premises.
• Consulting and licensing costs: Consulting services, knowledge and patents purchased or licensed from an external party. Costs for consulting services from external parties may not exceed 20 percent of a project party's budget. We can accept a higher percentage than 20 percent in case of special needs. You must then justify the need for consulting services in proposal. This justification is taken into account in our assessment.
• Other direct costs: For example, materials, supplies and travel necessary to carry out the project.
• Indirect costs (overhead): Costs that are not incurred as an immediate consequence of but can be related to the project, such as regular premises and cleaning.
  Indirect costs may constitute a maximum of 30 percent of personnel costs. Universities, university colleges, and certain research organizations and government agencies have higher maximum limits depending on the type of activities.

For more detailed information about which costs we can finance, see Instructions for eligible costs.

What eligibility requirements apply to costs that we finance?

For a cost to be eligible, it must be:

• necessary for the activities in the project
• recorded correctly and separately from the organization's other costs.

An organization may also not claim someone else's costs as its own.

For more detailed information about which eligibility requirements, limitations and exceptions apply, see Instructions for eligible costs.

The state aid rules also govern how much of the costs we can finance. This is determined individually for each organization. We therefore differentiate between how much fundingthe project can receive, and how much each participant can receive.

How much funding can the project receive?

The budget in the first stage is at least SEK 3.5 million to be distributed in competition. Vinnova's ambition is that the call for proposals can be opened for applications once a year until 2028. The maximum funding for a feasibility study is SEK 300,000.

How much funding can a participant receive?

How much funding each participant can receive depends mainly on:

• what activities the party will carry out in the project
• party size and activities.

Based on the support levels provided in section 4 above, decisions will be made according to the following support criteria:

• Pre-studies:
  Regulation (2015:208) on state aid for research and development projects, and Article 25 of the European Commission Regulation (EU) No 651/2014. Kategori Genomförbarhetsstudie.
• Develop new methodology and tools:
  Regulation (2015:208) on state aid for research and development projects, and Article 25 of the EU Commission Regulation (EU) No 651/2014. Kategori Experimentell development. An important prerequisite is that the results of the development project are widely disseminated through conferences, publication, open databases or free or open source software.
• Implement already developed solutions:
  Regulation (2015:208) on state aid for process innovation and organizational innovation, and Article 29 of EU Commission Regulation (EU) No 651/2014.

The decision states how much funding and aid intensity each party in the project is granted. Our decision to grant or reject a proposal cannot be appealed.

In order for us to take a position on and assess your proposal, it must meet certain formal eligibility requirements. If the requirements are not met, proposal will be rejected immediately.

We will only assess applications that meet the following formal eligibility requirements:

• Eligibility requirements on organizational form of project parties
  • All project partners must be legal entities. Natural persons or individual companies cannot participate as project partners.
  • The coordinating party must be a Swedish legal entity and conduct activities in Sweden.
• Eligibility requirements for the project
  • The project may not begin before proposal is submitted.
  • The coordinator for proposal must be included on the list in Appendix 1. (Please note that in addition to the coordinator, other incubators and/or other relevant actors may participate in the work and be beneficiary.)
  • Proposal should address one of the development needs identified within SISP's activities with ERFA or Peer Review, see section 2.
    Read more about identified development needs on SISP's website.
  • For applications where support is sought to implement methods/tools that have already been developed, in addition to the coordinator, at least four incubators must be co-applicants.
• Eligibility requirements on proposal
  • Proposal must be written in Swedish or English.
  • Proposal must follow the instructions given in section 9.
  • Proposal must contain all requested attachments.

What do we assess?

The assessment of which applications are recommended to be granted support from Vinnova is made based on the four main criteria below.

Relevance

• how well the project meets one or more of the development needs identified within the framework of SISPs ERFA and peer review processes, see Nationella Inkubatorprogrammet - SISP

Potential

The project's ability to:

• spread the method/tool and make it useful Nationella Inkubatorprogrammet
• contribute to increased gender equality within the incubators' activities and in the development of the incubator companies
• increase the proportion of female business leaders and project implementers
• to influence incubator companies so that sustainability becomes a business-driving competitive advantage

Actors

• that the right skills and actors are involved in the project
• that important actors/competences are included, so that the project has the desired effect
• how well the team (key people) is composed with regard to gender distribution and the distribution of power and influence between women and men

Feasibility

The description of:

• the implementation plan, that it is reasonable in terms of structure and cost
• the project's cost-effectiveness (benefit/cost) in relation to other project proposals
• how well gender equality aspects have been integrated into the project plan

How do we assess?

funding decisions are made by Vinnova based on recommendations from an assessment group consisting of representatives from Vinnova and specially appointed experts who work under confidentiality and professional secrecy. The assessment takes place in competition between submitted applications.

We also assess financial status

Before deciding on funding, we also conduct a comprehensive assessment of the organizational and financial status of those receiving funding. We use information we obtain from credit reports, currently from Dun & Bradstreet.

In order for us to grant funding this applies:

• Organizations seeking funding for personnel costs must be registered as employers with the Swedish Tax Agency.
• Organizations must not be insolvent, in liquidation or in corporate restructuring, nor must they have unpaid debts with the Swedish Enforcement Authority.
• Limited liability companies must not have used up half or more of their share capital.
• If requested, SMEs must be able to demonstrate that they have the financial means to implement the project according to their budget in proposal. They cannot use public funding or their own funds intended for other project to cover project costs in this call for proposals.

Once we have assessed all applications, we will send you a decision either granting or rejecting your proposal. In the decision, we state how much funding each party in the project will be granted. Our decision cannot be appealed.

What happens if you are granted funding?

If we grant your proposal, you must follow our general terms and conditions for funding.

The terms and conditions include the following:

• That you sign Participant's approval document where you approve your participation and commit to carrying out the project.
• That you report how things are going, your costs and achieved results to us regularly during the project period.
• If you are multiple parties, you must agree on your mutual rights and obligations in the project in an agreement. It can take time to get a project agreement in place, so it is a good idea to get this in place before the project starts.
• How the results will be used and how scientific publication will take place.

See our general terms and conditions and get help understanding and fulfilling them.

We may also decide to add supplementary special conditions for individual project. In such cases, they will be stated in the decision.

Could you have to pay back funding?

If you do not follow our term, you may be required to repay the amount. This also applies if you have been granted funding incorrectly or for an amount that is too high.

Only when the call for proposals has closed will your proposalbe registered. We will then send an email confirmation to the person responsible for the user account, as well as the project manager and the company signatory. If you have not received a confirmation within 24 hours of closing, please contact us.

Once the call for proposals has closed, you can no longer change anything in proposal. You can only make additions if we ask you to.

Who can read your proposal?

Your proposal will be read by Vinnova employees and the specially appointed experts participating in this the call for proposals. Everyone works under a duty of confidentiality.

Applications submitted to us become public documents. This means that we must disclose them if requested. However, we keep confidential information that we believe could cause financial harm to the individual if disclosed. This could include information about business and operational conditions, inventions or research results.

This is how we handle public documents and confidentiality.