Cross-technology instruments

A national investment fund is proposed for large, capital-intensive and system-critical investments where the market does not offer sufficient funding or long-term perspective.

The fund will be able to offer loans, guarantees, co-investments, equity and project financing, among other things. It will be market complementary and mobilize private capital.

Budget: SEK 75 billion in state ownership capital, a guarantee, risk-sharing and borrowing framework of SEK 150 billion and a objective to mobilize around SEK 300 billion.

Sweden currently lacks sufficiently powerful instruments to scale up groundbreaking and strategically important technology industrially. There is also a lack of flexible national instruments for co-financing large EU investments. Therefore, the technology step is needed as a new national financing instrument.

The instrument should have similar mechanisms for handling EU state aid rules as the Industrial Step in the climate field. The technological step should be able to co-finance project from the pilot stage to industrial production, where the technology is verified but the investments are too large and risky to be fully borne by private actors.

Co-financing should be directed to:

• capital-intensive project of great importance for Sweden's and the EU's competitiveness and security.
• strategically important EU initiatives, including IPCEI and major EU partnerships

The investments should be linked to advanced research and technology infrastructures and relevant test and demonstration environments. They should also require private co-financing that, over time, is significantly greater than government contributions.

To have an effect on the entire innovation system, the Technology Leap should be coordinated with initiatives that strengthen demand, research, technology infrastructure and Sweden's ability to attract, develop and retain strategic expertise.

Budget: At least SEK one billion from the state in 2028 and at least SEK one billion per year from 2032.

Sweden has a strong startup ecosystem, but many technology companies face a crucial capital gap in the step from development to market. This is especially true for deeptech companies with long development times and high capital needs. Strengthened risk sharing between the state and the private sector actors would improve the opportunities for these companies to scale up in Sweden.

Sweden therefore needs a more coherent policy for startups and scaleups, with a stronger connection between national initiatives and the EU's development in the area.

The policy should, among other things,

• strengthen university-based entrepreneurship and knowledge-intensive business environments
• develop expertise in intangible assets, responsible internationalisation and dual use
• strengthen innovation offices, holding companies and incubators and their national coordination
• increase access to public funding in early stages
• strengthen the conditions for attracting, developing and retaining entrepreneurs, researchers and key competence in strategically important technology areas
• improve opportunities for startups and scaleups to participate in public procurement

A new risk-sharing instrument should also be established: SPIRA. The program should target technology-based startups in the early commercialization and scale-up phase. Funding should be able to be provided through co-financing with conditional repayment, designed so that it does not hinder the possibilities of attracting private capital. Repaid funds should be reinvested in new companies, and a fund solution should be considered.

Budget: At least SEK 500 million per year from 2028 and SEK 1 billion from 2032. The goal should be that every public Swedish krona over a five-year period mobilizes at least three Swedish kronor in private capital, customer revenue or EU-funding.

Sweden currently lacks structures to develop and demand groundbreaking solutions on a larger scale. Therefore, a new national programme for challenge-driven pre-commercial procurement is needed, inspired by initiatives such as DARPA in the US, SPRIN-D in Germany and ARIA in the UK.

The program should be based on important societal challenges and finance the development of new solutions through phased processes with clear milestones. It should have high risk acceptance, fast decision-making paths and be staffed with external experts. The public sector should be able to act as the first customer for the solutions that are developed.

UFU should be able to:

• design innovation challenges and implement efficient development processes with short lead times
• finance the participation of public actors in development and pilot projects
• enable procurement, dissemination and scaling up of successful solutions

The program needs to have a working method that is clearly different from traditional Swedish programme and is developed in close interaction with international counterparts. There are also potential synergies with the EU's EIC Accelerator.

Budget: At least SEK 1 billion in state budget per year from 2028 and SEK 2 billion from 2032.

The public sector needs to strengthen its ability to use procurement to demand and introduce new solutions.

The proposal includes, among other things, support for needs analysis, market dialogue, testing and initial implementation, as well as regional nodes that can help public actors with, for example, procurement law and technology assessment.

Budget: At least SEK 500 million in state budget per year for the entire public sector.

A coherent national system for regulatory sandboxes is proposed. Companies, the public sector, academia and civil society should be able to test new technologies in controlled real-world environments with a common entrance, clear regulatory guidance and coordination between relevant authorities.

The system will contribute to faster regulatory development, while safeguarding security, integrity, legal certainty, consumer protection and healthy competition.

Budget:At least 100 million SEK in the state budget per year from 2028 and at least 300 million SEK from 2032 for a national effort for regulatory sandboxes.

The initiative for clusters of excellence for cutting-edge technology, which is run jointly by the Swedish Research Council and Vinnova, will accelerate research and innovation in strategically important technology areas. The aim is to strengthen Sweden's position as a leading technology nation and create internationally leading environments in these areas.

The investment is still in its early stages and is estimated to amount to around SEK 1.2 billion per year from 2028. The state funding will be increased through private co-financing, EU participation and international collaboration. At the same time, international investments are increasing rapidly and global technological development is accelerating, which places higher eligibility requirements on long-term and powerful investments.

The investment should therefore be long-term and gradually strengthened.

Budget: Increased funding of up to SEK 3 billion per year from 2030, and covering 2028-2035. A framework of just over SEK 20 billion should be given as a multi-year authorization so that the clusters of excellence can recruit, invest in equipment and take the lead in EU consortia.

Advanced research, testing and demonstration environments are crucial for Sweden's technology leadership and international attractiveness for leading researchers and technology companies. At the same time, there is a need for strengthened national prioritization capacity, better coordination and long-term investments in strategically important technology and research infrastructure.

The EU is making extensive investments in strategic technology infrastructure. Sweden therefore needs to act more proactively to take advantage of and benefit from these investments. This requires a comprehensive strategy for how research and technology infrastructures are developed, made available and linked to industrialization and scaling up.

To strengthen Sweden's position, the following measures should be implemented:

• Conduct a comprehensive analysis of how the Swedish system for technology and research infrastructures can be strengthened.
• increase government funding for infrastructures for cutting-edge research and groundbreaking innovation.
• Strengthening accessibility to technology and research infrastructures for business, especially small and medium-sized enterprises.
• develop cooperation in the Nordic countries, within the EU and NATO around investments and accessibility.

Within this framework, a new programme, the Technology Infrastructure Lift, should be established. The program will develop internationally leading test and demonstration environments for advanced technology, with a clear connection to scaling up and industrialization. The environments should be open, internationally competitive and coordinated with Swedish and European initiatives.

Budget: At least SEK 2 billion per year from 2028 and SEK 4 billion per year from 2032, in addition to the current funding of infrastructure. The state should be responsible for at least half.

Sweden needs to strengthen the conditions for Swedish actors to participate in and lead major European initiatives in research, innovation and industrial development.

This includes reimbursing indirect costs in EU-project, increasing resources for participation in EU partnerships and strengthening incentives for Swedish coordinators.

Budget: At least SEK 500 million per year from 2028 and at least SEK 1 billion from 2032, in addition to the current funding.