The European Union is one of the world’s largest funders of research and development. A Finnish SME can use EU funding by two routes: as grants applied for nationally through the elinvoimakeskus (regional development centre), and directly from EU programmes, where funding for a single company can reach millions of euros. Novus Victoria specialises in EU funding. We know the programmes’ application processes, the funders’ evaluation criteria and how to combine national and EU funding, and we support your company all the way from the funding review to the funding decision and reporting.
Why EU funding or international programmes?
EU funding complements national funding instruments where a project’s scale, international reach or technological ambition goes beyond the limits of national funding. In Horizon Europe projects, for example, the support a company receives averages around €570,000 per project, and at best EU funding covers the project’s costs in full.
Benefits of the funding for your company:
- Larger funding amounts: In EU programmes, funding for a single company can reach millions of euros, which makes possible projects that national funding cannot cover.
- High support rates: In research projects the grant can cover 70–100 per cent of costs, and the grant is not repaid.
- International networks and references: In consortium projects the company works with European companies, universities and research institutes, which opens markets and builds credibility.
- A continuous funding path: National funding speeds up early development and EU funding brings scale. We plan the whole so that each stage supports the next.
This page does not list every EU programme. It covers those that, in our experience, offer Finnish SMEs and growth companies the best opportunities and whose application processes we know thoroughly.
EU funding applied for through the elinvoimakeskus
Most of the EU money that Finnish SMEs receive does not come from Brussels but from their own elinvoimakeskus. Funds from the EU’s regional and structural policy funds are channelled in Finland through the Innovation and skills in Finland 2021–2027 programme, and a company applies for them as a standard development grant in the EURA2021 system. The application is made in Finnish, a national authority makes the decision and no international consortium is needed. For most companies this is the most natural first contact with EU funding, often without them realising it.
- ERDF (European Regional Development Fund): Funds SME development and investment projects, such as developing new products, internationalisation and production investments. The development grant is usually awarded as de minimis aid, which sets a maximum of €300,000 per company over a three-year period.
- ESF+ (European Social Fund Plus): Funds skills development, employment and change situations. Relevant for companies particularly in projects that develop staff skills and workplace wellbeing.
- JTF (Just Transition Fund): Supports testing whether ideas work in export markets through small-scale trials and pilots, which reduces the risks involved in internationalisation.
EU programmes applied for directly
Funding from the EU’s own programmes is applied for directly through the Commission’s Funding & Tenders portal, and the application competes with European applicants. In return, the amounts and support rates are considerably higher than national ones. Some programmes require an international consortium, but EIC Accelerator funding, for example, is applied for by a single company. Business Finland offers preparation funding for Horizon Europe, Innovation Fund and European Defence Fund projects, so national support is available for writing the application, and we handle the process for you.
- Horizon Europe: The EU’s framework programme for research and innovation and the world’s largest RDI funding programme. In consortium projects a company receives a grant of 70–100 per cent of costs depending on the nature of the project. Suits a company that wants to develop its solution in European collaboration with universities and companies.
- EIC Accelerator: Horizon Europe’s flagship instrument for individual companies with a breakthrough innovation. The grant is up to €2.5 million and can be combined with equity funding for commercialisation and scaling. No consortium requirement: the applicant is always a single company.
- Digital Europe: Funds the uptake of digital technologies in areas including artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, high-performance computing and digital skills. Suits a company whose solution takes digital technology from research into practice.
- Life: The EU’s funding programme for environmental and climate action, focused on demonstrating, deploying and commercialising solutions. Suits a company with a ready environmental or energy solution that needs proof at large scale.
- European Defence Fund (EDF): funds pan-European defence research and development projects, and Business Finland offers national co-funding for these projects. For a company developing dual-use technology, the EDF can be a significant route to growth. Dual-use funding.
InvestEU: loans and guarantees
Not all EU funding is grants. Under the InvestEU programme, an EU guarantee makes possible loans, guarantees and equity investments, which are provided through financial intermediaries. In Finland the intermediaries include Finnvera and the European Investment Bank. For a company this means loan funding that is cheaper or easier to obtain than usual, for example for investment and growth. InvestEU complements grant funding particularly when a project is close to market and no longer meets the conditions for R&D grants.
- European Investment Bank (EIB): Lends to larger investment and development projects directly and through financial institutions.
- European Investment Fund (EIF): A fund within the EIB Group that provides guarantees and equity investments for SME financing through intermediaries.
- Finnvera’s InvestEU loans: Backed by an EIF guarantee, Finnvera provides unsecured climate and environmental loans and digitalisation and innovation loans to SMEs and small mid-caps, up to €2 million for a single investment. Suits a company whose investment relates to the green transition, digitalisation or innovation but which lacks the collateral a bank requires.
Alongside the EU: Eureka, Eurostars and NATO DIANA
Alongside the EU programmes there are international funding networks where the money flows by a different route than in EU programmes, and this is exactly what applicants often miss. In Eureka projects, Business Finland funds the Finnish company on national terms, even though the project is international. In Eurostars the evaluation is centralised in Brussels, but the funding is paid through the national funder and the EU co-funds the whole from Horizon Europe. We know these structures in practice and help both with building the consortium and with securing the national funding.
- Eureka: An intergovernmental innovation network in which at least two companies from different countries develop a solution together. The Finnish participant’s funding comes from Business Finland on its own funding terms.
- Eurostars: Funding is primarily grants for SMEs and mid-cap companies, and applications are evaluated centrally twice a year. Suits a research-active SME that wants an international R&D project with a lighter structure than a Horizon consortium.
- NATO DIANA: NATO’s accelerator and funding programme for dual-use deep tech companies. Suits a company whose technology has both civilian and security applications.
