Business Finland launches a challenge competition for leading companies

Business Finland has launched a challenge competition for leading companies. The goal is to activate particularly large companies to significantly increase their research, development and innovation activities and create billion-euro ecosystems for new business in Finland.

To participate leading companies must provide solutions to significant future challenges, which can be either so-called missions or significant technology challenges. In addition to this, the companies should have a significant impact on new knowledge and RDI investments in Finland and Finland´s competitiveness.

A total of € 60 million has been earmarked for the competition in 2020 as a one-off experiment. Funding of up to € 20 million per a leading company is available and there will be enough funding for about 3-6 best entities.

The prerequisite for funding is that the leading company in engaged to increase its own RDI in Finland at least twice as much as Business Finland’s funding over the duration of the project. The funding must also have a spill-over effect on other actors in the ecosystem whose RDI projects can also be funded by Business Finland.

The challenge competition for leading companies is organized in two stages. In the first phase of the competition, companies will present the mission they are pursuing in their RDI project and the implications of the solution for Finland. Business Finland will select the proposals to be invited for further negotiations. The best entities are invited to apply for funding for the second phase of the competition. The first stage of the competition ends 4.3. The winners of the challenge competition will be selected by mid-summer.

Read more about the challenge competition for leading companies at Business Finland’s website.