Innovative Impact Startups autumn 2022

Activities for which funding can be funding for

You can, for example, apply for funding to

• develop and validate the deal
• verify customer value and willingness to pay
• build customer relationships
• develop partnerships
• develop prototypes, demos, proof-of-concepts, beta versions, MVPs and the like
• develop intangible asset strategies
• develop sustainability strategies

Eligible costs

Our funding is through funding. Funding for organizations that conduct financial activities is covered by rules on state support.

The rules govern, among other things, the types of costs and the proportion of them that may be covered by funding.

Government support for financial activities (companies)

Rules for eligible costs

Prerequisites for a cost to be eligible is that it

• is in fact, must be able to be proven and booked
• has been obtained from the applicant company
• has arisen during the project period and only for the implementation of the project
• is reasonable and has been procured on a market term
• is established in accordance with the company's standard accounting principles and generally accepted accounting principles
• follows the applicant company's internal policies and guidelines, in particular with regard to environmental and climate impact.

The following cost types may be used for the grant:

• Salary of employees

I Innovativa Impact Startups, you have the right to charge a "reasonable salary" for Vinnova's funding. The theoretical maximum hourly wage for which it is possible to receive funding is SEK 800 / hour (this corresponds to a gross monthly salary of SEK 134,400). We assess how well the salary level in the proposal is justified, not the salary level itself. It depends on the industry, competitive situation, access to special skills and the like.

The salary cost must include gross salary and actual additional salary costs, for example social security contributions, compulsory pension provisions, compulsory insurance and contributions, and holiday pay. Taxable benefits should not be included.

• Costs for purchasing licenses, research services, patents and consulting services used exclusively for theproject

In order for the costs to be eligible, it is required that they have been purchased or licensed from external actors on a market term, and that the activity and scope are stated in the project description.

• Purchase of instruments and equipment relevant to theproject

The grant may only be used for the reduction in the value of the equipment during the project period, in accordance with current principles for depreciation.

• Other direct costs incurred as a direct result of theproject

There may be costs for travel, consumables, supplies and the like linked to the project.

• Indirect costs

Indirect costs (or overhead costs) may not exceed 30% of the company's staff costs within the project. All indirect costs within the project must be auditable and reported in detail if Vinnova requests it.

An indirect cost is a cost that can not be directly linked to a specific cost bearer, but which is necessary for the implementation of the project. Examples of such can be costs for ordinary business premises, cleaning or costs for the company's finance department.

Please note that tax costs such as VAT are not eligible (Vinnova does not finance tax costs).

Patent fees to PRV are also not eligible.

For more information on what costs we can finance, see Vinnova's guide to eligible costs (pdf, 314 kB).

Vinnova may provide funding up to 100 percent of the eligible costs in accordance with Article 22 (page 52) of EU Commission Regulation No. 651/2014 on General Block Exemptions ("GBER") (pdf, 826 kB), however, a maximum of SEK 300,000 (see also the section "Decision and term”).

In order for a proposal to be assessed and granted funding in Innovativa Impact Startups, the applicant company must meet all of the following formal eligibility requirements.

The requirements must be met by the last application date of 23 August 2022.

• Applicant company must be a Swedish registered limited company that conducts activities in Sweden.

Foreign limited companies that have a Swedish branch are entitled to apply if the branch has a Swedish organization number and if the project is run by the Swedish branch.

• Applicant companies must be younger than five years at Vinnova's decision 22 November 2022 (be registered with the Swedish Companies Registration Office no earlier than 22 November 2017).

If the company is a newly acquired warehouse company, the age of the company is calculated from when the warehouse company was registered with the Swedish Companies Registration Office.

• Applicant companies may not have more than 49 employees together with any partner and affiliated companies.
• Applicant companies must, together with any partner and affiliated companies, have net sales or balance sheet total lower than SEK 2 million in the latest financial statements for the financial year 2021.

If the company has never prepared a financial statement, it receives balance sheet turnover and balance sheet total, you may estimate net sales and balance sheet total for the financial year 2021. Please note that this estimate must also include any partner and affiliated companies.

• Applicant companies may not be listed on the stock exchange.
• Applicant companies may not have distributed profits.
• Applicant companies may not have taken over another company's activities.
• Applicant companies may not have been formed by a concentration (unless all the companies concentrated were younger than 5 years.)
• Applicant companies may submit a maximum of one (1) proposal in the call.
• Applicant companies may not have any other ongoing project or proposal for preparation within the program Innovativa Startups or Innovation projects in companies.
• Applicant companies have not been granted funding earlier in the call Innovativa Startups.
• The project manager for the project must be employed in or signatory for the applicant company during the project period.
• Proposal contains sufficient information to be able to assess.

The formal requirements are based on the EU definition of small and medium-sized enterprises (pdf, 1 MB) and Article 22 (page 52) of EU Commission Regulation No. 651/2014 on general block exemptions (“GBER”) (pdf, 826 kB) Vinnovas eligibility requirements for turnover and balance sheet total are narrower because we in this call for proposals will reach our intended target group.

What do we assess?

I Innovativa Impact Startups apply the following assessment criteria.

All applications that meet the formal requirements are reviewed and graded according to how convincing and credible the applicant is:

Relevance

• has written a proposal that meets the aimof the call. Proposal must clearly show in what way the company's business concept and solution can contribute to solving a societal challenge (see the section “What do we want to achieve with the financing?”)

Potential - needs, target group and demand

• described how the business idea and solution meets a need or demand that is linked to a societal challenge
• described who benefits from the solution
• described who will pay for the solution
• described which positive societal effects are created by the business idea and the solution, how the possible negative sustainability effects of the solution can be minimized, and in what way the effects are to be measured
• described which other actors, activities and / or regulations are strategically relevant for the solution to have an impact and contribute to system change
• estimated the size of the market

Solution

• described a realistic solution to a real problem

Customer benefit

• described how the business concept and solution is innovative or significantly better than existing business concepts and solutions
• described and quantified the benefits of the solution and how it facilitates for the customer, user or user
• described how the solution contributes to increasing the customer's opportunities to contribute to a positive societal effect

Business Strategy

• described the business concept and business objectives
• described an idea of a sales strategy and potential payment solution
• described the competitive situation and a strategy to protect the solution against existing and future competitors
• described an internationalization strategy
• described which actors/ partners are crucial to have in order to succeed in tackling the challenge and be able to scale up the innovation

Team

• justified that the company has access to the skills, experience, networks and contacts required to achieve the goals of the project
• justified that the team has a commitment in the form of reasonable working hours for the people required to carry out the project
• described a gender equality strategy for the company and the team

Implementation

• justified that Vinnova's funding has a crucial role in the implementation of the project
• described how the company reaches and engages customers, users, financiers and partners in the work
• justified that the budget, plan and approach to the project are reasonable and relevant in relation to the project objective and the call's aim
• described how the project is carried out in a sustainable and equal way

How do we rate?

All applications that meet all formal eligibility requirementsare assessed in competition with each other. Utlysningen Innovativa Impact Startups is similar to a competition where the applications that are judged to best meet our criteria are granted funding, as far as our budget is sufficient.

Each proposal is assessed and graded by at least three specially appointed evaluator who are experts in the subject area relevant to proposal. Vinnova's evaluator comes from academia, the public sector, voluntary organizations and the private sector.

All evaluator appointed by Vinnova with a reminder of the duty of confidentiality under criminal liability according to ch. 1 § st. 2 p. In the Public Access to Information and Secrecy Act (2009: 400). All evaluator are also obliged to notify Vinnova in advance if there is a risk of conflict of interest in any form in individual applications.

Vinnova's formal decision is based on the assessors' score and statements.

We do not accept additions to applications afterwards, unless we have requested them ourselves.

We take credit information on companies that are relevant for funding, including any partner and affiliated companies.

In assessing the applications, we prioritize the project that are judged to have the greatest potential to create growth and societal benefits in Sweden.

Vinnova intends to finance a diversified portfolio with a balance of actors, areas and project orientations, preferably in different places in the country.

About our decisions

Vinnova's provisions on state support are found in section 7 of the Government Ordinance (2015: 208) on state support for research and development and innovation (pdf, 26 kB)

Funding in this call for proposals will be granted with the support of Article 22 (page 52) of EU Commission Regulation No 651/2014 on General Block Exemptions ("GBER") (pdf, 826 kB).

Funding may also be granted with the support basis “ Support of minor importance” also called “de minimis support”, according to EU Commission Regulation No. 1407/2013. Applicant companies must then send in a certificate with an account of how much support of this type they have received in the last three years.

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The basis for support is stated in the decision and also governs which costs are eligible.

Our decision to grant or reject a proposal is not subject to appeal.

Term for granted funding

For funding, our general terms and conditions for funding apply. The terms include rules on project agreements, conditions for payment, follow-up, reporting and utilization of results.

Our rules and term for funding

Vinnova has been commissioned by the government to promote sustainable growth by improving the conditions for innovation. Our work is based on the objective for sustainable development adopted by the UN in Agenda 2030

The purpose of the Innovativa Impact Startups call is as follows:
We want to give start-up companies that have developed solutions to the global societal challenges the opportunity to apply for funding in early development phases where other funding is difficult to obtain, due to the risks surrounding the company's business.

An impact company is a company whose entire business concept aims to solve one or more prioritized problems for people, the environment and society in a measurable way.

The effects must occur intentionally and have a significant and lasting extent. Impact companies' focus and the very basic idea of developing innovations that create positive societal effects, at the same time as they can make money from the innovation.

The company's basic idea should be to develop products or services that create positive societal effects.

Impact = the whole business concept is to contribute to solving a global societal challenge

Sustainability = the company works systematically and long-term in a responsible way