Medtech4Health: Competence Enhancement in Small Businesses 2024

In this call for proposals a micro or small company* operating in Sweden can apply for funding to hire external expertise for a limited period. Competence that can enable the development and implementation of new medical technology products or services, which thus increases the possibility of developing successfully and competing on the global market. The aim is that the knowledge and experience that the external expert brings should be transferred to the employees of the company and thus strengthen the company in the long term.

*Micro or small companies refer to companies that have fewer than 50 employees and whose annual turnover or total assets are no more than EUR 10 million.

Se Användarhandledning on the definition of SME company

The project will work on developing an innovative medical technology solution that can radically improve the clinical outcome and make care more efficient. The intention must be for the product, service or solution to be implemented and put to good use as well as have the possibility of scaling on an international market.

In this round of the call for proposals project focused on market establishment and internationalisation will be given higher priority in relation to other project.

The maximum amount that can be applied for is SEK 200,000. The project may last for a maximum of 12 months.

The call for proposals is open during the period 19 February 2024 up to and including 19 August 2024. Reading of clearly marked applications takes place at 14:00. See under "Important dates" above which dates apply.

Cooperation, pooling of forces and innovation will be crucial to achieve the goals of sustainable development according to the global sustainability goals. With this call for proposals Medtech4Health wants to strengthen the competence of micro and small companies that operate in Sweden and that develop and market new medical technology products or services. By strengthening competence, their opportunity to develop successfully and compete in the global market can increase. This is an important part of Medtech4Health's long-term objective.

The overall long-term goals of Medtech4Health are that medical technology innovations should contribute to the following:

• Increased awareness and knowledge in health, care and care about the benefits of medical technology.
• More sustainable medical technology innovations made useful in health, care and care.
• Increased competitiveness of medical technology companies operating in Sweden.
• Swedish small and medium-sized companies stay and grow in the Swedish market.

Medtech4Health wants to actively work for a long-term sustainable society and wants to contribute to increased gender equality in Swedish technology. Thus, this must permeate the actor constellation and the project's ability to address any gender or gender aspects that are relevant linked to the project's problem area, solutions and utilization. This question is mandatory for all applicant and can be found under the heading " Project tasks". In this call for proposals the question is the basis for assessment under the potential criterion. See section 7 for more information.

Read more about what our work for equal innovation means for those of you who seek funding from us

The project will also contribute to sustainable economic growth and community development. This can only occur if it does not entail negative consequences for ecological or social sustainability, which is why this must be described.

The applicant for funding must be classified as a micro or small business according to the EU's definition, and be a legal entity in Sweden. In this respect, a foreign organization that has a registered branch or place of business in Sweden is equated with a Swedish legal person.

In order to be granted funding in the call for proposals the company must submit a model declaration of status as a small or medium-sized company, where it is stated that the company is a micro or small company. You can find the template for the model declaration further down the page.

The company will work with the development, production and marketing of innovative medical technology products aimed at solving clinical needs. It can be a physical product, service or process. The goal should be to commercialize and make use of these, as well as eventually grow on an international market. The company must have a long-term need to strengthen its competence within a clearly defined area of need.

The project manager must be employed by the company applying for funding.

Eligibility requirements on turnover or capital

In order to be granted funding in the call for proposals , the organization must have an annual turnover according to the latest annual report of at least SEK 300,000, alternatively show that it has capital that corresponds to the co-financing available in cash. If this is not evident from the latest published annual report, it needs to be shown by an auditor's certificate, certificate from an accounting consultant or an account statement. The certificate must be attached in proposal.

Activities for which funding can be applied for

In the call for proposals the cost of hiring an external expert with skills that the company lacks is financed. Competence that enables the development and implementation of an innovative medical technology product, service or solution on a national or an international market. The requested amount refers to consulting costs for the external expert. The external expert must be clearly independent from the applicant company and from the product idea to which proposal relates.

The strengthening of competence takes place through the purchase of services against market remuneration.

The project application must contain activities that show how the knowledge and experience that the external expert brings can be transferred and retained in the company in the longer term.

The competence requirement can, for example, consist of:

• Clinical expertise, for example staff in care and social care with specialist knowledge.
• Regulatory expertise regarding FDA, MDR or IVDR.
• Academic researchers with technical, medical or other skills.
• Medical technology expertise.
• Expertise from patient organizations regarding product use or product development.
• Expertise regarding clinical trials and testbeds.
• Competence in health economic effects.
• Purchasing expertise within county council, region or municipality.
• Expertise with knowledge of specific export market.
• Expertise with competence in IT-related security issues.

We do not finance:

• Resource augmentation to implement routine or recurring changes to existing goods, manufacturing methods, manufacturing processes, services or other ongoing operations.
• The services concerned must also not be of a continuous or periodically recurring nature. Nor may they be included in the company's ordinary operating costs, such as routine tax advice, regular legal advice or advertising costs.
• Veterinary medicine ideas.
• General technology solutions, for example IT solutions for language translation or digital communication.
• Development of pharmaceuticals or biotechnology projects.

Medicines and biochemical components can, however, be part of the current project concept where medical technology is used for, for example, dosing, diagnostics or injections. It can also be project where implants are surface-treated with drugs for the prevention of complications. For any combination products or solutions, the biochemical or pharmaceutical part must be fully developed and verified.

Eligible costs and basis for support

Our funding takes place through funding. Funding for organizations that carry out economic activities is covered by rules on state support. The rules govern, among other things, which types of costs and what proportion of them may be covered by funding.

Read more about government support on our website
See also our general terms and conditions for funding and Instructions for eligible costs

Basic prerequisites for a cost to be eligible for support are that it must:

• Be factual and verifiable.
• Have arisen at applicant company ( participant).
• Have arisen during the project period.
• Be reasonable and have arisen solely for the implementation of the project.
• Be recorded and determined in accordance with the company's usual accounting principles and good accounting practice.
• Be in accordance with the company's internal policies and guidelines, especially with regard to environmental and climate impact.
• Be deductible according to current tax legislation, including the Swedish Tax Agency's regulations and general advice.

Funding in this call for proposals is provided with support according to § 6 regulation (2015:208) on state support for research and development and innovation and article 18 of the EU Commission's regulation no. 651/2014 of 17 June 2014 (GBER).

Eligible costs are the costs of consulting services provided by external consultants.

To enable the transfer of expertise from the consultant to the company's personnel, the company is expected to incur personnel costs or other project-related costs. These costs must be financed by the company itself, and these costs must not be included in the budget in the application form nor reported to Vinnova.

The project can apply for funding with a maximum of SEK 200,000. The requested amount refers to compensation for the external expert who is hired and must be reported under the cost type "Consulting costs" in the application form. Eligible costs are the costs of consulting services provided by external consultants.

The support level is a maximum of 50 percent of the cost of the external consultant.

If the consulting service costs, for example, SEK 200,000, the company can apply for SEK 100,000 in funding and cover the other SEK 100,000 itself.

See image below for how a correctly completed budget in the application form can look like.

Conditions for us to assess proposal

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

• The company seeking funding must be classified as a micro or small business and the applicant must be a legal entity in Sweden. Micro or small companies mean companies that have fewer than 50 employees and whose annual turnover or total assets are no more than EUR 10 million.
  Se Användarhandledning on the definition of SMEs
• It must be stated that the company meets the requirement for annual turnover or capital. See section 3 for more information.
• Proposal must contain CVs from external experts as well as CVs from key employees who will receive the skills.
• Proposal must contain all mandatory attachments and these must be correctly filled in according to section 9.
• No other attachments than those requested may be attached to proposal.
• The company may submit a maximum of two applications during the current year in the current the call for proposals.
• The project must start no later than 3 months after the reading date.
• The company must not have any ongoing funding in previous rounds of the call for proposals.

What do we assess?

Assessment of proposal is done according to how well the project contributes to the call's aim and objective. The ambition in this year's round is to give greater focus to companies that are closer to implementation and internationalisation. Assessment takes place according to the following criteria, and to what extent the project is judged to achieve these.

Potential

• To what extent the proposed financing is judged to strengthen the long-term competence of the company.
• To what extent the project and the company can contribute to sustainable growth in Sweden.
• To what extent the project and the company contribute to strengthening the international competitiveness of Swedish medical technology.
• The extent to which the product, service or solution is judged to create specific benefit for the patient, individual or family member and in healthcare.
• To what extent the project and the company contribute to the global sustainability goals.
• The project's funding for increased gender equality within the Swedish medical technology sector.
  
  

Actors

• The composition of the team in terms of clinical, academic and industrial competence. How views from patients or users are handled and the team's ability to carry out the project according to plan.
• The team's ability to absorb and manage the knowledge transfer from the external expert.
• How well the project team is composed with respect to gender distribution, including the distribution of power and influence between women and men.
  
  

Feasibility

• To what extent planned activities contribute to the company's development and that the budget, objective and plan are credible.
• To what extent activities that enable the transfer of knowledge are included in the plan.
• To what extent relevant gender equality aspects are included in the project plan.
• How well relevant sustainability perspectives are integrated into the project plan. Relevant sustainability perspectives refer to Agenda 2030 with a particular focus on climate and gender equality.
  
  

How do we judge?

Proposal is assessed in competition with other received applications for the call for proposals.

1. Proposal are made in Vinnova's e-services.
2. All applications that meet the formal requirements are assessed by a composite group of specially appointed and appointed by Vinnova evaluator, as well as Vinnova's internal evaluator.
3. The individual assessments are compiled and result in a recommendation to Vinnova.
4. Vinnova makes decisions about which project are to be financed.
5. Decision is notified to applicant.

About our decisions

Funding in this call for proposals is provided with support according to Vinnova's regulation (SFS 2015:208) on government support for research and development and innovation. The basis for support that is applied is support for consulting services for SMEs according to Article 18 of Commission Regulation (EU) No. 651/2014.

Vinnova's decision to grant or reject a proposal cannot be appealed.

Term for granted funding

For granted funding our general terms and conditions for fundingapply. The terms contain, among other things, rules on project agreements, conditions for payment, follow-up, reporting and utilization of results.

Current term can be found on our website, along with help to understand and comply with the terms

Scientific publication must take place with open access in accordance with Vinnova's instructions.

In addition to our general terms and conditions the following special conditions apply:

• The following term replaces § 6.1 fourth paragraph of the general conditions for funding: Eligible costs are the costs of consulting services provided by external consultants.
• The services concerned must also not be of an ongoing or recurring nature and they must not form part of the company's ordinary operating costs, such as routine tax advice, regular legal advice or advertising costs.
• In information about the project and in every publication of project results, it must be stated that the work was carried out within the strategic innovation program Medtech4Health, a joint effort by Vinnova, Formas and the Energy Agency.

As the call for proposals takes place within the framework of the strategic innovation program Medtech4Health, the following instructions also apply:

• If necessary, the project must be available and represented by at least one participant at the conferences and other activities organized within Medtech4Health.
• In the case of information on the allocation of funds, it must be stated that these were obtained via Medtech4Health call for proposals.
• At the same time as the project's final report to Vinnova, a summary of the project results must also be sent to Medtech4Health via e-mail: kontakt@medtech4health.se
• In connection with the start and end report, the project must also fill in a short web survey for Medtech4Health.
  https://sv.surveymonkey.com/r/startenkat
  https://sv.surveymonkey.com/r/slutenkat
• At the same time as the project's final report to Vinnova, a summary of the project results must also be sent to Medtech4Health via e-mail: kontakt@medtech4health.se. The summary must be able to be distributed and published freely and must not contain confidential or otherwise sensitive information.
• Annual follow-up questionnaire from Medtech4Health must be answered.

Supplementary special conditions can be decided for individual project.

If you do not follow our term you may be liable for a refund. This also applies if you have been granted funding incorrectly or with an amount that is too high.

2024-04-29

Changed information under section " The offer in brief":

The call for proposals is open during the period 19 February 2024 up to and including 19 August 2024.

2024-05-20
Added text and image under section 5:

See image below for how a correctly completed budget in the application form can look like.