Matchmaking for innovation: Business-driven innovation collaboration between knowledge-driven startup companies and established organizations

The call for proposals offers funding for activities that aim to increase business collaborations between startup companies with growth potential and established organizations.

The call for proposals is aimed at intermediaries who have an established matchmaking activities, see definition below. Established organizations thereby have their stated innovation needs met, and startup companies get support in increasing the pace of their commercialization and accelerating innovative solutions closer to the market.

The financing must cover the cost for the intermediary to quality-assure that the startup companies have the right maturity for efficient matchmaking and other associated activities. The matching itself should be able to help the companies and the customers understand each other. The funding will also provide the opportunity to follow up and quality-assure the startup companies' interaction with the established organizations.

Definitions

Startup companies: refers to Swedish-based, young, knowledge-intensive small companies with the ability and desire to scale up their business internationally, also called startups or scaleups. They need to develop and validate their offer, their business model and sales process. In this call for proposals young small companies refer to companies that are younger than 10 years and have a maximum of 20 employees.

Established organizations: refers to private companies, public organizations and other forms of organizations such as foundations and others, which do not fall within the definition of startup companies. In a broader sense, it refers to organizations that want to enter into innovation collaborations and conduct business with startup companies and thus can act as early risk-averse customers to these companies.

Intermediary: refers to the performer of the activities with startup companies/established organizations described in the call text.

Matching: also called matchmaking, means that a startup company and an established organization get in touch through a qualified matching process with aim of finding a form of cooperation around innovative solutions.

Innovation collaboration: refers to forms of collaboration where the startup company's new solutions respond to the needs and demand of established organizations. Forms for this can include pilots, so-called proof of concept and more.

With this offer, we want to finance activities for matchmaking that stimulate increased innovation cooperation between startup companies and established organizations with pronounced innovation needs. The goal is to create more business-driven relationships for the startup companies at the same time as the take-up of innovative new solutions by the established organizations increases.

The purpose of the offer is to create increased synergies that are mutually beneficial and complementary. Young entrepreneurs' driving forces, quick mobility and innovative capacity must be able to be connected with the target organizations' infrastructure, internal resources and market insights. The business-driven relationships and deals that are created must prioritize giving Swedish startup companies a door to international customers and markets. But also contribute to a sustainability-driven development of society and the economy according to Vinnova's instructions.

Equal innovation - what it means for you who seek funding from us

Agenda 2030 as a driving force for innovation

The call for proposals is aimed at individual intermediaries or consortia of intermediaries with documented competence and experience in bringing together knowledge-intensive startup companies and established organizations. A prerequisite for this is that the applicant must have close access to industry networks and relationships with established organisations.

The applicant also needs to demonstrate experience of having worked with startup companies, as well as have access to networks where you can find the startup companies that are relevant for this call for proposals. The applicant must also be able to demonstrate an understanding of working with several different industries and through a nationwide perspective.

Vinnova also sees a need for the intermediary to have the ability to help Swedish startup companies find relevant international partners and networks.

Which eligibility requirements apply to costs we finance?

Funding from Vinnova that is given to companies and other organizations that conduct economic activities is limited by the rules on state aid. Applicant in this call for proposals is to be considered an intermediary in the system where the actual recipients of Vinnova's state aid are the startup companies. The intermediary thus becomes beneficiary but transfers, via delivered services to the startup companies, the entire value of the received contribution to state aid in the startup companies. It is thus the startup companies that are the recipients of that state support, not the intermediary. The intermediary bears a responsibility to account for the actual beneficiaries of the support provided.
See below illustration.

The start-up companies that are offered the intermediary's services must meet the requirements for state aid according to one of the two support bases below:

• According to Article 22 of Commission Regulation (EU) No. 651/2014 of 17 June 2014 (the general block exemption, GBER), and § 7 of the Regulation (2015:208) on support for research, development and innovation.
• In case the company is not counted as a start-up company according to Article 22, the support is instead given as de minimis to the company according to Commission Regulation (EU) No. 2023/2831 on support of minor importance.

What costs can we finance?

For the support decided by Vinnova, eligible costs are defined as the costs the intermediary has to deliver services to the startup companies. The costs can be incurred through internally generated services or externally procured services. The costs that the intermediary reports to Vinnova must be real and auditable.

We do not finance general business development support or the intermediary's own business development.

In this context, the following costs are eligible:

• Personnel costs: Salaries, social security contributions and other personnel costs.
• Equipment, land and buildings: Instruments, equipment and rent for premises other than regular business premises.
• Consulting and licensing costs: Consulting services, knowledge and patents purchased or used under license from an external actor.
• Other direct costs: For example materials, stock items and travel necessary to carry out the project.
• Indirect costs (overhead): Costs that are not incurred as an immediate consequence of but can be related to the project, for example administrative costs, reporting costs ordinary premises costs.
  Indirect costs may constitute a maximum of 30 percent of personnel costs.

The services must be offered to the startup companies in a transparent and non-discriminatory manner according to pre-established criteria. Elements of subjective or otherwise improper selection methods must not occur.

The value of the state aid imposed on the start-up company must be based on the market price for the service or on the costs incurred by the intermediary to deliver the service plus a reasonable mark-up. Market price refers to the value of the service on the open market. If cost price is used instead, this must be calculated according to what appears in the appendix "Project description template".

The costs must be made public so that a startup company, as a user of the intermediary's services, knows the size of the support and that it becomes transparent.

For a cost to be eligible, it must be necessary for the activities of the project. Project costs must also be properly accounted for and reported separately from the organization's other costs. An organization may also not take up someone else's costs as its own.

For more detailed information on which eligibility requirements, limitations and exceptions apply, see Instructions for eligible costs.

Examples of activities that applicant intermediary can apply for funding for:

• Quality assurance that the startup company is in the right maturity phase for successful matchmaking.
• Coaching before the actual matchmaking process.
• Support regarding the establishment of a "proof of concept" or pilot as well as possible adaptations within the framework of the collaboration with the established organizations.
• Follow-up of cooperation and relationship as a results of the matchmaking process.
• Activities aimed at increasing startup companies' international collaborations with established organizations.

The call's budget is provisionally SEK 30 million, with the distribution of SEK 10 million annually from 2024 - 2027.

In order for us to take a position on and assess your proposal it must meet certain formal eligibility requirements. If the requirements are not met, proposal is rejected immediately.

Eligibility requirements on organizational form of project parties

• All project parties must be legal entities. We do not grant funding to individual companies.
• The coordinating party must be a Swedish legal entity and conduct activities in Sweden.
• The coordinating party must have at least two years of documented experience in the activities described in the call for proposals. See sections 3 and 4.

Eligibility requirements for the project

• The project manager must be employed by one of the project parties.
• Maximum project duration: 3 years.

Eligibility requirements on proposal

• Proposal must be completely completed, including all mandatory appendices, and contain sufficient information to enable assessment against the call's assessment criteria.
• Proposal must be written in Swedish or English.
• Proposal must follow the instructions given in section 9.
• Proposal must contain all requested attachments.

What do we assess?

The applicant is expected to describe in detail their processes for matchmaking, previous experiences and results, networks and possible collaboration partners, cf. project application template. Furthermore, the applicant is expected to set quantitative and qualitative objective.

Based on this description, we will assess according to the following criteria:

Potential – the operations' processes, results and effects

• How well proposal describes a matching process with well-defined service packages that focus on achieving qualified matching between startup companies and established organizations. This is based on the understanding of each party's conditions, driving forces and incentives.
• How well the operations' processes connect to clear innovation phases for the startup companies and describe criteria for admission and exit of startup companies and established organizations.
• How well proposal accounts for the generated value and other positive effects as results of the collaboration. Here the value is described in terms of the mutual movement in business for the startup company and innovation for established organizations through defined milestones and indicators.
• How well proposal describes approaches adapted for several different industries to engage startup companies and established organizations.
• How well proposal describes a nationwide ability to engage startup companies and established organizations.
• How well proposal describes how the establishment of international collaborations is achieved between the startup company and established organizations.

Actors – the intermediary's organization, resources, and proven operational capabilities

• To what extent the applicant is integrated into the national and international innovation ecosystems and operates in the same network as the startup companies that are the relevant target group for this investment.
• The degree to which the applicant is involved in several industry networks and has relationships with relevant organizations within the private and public sector.
• To what degree the applicant has proven capacity to carry out the kind of matchmaking referred to in this call for proposals. This is either through own relevant staff or relationships with external advisers with documented experience in the area.
• To what degree the project manager has previous experience of leading project in collaboration and in an intermediary role.

Feasibility - the business's project plan to achieve its results- and impact goals

• To what extent the project plan and the business's processes and service packages are realistic in relation to the proposed budget.
• To what degree does applicant make it likely that one will reach the set objective based on the proposed methodology, milestones and key figures.
• The degree to which the business shows the ability to adapt to business based on changing customer and market needs, where the intermediary follows up the processes, identifies shortcomings and implements improvements.

Sustainability and gender equality

• How well the project is judged to contribute to climate change through developed collaborations between the startup companies and the established organizations.
• To what extent the project group has access to relevant competence in sustainability and can convey it to participating companies.
• How well composed the project team is in terms of gender distribution and how well power and influence is distributed between women and men in the project team.
• How well the project's results and effects are judged to contribute to increased gender equality.

How do we judge?

The applications are assessed in competition between received applications based on the assessment criteria. For assessment we use both external and internal evaluator. Vinnova also makes an overall portfolio analysis of the applications received. Applicant may be called for an interview.

We also assess financial status

Before we decide on funding, we also make an overall assessment of the organizational and financial status of those who receive funding. We use information we receive from credit reports, currently from Dun & Bradstreet.

In order for us to grant funding, this applies:

• Organizations seeking funding for personnel costs must be registered as employers with the Swedish Tax Agency.
• Organizations must not be insolvent, undergo liquidation or corporate restructuring. They must also not have unpaid debts with the Swedish Enforcement Agency.
• Joint stock companies must not have used up half or more of their share capital.

When we have assessed all applications, we will send a decision in which we either grant or reject your proposal. In the decision, we state how much funding each party in the project is granted. Our decision cannot be appealed.

What if you are granted funding?

If we grant your proposal, you must follow our general terms and conditions for funding. The terms and conditions include this:

• That you must sign a special document in which you approve your participation and undertake to carry out the project.
• That you must report how things are going, your costs and achieved results to us regularly during the project period.
• If you are several parties, you must agree on your mutual rights and obligations in the project in an agreement. It can take time to get a project agreement in place, so please start this before the project starts. However, this is not something that needs to be ready by the start of the project.

See our general terms and conditions and get help understanding and fulfilling them

You also need to follow the special conditions that apply to this the call for proposals, see appendix Special conditions.

Can you have to pay back funding?

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 too high an amount.

To apply funding, you fill in a proposal in our e-service. Proposal contains questions about the project, participating project parties and budget.

You also attach these attachments to proposal:

• Appendix 1: Template for project description
• Appendix 1.1: Statement of scope or capacity from the last two business years. See instructions in Template for project description.

Start proposal in good time

Keep in mind that it takes time to make a proposal. Filling out templates can take several days, as it is based on analyzes you will be doing.

In our e-service, you can start filling in information and then continue at a later time. You can also distribute authorizations to others whom you want to contribute to proposal. When proposal is ready, you mark it as ready.

You can unlock proposal and make changes at any time, right up until the last application date. If you unlock proposal, you must then mark it as ready for it to be registered when the call for proposals closes.

When the call for proposals closes, proposal will be registered. Then we send an e-mail confirmation to the person responsible for the user account, the project manager and the company signatory. If you have not received a confirmation within 24 hours after the call for proposals closes, please contact us.

When the call for proposals is closed, you cannot change anything in proposal. Then you can only supplement if we ask for it.

Who can read your proposal?

Your proposal will be read by employees at Vinnova and the external evaluator participating in this the call for proposals. Everyone works under confidentiality.

Applications submitted to us become public documents. This means that we must disclose them if they are requested. However, we keep confidential information that we believe could mean financial damage to the individual if disclosed. This may, for example, be information about business and operating conditions, inventions or research results.

2024-10-21

Text changed under Section 4 "What do we finance?":

Funding from Vinnova that is given to companies and other organizations that conduct economic activities is limited by the rules on state aid. Applicant in this call for proposals is to be considered an intermediary in the system where the actual recipients of Vinnova's state aid are the startup companies. The intermediary thus becomes beneficiary but transfers, via delivered services to the startup companies, the entire value of the received contribution to state aid in the startup companies. It is thus the startup companies that are the recipients of that state support, not the intermediary. The intermediary bears a responsibility to account for the actual beneficiaries of the support provided.

Deleted text under section 9 "How to apply?":

This is how the application process works

If the application process takes place in several steps, add this section and describe each step of how proposal is made and what it should contain.