Rejections and the right to appeal

A common reason for rejecting an application is that the company lacks the capacity to deliver. This is often linked to the applicant's financial position and the amount of capital available to carry out the project. We provide partial funding and need to be confident that the project can be completed.

If your company has limited financial resources and no access to fresh capital, the financial risk is too high for us to participate in the project. Please also note that State aid rules do not allow public funding for companies ‘in difficulty’.

Other reasons for rejection may include a lack of expertise, a poorly composed team, an inability to build networks or commercialise the solution, or an unclear business model.

The purpose of our funding is to help strengthen companies’ competitiveness and drive growth and value creation in Norway.

Companies that receive funding from us must comply with the principles of responsible business conduct. The project must be commercially and socio-economically viable.

If your project lacks market potential, has no scope to scale up and grow in the short or long term, or has a low level of innovation, it will not be eligible for funding from us.

In some cases, we may recommend a different financial instrument from the one you applied for. The grant amount and its percentage of the eligible costs may also be lower than requested. This is based on an overall assessment of the project and the company.

Every application we receive is thoroughly assessed by several people.

Section 6, first paragraph, of the Innovation Norway Act states that the Public Administration Act does not apply to us. This means, among other things, that there is no general right under administrative law to appeal decisions we make. However, separate appeal procedures have been established in certain areas on other grounds:

• Right of appeal under the Financial Contracts Act: Decisions on loans and financial guarantees may be appealed in accordance with the Financial Contracts Act Section 3-53.
• Right of appeal under the Regulations on funding for investment and business development in agriculture: Decisions on grants for investment and business development in agriculture may be appealed in accordance with the Regulations on funding for investment and business development in agriculture Section 5, third paragraph. The deadline for appeals is three weeks from receipt of the decision.
• Right of appeal under the Reindeer Husbandry Agreement: Decisions on grants under the development programme for agriculture- and reindeer husbandry-based growth and value creation may be appealed in accordance with the Reindeer Husbandry Agreement between the Norwegian State, represented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, and the Association of Norwegian Reindeer Herders, cf. Proposition 104 S (2012–2013), p. 45. The deadline for appeals is three weeks from receipt of the decision.

We have established written procedures for handling appeals. You must submit your appeal via My page. Here is how to find the appeal form:

1. Log in to My page

2. Go to the Online banking tab

3. Select Documents and letters

4. Click 'Appeal a decision' at the bottom of the page