Startup loan

Companies that

• were established as a limited company (AS) or a Norwegian-registered foreign company (NUF) less than five years ago (sole proprietorships (ENK), general partnerships (ANS), partnerships with shared liability (DA), etc. are not eligible).
• is a genuinely new business. The startup may be owned by a holding company that is more than five years old, provided the founders themselves own the holding company and the startup is genuinely new, with the potential and ambition to become a growth company. In this case, the loan must be granted as 'de minimis aid'.

Please note that if a shareholder owns between 25% and 50% (a 'partner' under the SME definition), the company's business operations must be separate from those of the shareholder in question. The chair of the board and/or the general manager cannot be the same people in both companies, and the new company's business idea must be substantially different.

Subsidiaries that are 50 per cent or more owned by an established business are not eligible.

You also have:

• strong growth potential and realistic ambitions to expand internationally
• an innovative business concept (product/service/solution)
• a strong team with a proven ability to drive business development. New and existing owners have relevant experience from similar businesses or industries, as well as the capacity and willingness to make follow-on investments
• a board with at least one external member with relevant experience who can contribute to strategy and provide active support in key areas (market insight, networks, commercial experience, etc.)
• a credible strategy, business model and budget for your business
• sufficient capital to complete this phase, with your own funding at least equal to the startup loan

The loan is available to startups that

• intend to conduct long-term value-creating activities (commercial activities) in Norway
• have a realistic, long-term ambition for growth and business development (scaling).
• have developed your own products/solutions that can compete internationally

We prioritise companies with innovative ideas that bring something significantly new to the market and have the potential and ambition to compete internationally.

This means there are some ventures we cannot support. Examples include businesses that 'only' create a job for the founder ('lifestyle businesses'), hobby businesses run in the founder's spare time, or services already provided by the public sector, such as childcare, healthcare and elderly care.

We prioritise development and growth – not day-to-day operations. We therefore do not prioritise the establishment of traditional businesses in well-functioning markets. However, we can help fund the development of technology or new solutions that drive innovation and improve efficiency. Our funding must not distort competition.

Examples of areas where an equivalent, well-functioning market already exists:

• traditional retail (including imports, agencies and e-commerce)
• trade services
• transport services
• financial services (banking/insurance activities)
• liberal professions (lawyers, doctors, dentists, writers, etc.)
• personal services, including alternative therapies, hairdressing, skincare and similar services
• standard training and consultancy services/business advisory
• traditional café and restaurant businesses

With this in mind, we do not, for example, provide funding to entrepreneurs developing standalone apps, apps for existing solutions and functions, or apps that are easy to develop and copy. The same applies to digital marketplaces and communication platforms, as well as products and services that offer limited value to society.

Outstanding payment defaults

If your company has outstanding payment defaults, you cannot apply for or receive a loan.

Not a genuine new business

We do not provide startup loans for the acquisition of an existing business.

You can receive a loan of up to NOK 2 million per company, covering up to 50% of approved project costs. You can receive the loan twice, with up to NOK 1 million awarded each time.

Your own funding must be available before we disburse the loan and may consist of

• earned income or savings
• capital provided by private sources, including subordinated loans or capital through SLIP (Startup’s Lead Investment Paper).

Please note that

• retained earnings or injected capital must not come from other public funding.
• earned/saved funds and injected capital available for the project you are applying for funding for must not be committed to other purposes.
• Interest cannot be paid on injected capital, nor can it be repaid to lenders/investors, until our startup loan has been repaid in full.

Your company must submit a declaration when the loan is paid in advance, confirming that your own funding meets the conditions above. You must also provide confirmation from an authorised accountant or auditor that your own funding has been provided to your company and is available for the project. You can find further details in the offer letter.

You cannot receive funding for costs incurred before you submit your application.

You must use the loan to prepare for and carry out the commercial launch of the solution.

We do not specify which activities you must carry out, but you need credible plans for realising your growth and value creation potential. You must demonstrate that you will be able to pay interest after two years and both principal and interest after three years, enabling you to repay the loan in instalments. You must repay the loan within three years.

1. The loan term is six years, with no repayments required for the first three years.

2. You repay the loan over the following three years in equal principal instalments, with monthly payments.
3. The loan is interest-free for two years. After that, the applicable interest rate for innovation loans will be 7.95% (for new loans from 12 May 2026 and existing loans from 10 July 2026).

4. We secure the loan against the company's assets, including operating assets and any unencumbered real estate. Any intellectual property rights (IPR) must form part of the operating assets, and the rights to the IPR must be transferable.

If your company needs to change the terms of a startup loan that has already been disbursed, go to this page: Changes to the terms of an existing startup loan.

We can disburse the loan in up to two equal instalments, provided that the required security has been established and approved by us and all other loan terms have been met. We will disburse each instalment once you can document that the corresponding self-financing is in place. Your self-financing must at least equal the proportion of the loan being disbursed.

Our funding schemes support you through the different stages of your startup journey. We recommend taking this short course, which explains smart steps towards successful commercialisation.