Startup grant 2

This grant is for innovative start-ups facing a demanding technology development journey. Your company must have significant growth potential, both in Norway and internationally. The aim of this phase is to clarify key technical and commercial questions and determine whether your proposed solution can support a profitable business model.
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Type of service
Grants
Target audience
Start-ups
Application deadline
Ongoing
How much
Up to NOK 1 million
Application type
Startup

In 2026, the funding available for Startup grant 2 has been reduced by 60%. This means we must prioritise more strictly, and more applications will be rejected. Please read the scheme criteria carefully.

Companies that

  • were incorporated as a limited company less than five years ago (sole proprietorships (ENK), general partnerships (ANS), limited partnerships (DA), etc. are not eligible). Foreign applicants must have established a Norwegian limited company (AS) or a Norwegian-registered foreign company (NUF) before the first payment.
  • 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 a genuinely new business with the potential and ambition to grow. In this case, we must provide any funding as 'de minimis aid'.
  • Please note that if a shareholder owns between 25% and 50% ('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 CEO cannot be the same people, 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

  • developed a preliminary solution that offers something significantly new to the market and can compete internationally
  • market acceptance: external partners willing to share the risk with you as you continue developing your product or service
  • a challenging technology development journey ahead, supported by a solid IP strategy and a high degree of novelty
  • tested the solution with potential customers and can confirm that the problem is worth solving and that customers are willing to pay for the solution
  • defined specific activities to develop an initial version of the solution and test it further
  • a good understanding of your competitors and alternative solutions, and a clear view of your own competitive advantages
  • a team that can demonstrate basic knowledge of, experience in or understanding of the market you plan to enter
  • have sufficient capital available to complete this phase, with your own funding at least matching the Startup grant.

We prioritise Startup grants for the startups with the strongest case for support based on these criteria:

Impact

  • The company will create lasting value-generating activity (commercial activity) in Norway
  • Your company has a realistic, long-term ambition for growth and business development (scaling).
  • Your company's proprietary products/solutions can compete internationally

Level of innovation

  • The offering, product or service is significantly new and better than competing solutions. We may also consider new business models if they involve significant innovation and improvements compared with current models.
  • Developing the business idea involves significant innovation and associated technical risk. We expect the innovation to be at an international level.

Ability to deliver

You must demonstrate that your ability to deliver matches your level of ambition by having

  • Team/resources: We prioritise entrepreneurs who will build the business themselves. You must have a core team with a strong understanding of the problem you aim to solve, existing competitors or alternative solutions, the market and its potential.
  • Expertise: An overview of the expertise you need to build the business, and a plan for bringing this expertise on board.
  • Market insight: Develop the solution in collaboration with customers or user groups.
  • Capital: A funding plan for both the phase covered by the application and the company's future capital needs.

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 operated 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 cannot prioritise the establishment of traditional businesses in well-functioning markets, but we can help fund the development of technology or new solutions that drive innovation and improve efficiency. Our funding must not lead to unfair distortion of 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, fund 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 benefit to society.

Outstanding payment defaults

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

Not a genuine new business

We do not provide grants for taking over an existing business.


In this phase, you will clarify the technical and commercial aspects.

Aktivitetene må bidra til å utvikle produkt/tjeneste basert på innsikt fra kunde/ marked, med mål om å etablere en lønnsom forretningsmodell.

Aktuelle aktiviteter og milepæler i denne fasen kan være knyttet til:

Tekniske avklaringer

  • Gjennomgå kunnskapsgrunnlaget for en ny løsning - tidligere forskning, analyser og utredninger
  • Avklare tekniske forutsetninger som ligger til grunn for videre utvikling
  • Legge plan for et eventuelt hovedprosjekt (innovasjonsaktiviteter)
  • Teste minimumsløsning på potensielle kunder
  • Fremskaffe underlag for prosjektets eventuelle positive miljø- og samfunnseffekter

Forretningsmessige avklaringer

  • Legge strategi for immaterielle rettigheter
  • Teste mulig forretningsmodell (og betalingsmodell) for løsningen
  • Rekruttere pilotkunder og samarbeidspartnere
  • Konkretisere verdiløftet - en beskrivelse av hva som gjør produktet/tjenesten unikt, slik at kunden foretrekker dette fremfor konkurrentene
  • Få oversikt over kompetanse- og investeringsbehov for videre utvikling av løsningen
  • Plan for videre aktiviteter, med mål om å sikre kommersiell suksess
  • Framskaffe tilstrekkelig kapital til å gjennomføre neste fase, enten gjennom bedriftens eksisterende eiere eller eksterne investorer
  • Etablere et profesjonelt styre eller et "advisory board" med relevant kompetanse

Tilskuddet er på maksimalt 1 million kroner per selskap, og kan utgjøre inntil 50 % av godkjente prosjektkostnader.

Egenfinansiering må være disponibel før første utbetaling av tilskuddet og kan bestå av

  • opptjente eller oppsparte midler
  • tilført kapital fra private kilder, inkludert ansvarlige lån eller kapital via SLIP (Startup’s Lead Investment Paper).

Merk at

  • oppsparte midler eller tilført kapital kan ikke være annen offentlig støtte.
  • opptjente/oppsparte midler og tilført kapital tilgjengelig for det omsøkte prosjektet, kan ikke være bundet opp til andre formål.
  • tilført kapital kan ikke rentebetjenes eller tilbakebetales långivere/ investorer i løpet av prosjektperioden.

Bedriften må avgi en erklæring i forbindelse med forskuddsutbetaling av tilskuddet, som bekrefter at egenfinansiering er i henhold til forutsetningene over, samt en bekreftelse fra statsautorisert regnskapsfører eller revisor om at egenfinansiering er tilført bedriften og tilgjengelig for prosjektet. Dette er nærmere spesifisert i tilbudsbrevet.

Du kan ikke få dekket kostnader som allerede er påløpt før søknaden er sendt.

Ved prosjektstart kan bedriften be om å få utbetalt 50 % av tilskuddet i forskudd. Når 50 % av prosjektet er gjennomført, kan bedriften be om ytterligere 30 % av tilskuddet. De resterende 20 % utbetales ved prosjektslutt. Det skal etableres et prosjektregnskap med oversikt over godkjente kostnader. Kostnadene må kunne dokumenteres, og prosjektregnskapet skal kontrolleres av revisor/ statsautorisert regnskapsfører.

Dersom bedriften ikke kan dokumentere kostnader godkjent i tilbudsbrevet, blir tilskuddet avkortet og eventuelt for mye utbetalt tilskudd må tilbakebetales.

Godkjent prosjektperiode for tilskuddet er 12 måneder. Bedriften kan be om 6 måneders forlengelse (maksimalt 18 måneder). Det er ikke mulig å få forlenget fristen ut over dette.

Ved sluttutbetaling skal du levere sluttrapport, revisorkontrollert prosjektregnskap og utbetalingsanmodning via Min side.

Aktivitetene i prosjektperioden må være målrettet mot å skaffe ytterligere innsikt i markedet, og forutsetningene markedet gir for en innovativ vekstbedrift. Dette krever mye utadrettet arbeid og tett samspill med aktører i markedet.

Vi anbefaler kurset Styringsverktøy for teknologiutvikling om betydningen av godt samspill mellom teknisk og markedsmessig utvikling.

Key eligibility criteria for funding

To access our services, your company must uphold the principles of responsible business conduct and actively manage its sustainability risks. Read more about sustainability and responsible business conduct.

State aid rules

Our funding must comply with state aid rules. You must meet five general conditions for state aid.

The General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER) is part of the state aid rules. It contains provisions that allow us to provide support to businesses in a range of circumstances. We may apply one or more provisions to each case. Read more about GBER.

Legal basis for the scheme

We have notified the EFTA Surveillance Authority (ESA) of our funding schemes. The legal basis for these notifications is available on the National Legal Basis page.

Other public funding

You must state in your application whether you have applied or intend to apply for other public funding for the project. We also determine the level of our funding based on an overall assessment of how much public funding is needed for the project to go ahead.

When determining the grant amount, we therefore assume that you will not receive any other public funding, including SkatteFUNN, beyond what you have stated in the application. This applies to funding for the project costs we used to calculate our grant (eligible costs). If you nevertheless receive other public funding, including SkatteFUNN, after we have made our offer and it covers the same costs, we may reduce our grant accordingly or withdraw it entirely.

This does not prevent your company from receiving other public funding for project costs other than those on which we have based our assessment.

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Frequently asked questions and answers
General information about the application process, how we assess applications, project details and the types of ideas we do not support.