Startup grant 2

In 2026, the funding available for Startup Grant 2 has been reduced by 60%. This means stricter prioritisation and more applications being 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 with shared liability (DA), etc. are not eligible). Applicants from outside Norway 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 holding company is owned by the founders themselves and the startup is genuinely new, with the potential and ambition to become a scaleup. In this case, any funding must be awarded as 'de minimis aid'.
• Please note that if a shareholder owns between 25–50% ('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 parties willing to share the risk with you as you continue developing the product/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 overview of competitors and alternative solutions, and a clear understanding of your competitive advantages
• a team that can demonstrate basic knowledge, experience 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.

Startup grants will be prioritised for the most deserving startups that meet these criteria:

Impact

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

Level of innovation

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

Implementation capacity

You must be able to demonstrate that you have the capacity to deliver on your ambitions by having

• Team/resources: We prioritise founders 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 needed to develop 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. These 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 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 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

In light of this, we will 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 with limited benefit to society.

Outstanding payment defaults

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

Not a genuine new business

We do not provide grants for the takeover of an existing business.

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

The activities must help you develop your product or service based on customer and market insights, with the aim of establishing a profitable business model.

Relevant activities and milestones in this phase may include:

Technical clarifications

• Review the evidence base for a new solution – previous research, analyses and studies
• Clarify the technical requirements for further development
• Plan a potential main project (innovation activities)
• Test a minimum viable solution with potential customers
• Provide supporting evidence of the project's potential positive environmental and social impacts

Commercial clarifications

• Develop an intellectual property strategy
• Test a potential business model (and payment model) for the solution
• Recruit pilot customers and business partners
• Define the value proposition – a description of what makes the product or service unique, so that customers choose it over competitors
• Identify the expertise and investment needed to develop the solution further
• Plan for further activities aimed at ensuring commercial success
• Secure sufficient capital to complete the next phase, either through the company's existing owners or external investors
• Establish a professional board or an 'advisory board' with relevant expertise

The grant is limited to NOK 1 million per company and can cover up to 50% of approved project costs.

Your own funding must be available before the first grant payment 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

• saved funds or injected capital cannot come from other public funding.
• earned/saved funds and injected capital available for the project applied for must not be committed to other purposes.
• Capital provided may not be used to pay interest or repay lenders/investors during the project period.

The company must submit a declaration in connection with the advance payment of the grant, confirming that its own funding meets the conditions above, together with confirmation from an authorised accountant or auditor that the funding has been provided to the company and is available for the project. Further details are set out in the offer letter.

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

At the start of the project, you can request an advance payment of 50% of the grant. Once 50% of the project has been completed, you can request a further 30% of the grant. The remaining 20% will be paid when the project ends. You must set up project accounts detailing the approved costs. The costs must be documented, and the project accounts must be reviewed by an auditor or authorised accountant.

If your company cannot provide documentation for costs approved in the offer letter, the grant will be reduced, and any overpayment must be repaid.

The approved project period for the grant is 12 months. You can request a six-month extension, up to a maximum of 18 months. The deadline cannot be extended beyond this.

For the final payment, you must submit a final report, auditor-verified project accounts and a payment request via My page.

Activities during the project period must focus on gaining further market insight and understanding the conditions the market offers an innovative scaleup. This requires extensive outreach and close collaboration with market participants.

We recommend the course Management tools for technology development on the importance of aligning technical development with market development.