Grants for innovation contracts
Companies developing solutions for international markets.
Our main target group is small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). In exceptional cases, large companies may also receive grants if they are classified as large due to their ownership structure (partner enterprise*), but face challenges similar to those of SMEs in delivering the project without public support.
*A company is considered a partner enterprise if it owns 25–50 per cent of the capital or voting rights in another company, or if another company owns 25–50 per cent of the company.
The grant helps reduce risk in innovative projects with international potential.
At the heart of these projects is the development of new solutions in close collaboration with the market and a pilot customer, with the aim of commercialisation, scaling and growth. You can divide the innovation process into several phases where appropriate.
The project must develop or significantly improve products, processes or services. This requires the solution to be clearly differentiated from what is currently available on the market. You must describe the existing alternatives and explain how your solution improves on current technology.
The pilot customer must actively contribute to the development work and help ensure that the solution meets genuine market needs. The pilot customer must be relevant to the market in which your company aims to grow and be able to act as a reference customer. The collaboration must be based on a genuine need for new solutions, and the pilot customer must be willing to make a significant contribution to the project.
The supplier company must own the rights to the solution. You must also have plans to sell the solution to customers beyond the pilot customer.
The grant covers a proportion of the project's approved costs, including personnel costs. Read more about approved hourly rates.
We do not cover the pilot customer's costs. You must document the pilot customer's contribution when requesting the final payment and calculate it using the same hourly rates as for the project.
The scheme primarily funds development activities that advance your project towards a pre-commercial prototype. This may also include testing, follow-up and, where relevant, pilot production.
We provide funding in accordance with the state aid rules. We have notified ESA of the scheme under the General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER Articles 22, 25, 28 and 29).
Other funding
You can combine the grant with SkatteFUNN or loans from us, provided that the total public funding complies with state aid rules. You must include any other public funding in the financing plan in your application.
The grant supplements other funding, such as equity or loans from owners and banks. It should reduce, but not eliminate, the owners' risk, and we emphasise a balanced mix of public and private funding.
- Routine or regular improvements to existing products, production lines, processes, services or operations.
- Projects that primarily meet the needs of a single customer and therefore appear to be a delivery to the pilot customer, with limited potential to scale beyond the first customer.
- Projects involving exclusive agreements between the parties that restrict access to other customers, partnerships or sales channels.
- Ordinary operating costs.
- Marketing and sales activities.
- Feasibility studies and preliminary projects (applies to 2026).
Minimum NOK 1 million.
Small businesses can receive funding for up to 45 per cent of the project costs. The funding rate is lower for medium-sized and large businesses.
An innovation contract is a specific collaboration agreement between your company and a pilot customer.
We tailor the agreement to the specific project to support a committed partnership and ensure that you can commercialise the results in line with the purpose of the scheme.
We may ask to review the agreement to check that these conditions have been met. You can use our innovation contract template (see ‘Guidance and templates’).
In the agreement, it is particularly important to clarify
- how the results of the collaboration will be used and commercialised
- allocation of ownership and usage rights to the results
- any remuneration models, such as royalties
- terms for taking ownership of and continuing to use the prototype solution
- the terms that apply if the project is successful or unsuccessful
The supplier company
The supplier company owns the project and applies for a grant for the innovation project. Only costs incurred by the supplier company are eligible for the grant.
Your company's role is to develop a new solution, product or service in close collaboration with the pilot customer. This collaboration will give you access to relevant expertise, international networks and strategic business partners, while enabling the pilot customer to develop better solutions for their needs.
The supplier company is responsible to us for ensuring that the project is carried out in accordance with the agreement.
The pilot customer
Choosing the right pilot customer is important, both to validate the solution and to gain access to relevant markets.
The pilot customer may be one or more Norwegian or international companies or public sector organisations. The partnership must be new and provide access to expertise and networks that would otherwise be unavailable to the supplier company. As a general rule, the supplier and pilot customer must not have any ownership links.
The pilot customer must actively contribute to the development work and ensure that the solution meets genuine needs. The pilot customer's contribution, through work carried out and, where applicable, funding, must account for at least 20 per cent of the project's total costs.
The pilot customer must participate actively throughout the project. This may include, for example:
- defining the needs and requirements for the solution
- to contribute relevant expertise and insights
- participation in meetings, steering groups or similar
- to make time and resources available for testing and validation
- contribute your own funding
We assess innovation projects based on three main criteria:
Level of innovation
Development of something substantially new or significantly improved compared with the best available solutions on the market. The project must be based on relevant research and development activities.
Expected impact
Clear potential to create value and deliver positive outcomes for both the company and society. This includes a solution that can be commercialised, has a defined market and clear potential for profitability, while creating lasting value through knowledge, jobs and stronger international competitiveness.
Ability to deliver
Your company must have the necessary expertise, capacity and funding, and the project must be firmly embedded in your strategy and supported by your management and owners. You must demonstrate that you can deliver the project.