Public funding

The European Commission, together with national and regional authorities in Sweden and the Nordic countries annually offer several hundred million Euros in support through a broad range of instruments such as grants, hard & soft loans, tax incentives and venture capital. This is a profitable albeit relatively unknown way of co-financing future projects and investments.

Direct financial contributions, in the form of grants, support projects or organisations which further the interests of the EU or contribute to the implementation of an EU programme or policy. Interested parties apply by responding to calls for proposals. There are many different programmes that are routinely renewed and that provide money for various purposes. These may be innovation grants, structural funds, youth programmes and/or education programmes. There are also occasional one-off grants that deal with unforeseen aspects or special projects and themes.

Most of the funding programs are administered through National Agencies (for example Vinnova and Energimyndigheten in Sweden), but some are administered directly through the EU Commission in Brussels. However, the many different calls and funding programs available can make it hard to identify the right type of funding for a particular project or investment. The administrative framework and a sometimes complex application process may also seem difficult to overcome. Public grants normally follow strict application deadlines and procedures that can cause problems for applicants. This is also the case for approved projects, where time sheets, formal reports and notifications are required. Due to the complexity of the funding mechanisms involved and especially the high competitiveness of the grant application processes, the success rate for many applicants can be low.

This is where GIA Sweden can help. GIA Sweden is Sweden’s leading advisor in public funding, with extensive knowledge of all available funding instruments, including grant programs such as Horizon 2020, CEF-Transport, LIFE, Eureka/Eurostars etc. We also work with public Lending bodies such as the Nordic Project Fund (Nopef) the Nordic Investment Bank (NIB) and public investors such as Industrifonden and Almi Invest etc. To highlight the strength of our position; we have contributed to 32 approved projects in the EU LIFE program that together have received over 400 million SEK in grants. These projects represent over 30% of all approved Swedish LIFE Environment projects since 1999.