Send your application and attachments via our online service. You can also keep track of the processing of your application in the online service.
The company must have been in operation for less than five years before the funding decision for the first period is made. Submit your Young Innovative Company application in good time, no later than two months before your company turns five.
Go to the online service
Define objectives for the Young Innovative Company phase
In the application form, you will be asked to set 2–5 measurable goals for your project. The goals must be based on the company's business plan and be linked to concrete outcomes of the project and the development of your business. The goals of the Young Innovative Company are recorded in the funding decision, and Business Finland will monitor their achievement. Achieving the goals will have a significant impact on the progress of the Young Innovative Company funding and other funding from Business Finland.
Examples of project goals:
- development of turnover and especially export turnover
- ability to get capital investments or funding from other external sources
- strengthening of resources
- expanding into new markets
APPENDIX 1: Project plan
Attach a project plan and a separate business plan to the application if it is not included in the project plan. Fill in the fields in the application form as usual.
In the project plan, we ask you to describe at least the following:
- Description of your company and market situation
- Project overview and starting point
- Connection of the project to the company business plan
- Project tasks, resourcing, results to be achieved, scheduling, costs
We also require an initial plan for all the funding phases. As the Young Innovative Company funding progresses, a separate project plan must be drawn up for each phase.
APPENDIX 2: Auditor's report
The funding application must be accompanied by an auditor's report on the company's compliance with the conditions for granting Young Innovative Company funding. The prerequisites have been presented in the When should I apply for funding? section. Among other things, we require that at least 10% of the company's total costs have been allocated to research and development activities in one of the three years preceding the application. To prove this, the company can use either Statistics Finland's form on research and development expenditure or Business Finland's calculation.
APPENDIX 3: Information about your company's finances
Please submit the following financial information on your company with the application:
- an income statement that is no more than two months old, and a balance sheet ledger for the current accounting period
- monthly cash flow forecast (Cash flow forecast in tabs 1, 2 and 3) (calculation template xlsx)
- annual forecast of profit and funding (Cash flow and profit and funding forecast (T2/T4/T7 in tabs 4, 5 and 6)) (calculation template xlsx)
You can submit the information using Business Finland's calculation templates or by other means, for example as part of a business plan.
Eligible costs
Business Finland can accept costs starting from the date the application was submitted, at the earliest. The progress of the project is reported in accordance with the schedule indicated in the financing decision. The report and the expense report are sent through the Business Finland's online service.
Eligible costs
- Wage costs and related personnel costs (up to 30%)
- Purchases (e.g., travel, services, materials, supplies, and equipment)
Costs that are not eligible
- Purchased services from associated companies (with the exception of services from companies belonging to the same group)
- Voluntary insurance payments, gifts and stipends
- Other costs that include public aid
- Measures related to exportation, i.e., overhead charges directly related to export volumes or to the establishment and operations of a distribution network or other export operations.
Procurement must comply with the Act on Public Procurement and Concession Contracts (Procurement Act guidelines).