Vinnova: Sweden's Innovation Agency Funding

Vinnova — Sweden’s Innovation Agency, formally Verket för innovationssystem — is the Swedish government agency responsible for funding innovation and applied research and development. Established on 1 January 2001 and operating under Sweden’s Ministry of Climate and Enterprise, Vinnova is distinct from Sweden’s basic-research funders: it exists to strengthen Sweden’s capacity for innovation, typically by co-funding collaborative projects between companies, universities, research institutes, and public-sector organisations rather than funding investigator-led basic research directly. This guide covers what Vinnova funds, who is eligible to apply, how the application process works through Vinnova’s e-services portal, and how Vinnova’s role connects to Horizon Europe.

What Vinnova is, and how it differs from Sweden’s other funders

Sweden splits national research and innovation funding across several government agencies by purpose and subject area rather than concentrating it in one body. Vinnova’s specific remit is innovation and applied research — projects intended to lead to new products, services, processes, or systems, generally developed jointly by industry, academia, and sometimes the public sector. This sets it apart from Sweden’s other major funders that a research administrator is likely to encounter: Vetenskapsrådet (basic, investigator-driven research across all disciplines), Formas (environment, agricultural sciences, and spatial planning), and Forte (health, working life, and welfare research). Vinnova also administers Sweden’s Horizon Europe National Contact Point function, connecting it directly to EU-level funding as well as national funding. A project should be matched to whichever agency’s actual purpose fits — applied, industry-linked innovation work belongs with Vinnova; open-ended basic research does not.

What Vinnova funds

Vinnova does not run one general-purpose “innovation grant.” It funds through a continually refreshed set of targeted calls for proposals, each defining a specific problem area, eligible activity, and funding structure. Recurring focus areas published on vinnova.se include:

Digital transformation — funding for projects applying digital technologies to industry, the public sector, and society.
Sustainable value chains and production — innovation aimed at industrial transformation, materials, and production systems consistent with Sweden’s climate and sustainability goals.
Health and quality of life — applied research and innovation in healthcare delivery, medical technology, and life sciences.
Security and resilience — innovation supporting societal security, crisis preparedness, and critical infrastructure.
Startups, scale-ups, and incubation — funding and support programmes aimed at early-stage innovative companies, distinct from Vinnova’s larger collaborative-project calls.
International innovation partnerships — including Vinnova’s role coordinating Swedish participation in Horizon Europe and other cross-border innovation programmes.

Because calls open and close on their own schedules and the specific programme names and budgets change year to year, the authoritative source for what is currently fundable is always the live call list on vinnova.se, not a fixed catalogue of named grant schemes.

Who can apply for Vinnova funding

Vinnova’s eligibility rules are structurally different from an investigator grant like a Vetenskapsrådet award, because Vinnova funds organisations, not individuals:

Organisations only. Vinnova states plainly that it can only give funding to organisations — companies, universities and higher education institutions, research institutes, and public-sector bodies — not to private individuals applying in a personal capacity.
Collaboration is often required. Many of Vinnova’s larger calls require multiple participating organisations working together (for example, industry paired with an academic partner), reflecting Vinnova’s mandate to build innovation systems and collaboration rather than fund a single actor’s isolated work.
Financial standing matters. Organisations in financial difficulty are generally excluded from eligibility, and each call sets its own formal requirements — which can include company age, minimum number of participants, or employment conditions.
Call-specific criteria. Exact eligibility — including whether foreign organisations may participate as partners in a Swedish-led consortium — is set out in the individual call text, not in a single blanket policy; always read the specific call rather than assuming eligibility from a previous or similar-sounding programme.

How to apply: calls, the e-services portal, and Vinnova’s assessment criteria

Vinnova’s application process runs through open calls rather than a rolling or single-portal-any-time submission model:

Identify an open call. Vinnova publishes its current calls for proposals on vinnova.se; each call defines its own scope, eligible costs, funding share, formal requirements, and deadline.
Read the call text closely. Vinnova’s own guidance is explicit that applicants should read the call text carefully so as not to miss a formal requirement — an incomplete or non-compliant application can be excluded before it reaches assessment.
Prepare and submit through Vinnova’s e-services portal. Applications are submitted electronically through Vinnova’s e-services system (portal.vinnova.se), including the application form itself plus required attachments (such as a project plan and, for collaborative projects, letters or agreements from partner organisations).
Assessment against Vinnova’s evaluation criteria. Vinnova assesses applications primarily on the project’s potential (the scale and value of the innovation if successful), the actors involved (whether the applicant organisation and any partners have the capability and track record to deliver it), and its feasibility (whether the proposed approach, budget, and timeline are realistic) — criteria that are set out, and sometimes weighted differently, in each call’s specific text.
Decision and, if funded, project start. Decision timelines vary by call; funded projects then move into project reporting and follow-up as defined in the grant conditions.

Deadlines, funding percentages (the share of a project’s eligible costs Vinnova will cover), and required attachments differ call to call, so a call’s own published text — not a generic overview — is the authoritative source for any specific application a research office is preparing.

Public records: Sweden’s principle of public access

A detail that surprises some applicants unfamiliar with Swedish public administration: applications submitted to Vinnova, once registered, become public documents under Sweden’s constitutional offentlighetsprincipen (the principle of public access to official records). In practice, this means a competitor or any member of the public can, in general, request to see a submitted application through Vinnova once it has been registered, subject to Sweden’s specific exemptions for genuinely sensitive commercial or security information. Research offices supporting a Vinnova application — particularly one involving a company partner concerned about commercially sensitive material — should factor this into what is included in the application text itself, rather than assuming the same confidentiality norms as a purely academic peer-review process.

Vinnova and Horizon Europe

Vinnova is one of the organisations that administers Sweden’s National Contact Point (NCP) function for Horizon Europe, the EU’s research and innovation framework programme — see CASRAI’s guide to Horizon Europe National Contact Points for how the NCP system works across EU and associated countries generally. This means Vinnova is a starting point for Swedish organisations seeking guidance on Horizon Europe participation, alongside its own separate, nationally funded innovation calls. The two funding streams — Vinnova’s domestic calls and Horizon Europe’s EU-level calls — are administratively separate, with different application portals, rules, and budgets, even where Vinnova staff provide guidance on both. See CASRAI’s broader Horizon Europe and EU research funding overview for how the EU-level programme itself is structured.

Frequently asked questions

What does Vinnova fund?

Vinnova funds innovation and applied research and development — projects intended to produce new products, services, processes, or systems — typically through collaborative calls involving companies, universities, research institutes, or public-sector organisations. It does not fund open-ended basic research; that is Vetenskapsrådet’s remit in Sweden.

Can individuals apply for Vinnova funding?

No. Vinnova states that it can only fund organisations — companies, universities and other higher education institutions, research institutes, and public-sector bodies — not private individuals applying in a personal capacity.

How is Vinnova different from Vetenskapsrådet?

Vetenskapsrådet (the Swedish Research Council) funds basic, investigator-driven research across all academic disciplines through open competitive calls to individual researchers based at a Swedish institution. Vinnova funds applied, innovation-oriented projects, generally to organisations rather than individuals, often requiring industry-academia or multi-partner collaboration. See CASRAI’s Vetenskapsrådet guide for the basic-research side of Swedish funding.

Can organisations outside Sweden apply for Vinnova funding?

It depends on the specific call. Vinnova’s calls each set their own eligibility rules, and some allow foreign organisations to participate as partners within a Swedish-led consortium, while others are restricted to Swedish organisations. There is no single blanket rule; always check the eligibility section of the specific call text.

Are Vinnova-funded applications confidential?

Not by default. Once registered, applications submitted to Vinnova generally become public documents under Sweden’s principle of public access (offentlighetsprincipen), subject to specific legal exemptions for sensitive commercial or security content. This is a materially different confidentiality norm than a typical academic peer-review process, and worth flagging to any industry partner before submission.

What is Vinnova’s role in Horizon Europe?

Vinnova administers part of Sweden’s National Contact Point function for Horizon Europe, providing guidance to Swedish organisations on EU-level funding, in addition to running its own, separate, nationally funded innovation calls. See CASRAI’s Horizon Europe National Contact Points guide for how this system works more broadly.

Grants Management & Research Funding — the cluster hub for grant lifecycle, mechanisms, and funder-specific guides.
Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet): Grants and How to Apply — Sweden’s basic-research counterpart to Vinnova.
Horizon Europe and EU Research Funding: An Overview — the EU-level programme Vinnova helps coordinate for Swedish applicants.
Horizon Europe National Contact Points — how the NCP system Vinnova participates in works across EU and associated countries.

Vinnova’s open calls, funding amounts, eligibility rules, and evaluation criteria are set and updated by Vinnova and change as calls open and close. This guide reflects information published on vinnova.se (verified July 2026) and is intended as an orientation for research administrators and applicants — always confirm current details against the specific, currently open call before preparing or budgeting an application.