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Criteria for co-financing business actors 

The Knowledge Foundation funds education and research relevant for businesses performed in collaboration between higher education institutions and the business sector. This section presents the criteria that business actors must meet to be eligible to co-finance Knowledge Foundation projects. The conditions were adopted by the Foundation’s Board in May 2024 and apply until further notice.

In the text below, the organisations that can contribute co-funding to a Knowledge Foundation project are referred to as business actors. In general, the Knowledge Foundation accepts co-financing from business actors, regardless of their legal form, that:   

  • conduct business activities in a competitive market
  • have a Swedish company registration number (Organisationsnummer in Swedish)  

The Knowledge Foundation has no size restrictions on the business actors that can co-finance projects. However, it is important for all co-financing business actors to clearly demonstrate that the organisation has the resources and assets required to meet the commitments described in the application. When a project starts, co-financing business actors must have employed staff and, have access to financial resources in the form of grants, capital, sales revenues or equivalent that exceed the value of the planned co-financing, during the project period.  

Publicly owned companies can co-finance projects provided that the goods and services produced are offered in a competitive market. 

Other types of organizations that do not fall within the above description of co-financing business actors can participate as non-co-financing project partners in projects financed by the Foundation.  

The Foundation’s General Terms and Conditions for Projects specify which costs are accepted as co-financing. Individual calls may also set out specific conditions for business sector participation and co-financing. 

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If you are unsure whether a potential project partner can be approved as a co-funder, we recommend that you contact the Foundation’s office for an advance decision. 

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Clarification regarding certain types of organizations 

In addition to the general criteria set out above, specific criteria and restrictions apply to the following business actors. 

Foreign companies

The Knowledge Foundation allows foreign limited companies, or equivalent, to provide co-financing. Foreign companies are defined as companies that do not have a Swedish company registration number. The Knowledge Foundation has a trust-based approach to higher education institutions and assumes that they, together with Swedish business organizations, in a spirit of responsible internationalization, include foreign companies that benefit both the Swedish actors included and Swedish competitiveness in general. The Knowledge Foundation reserves the right not to accept co-financing and to refuse participation from foreign companies that are not considered to contribute to Swedish competitiveness. In cases where a Knowledge Foundation funding program provides funding to business actors, such funding cannot be granted to foreign companies. In research projects, foreign companies can account for a maximum of 25 percent of the total co-financing from business actors.

Research institutes

Swedish research institutes that meet the criteria for can participate as a co-financing business actor. However, their share of the business sector’s total co-financing for a project may not exceed 25 percent.    

Innovation support organizations  

Innovation support organizations are defined as support structures with a main task to support innovation and business development in small, start-up companies. The participation of innovation support organizations run and owned by private companies is considered a business actor and is therefore eligible to co-finance projects. Participation by innovation support organizations (science parks, incubators and other similar organizations) that are closely connected to higher education institutions, and whose main funding comes from a higher education institution or other public sources, cannot be counted as co-financing. The reason is that the organizations are largely funded by the same organization that receives grants, i.e. higher education institutions. Secondly, the purpose is to support the development of the companies they support and not to develop their own operations. The companies that receive support from the innovation-supporting organizations can be included as co-funding business actors provided that they meet the general criteria.

  • Are you unsure about a specific organization?

    Contact us if you are unsure whether a potential project partner can be approved as a co-financier. We are happy to discuss the new criteria with applicants.

Changes in relation to the previous business definition

Participation of smaller companies

One recurring question is whether the Knowledge Foundation has had a size restriction when it comes to companies that can co-finance a project. There has been no such limitation, but there has been a requirement that the application must include a description of how companies with fewer than 10 employees and/or less than SEK 10 million in annual turnover will be able to meet their commitments.

To make it easier to include smaller companies as co-financers in our projects, we have clarified how we assess an individual company’s ability to co-finance (see above). For the Knowledge Foundation, it is not the size of the business actor that is important, but that the commitments stated in the application can be met so that the company itself, the academic parties, and other business actors are not affected once a project is underway. If you are unsure, please contact the Knowledge Foundation to discuss when preparing your application.

Research institutes

Research institutes have been able to co-finance projects in the past. With the new criteria, we welcome research institutes in all projects, but limit their share of co-financing to 25 percent. Special rules apply to the Industrial Research Schools, where business actors, including research institutes, can receive funding. For details, please refer to the call text for Industrial Research Schools.

Foreign companies

Foreign companies are now accepted as co-financers with certain restrictions as specified in the criteria.

Publicly owned companies and companies with the public sector as a customer.

Previously, there was a provision stating that a company was not allowed to have public grants or fees as its main source of income. That wording has now been removed. All business actors who want to co-finance projects will instead be tested based on the criterion that the goods and services they produce take place in a competitive market where, for example, public procurement is counted as exposure to competition.