Welcome
The aim of the Runar Bäckström foundation is to encourage and support inventions that are beneficial to Finnish businesses and thereby strengthen their global competitiveness. The foundation assigns grants once a year. Individuals, work groups, companies or associations can apply for the grants. There are no formal qualifications for the grantees, such as a certain academic degree.
Application period
The application period is open from 1 October 2023 to 16 December 2023.
Applying for grants
During the application period, inventors may apply for the foundation’s grants by filling an online form. Applications will be evaluated according to the following criteria:
THE INVENTION SUPPORTS THE FINNISH INDUSTRY
This criterion is fulfilled if the inventor owns a company. The aim of the funding is to ensure that the inventor has chance to focus on commercializing their idea and to help them with personnel costs.
THE IDEA WORKS IN PRACTICE
A new invention cannot be too abstract; its functionality should be verifiable. Clear presentation of the idea is beneficial for the applicant. Additional material that helps understanding the invention can be attached to the application. However, the invention should not yet produce any revenue.
COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL
The invention can be commercialized within a few years. If these criteria are fulfilled the foundation may support an invention for several years.
The Foundation’s board of directors evaluates the applications. During the evaluation process they may use external experts at their own discretion. All applications will be treated confidentially. Before publishing the grants, details regarding publishing will be agreed with the grantees. The foundation’s decisions regarding the grants are final. Upon request, the grantees must to present a declaration of usage of the grant and progress of their development program. If the development program changes substantially, the grant must be returned to the foundation.
Runar Bäckström & Anne-Lise (Mady)
Information
For further information please contact the foundation’s representative Niklas Törnkvist: 050 514 9797 / info@runarbackstrominsaatio.fi
Grant Winners For Year 2022
On February 8th 2022, the Runar Bäckström foundation’s board of directors has decided to award grants to a total of 17 applicants. The total amount of grant money is 255 000 euros. Congratulations to all the winning applicants! The new application period will start during the Autumn 2022.
Apply for grant online
The application period is open from 1 October 2023 to 16 December 2023.