Our Services

Service area 1

Public Funding Advisory

Finnish and European public funding is one of the most underutilised resources available to growth companies. The landscape is complex: Business Finland, Horizon Europe, EIC, LIFE, CEF, green transition schemes, national co-financing. Without specialist support, navigating these options costs time and missed opportunities. We know the instruments and the people, and we help you apply for them with the best possible chance of success.

📋 Roadmaps

Funding Roadmaps

A structured analysis of your company's situation, goals, and eligibility to identify the most suitable funding instruments available to you. This is the right starting point if you are new to public funding or want a fresh view of your options.

Best for: SMEs and startups at any stage · Early-stage growth companies

✍️ Proposals

Proposal Preparation

End-to-end support in preparing high-quality funding proposals. We work with you through the full process, from initial concept and eligibility assessment to final submission, for programmes including Business Finland, Horizon Europe, and the European Innovation Council (EIC).

Best for: R&D-active companies · Scale-ups · Industrial firms

🏗️ Investment

Investment Preparation

Structuring the investment case for large-scale industrial or energy projects, including business plans, feasibility analyses, financial modelling, and financing structures that combine public and private capital. We have direct experience with multi-million euro investment projects in energy, renewables, and industrial biotech.

Best for: Energy & industrial companies · Large capital projects

Service area 2

Management Consulting

Strategy, operations, commercial development, including the emerging challenges of AI adoption and sustainability compliance. Our consulting engagements are lean and outcome-focused. We do not staff large teams for long engagements when a senior expert with the right network delivers better results faster.

🎯 Engagements

Consulting Assignments

Focused, time-bounded engagements to solve a specific strategic, operational, or commercial challenge. We define clear scope and outputs from the start. Typical engagements cover growth strategy, market entry, operational improvement, or commercial partnership development.

Best for: Leadership teams · Boards · Companies facing a defined challenge

🤝 Partner model

Performance Partners

A senior InnoHeap expert embedded in your organisation, full-time, part-time, or in an advisory role, bringing not just their own experience but the full InnoHeap network. This model delivers broader impact than a single hire and more continuity than a project-based consultant.

Best for: Growth companies · International expansion · Interim leadership needs

📄 Reports

Tailored Reports

In-depth, custom-written reports on the funding, technology, or market questions that matter to your decision. We turn our sector expertise and research into a clear, decision-ready document, delivered as a standalone product and tailored to your specific context.

Best for: Boards · Leadership teams · Investment & funding decisions

The European funding instruments we work with

Most European public funding for growth companies flows through a handful of major instruments, each with a different purpose, applicant profile, and type of support. We help you identify which ones apply to your situation and build a credible application.

🌍 Collaborative R&D&I

Horizon Europe

The EU's flagship research, development and innovation programme, funding collaborative projects across climate, energy, mobility, digital, and bioeconomy themes.

Best for: consortia of companies and research organisations across borders · Support: grants, typically 70 to 100% of eligible costs

🚀 Single-company innovation

EIC Accelerator

For startups and SMEs with a breakthrough, market-creating innovation ready to scale from TRL 6 upward. Blended grant and equity support.

Best for: single SMEs, start-ups and scale-ups, and in some cases small mid-caps · Support: grant up to €2.5 million plus equity of €1 to €10 million from the EIC Fund

🏭 Clean-tech deployment

EU Innovation Fund

Large-scale support for first-of-a-kind decarbonisation and clean-tech projects moving from demonstration to industrial deployment.

Best for: companies deploying innovative low-carbon technologies at scale · Support: grants for innovative industrial investments with greenhouse gas savings

🌱 Environment & climate

LIFE Programme

The EU's dedicated instrument for environment, nature, climate action, and the clean energy transition.

Best for: any EU legal entity such as companies, public bodies and NGOs, often in partnership · Support: co-funding up to 60% of project costs

The Finnish entry point. For many companies the journey starts at home, with Business Finland R&D and internationalisation funding and national co-financing schemes. These often pave the way to the larger European instruments above, and we map both together.

Not sure which instrument fits your situation? That is where a funding roadmap starts. Get in touch and we will map it with you.

Common questions

If your question is not here, get in touch. We are happy to talk through your situation.

What types of funding can InnoHeap help me access?

We work across the main public funding instruments available to Finnish and European growth companies: Business Finland (R&D grants, innovation subsidies, internationalisation support), Horizon Europe (EU framework programme for research and innovation), the European Innovation Council (EIC) (accelerator and pathfinder grants for breakthrough innovators), the LIFE programme (EU funding for environment and climate action), the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) (transport, energy, and digital infrastructure), and various national and EU green transition co-financing schemes. We can also support investment preparation for projects seeking a combination of public grants, loans, and private capital.

What is the Performance Partner model?

The Performance Partner model means a senior InnoHeap expert takes on a defined role in your organisation: it could be full-time, a few days per week, or a structured advisory arrangement. What makes it different from hiring is that you get one person's experience and commitment and the full InnoHeap network behind them. So when your challenge touches on, say, both energy sector expertise and project finance, we bring the right people in without adding overhead to your organisation.

It suits growth companies that need senior expertise without the cost and commitment of a permanent C-level hire, or companies entering a new market who need a trusted operator on the ground.

Do you work with early-stage companies?

Yes. Early-stage companies are often the ones who benefit most from funding mapping: understanding what is available before committing to a particular development path. We work with startups, scale-ups, and established industrial firms alike. The right service depends less on company age and more on the specific challenge: whether you need to identify funding options, prepare a proposal, solve a strategic problem, or bring in senior expertise for a period.

How does an engagement typically start?

It starts with a conversation, usually a 30-minute call to understand your situation and whether we are the right fit. We do not run long pre-sales processes. If it is clear we can add value, we agree on scope and timeline quickly. For funding advisory, we often start with a mapping exercise before moving to proposal preparation. For consulting engagements, we define the specific question or challenge to address and agree on what a good outcome looks like.

Which sectors does InnoHeap specialise in?

Our core sector focus is energy and energy transition (renewables, biofuels, hydrogen, grid infrastructure), industrial biotechnology (biorefining, fermentation, sustainable chemicals), transportation and logistics, and artificial intelligence and digitalisation. Our team also has deep experience in project finance, QA management, and innovation management more broadly. Outside these sectors, we assess on a case-by-case basis; the question is always whether we can bring genuine expertise, not just general consulting capability.