We are excited to introduce the new era of ESA BIC Finland. From autumn 2026 onwards, startups applying for our 90 000€ equity-free grant and support in business, technology and legal, will follow a simpler process.
updated process and documentation
If you have applied to ESA BIC Finland before or have seen our previous call materials, you might remember that a simultaneous application to Business Finland was required for a part of the incentive. Now, only the renewed application form needs to be sent directly to ESA BIC Finland by email. And that’s it! You can download the new documentation here.
This change also affects the use of the 90 000€ grant. The funding can now be used for anything supporting the building of your space-related business, except paying salaries for founders of the company. As before, the funds should be used in Finland, and you can decide the length of the incubation period (12-24 months).
selection process for ESA BIC Finland
The selection process remains the same. After sending your application, we will first evaluate the formal eligibility, and if minor updates are needed, ask for more information. The companies that pass the check will be invited to pitch for our Selection Board a couple of weeks after the call cutoff date.
If your company succeeds in scoring a good enough result in all five evaluation criteria (Background and experience, Value Proposition & Market, Technology & Service, Business Modelling & Risk and Incubation Objectives and Planning), we will invite you to contract negotiations with ESA BIC Finland and eventually, join the ranks of nearly 50 startups, who have been part of our incubation program since 2017.
NEW pre program launched!
If you are not feeling quite ready yet or want to have some extra support before applying, we also have a new service for you. Our six-week pre-program starts on August 18th, and it helps to develop your application and business to succeed not only in ESA BIC Finland call, but also in general.
We select ten teams for the program, which is run in a hybrid mode so that you can participate from anywhere. However, participation is limited to teams located permanently in Finland. The program ends with a live pitching event in Tampere on September 23rd so you will have a few days to hone your application before the call cutoff deadline on September 27th. Or, if you decide that the time is not right for you, continue developing the business and apply in one of our next calls!
Apply for the ESA BIC Finland Pre Program here.
