TilskudTjekWhat is Innobooster?
Innobooster is <strong>Innovation Fund Denmark's flagship program for Danish SMEs</strong>. The program covers up to 35% of your expenses for an innovative development project — from DKK 200,000 to 5,000,000.
In practice, it means: if you have a project requiring DKK 1,000,000, Innobooster can potentially cover DKK 350,000. You pay the remaining DKK 650,000 yourselves.
The funds can be used for:
- Salary for own employees — fixed rate of 750 DKK/hour regardless of actual salary level
- Purchase of external knowledge providers — consultants, researchers, specialists
- Materials and equipment — prototype materials, test equipment, software licenses for the project
Eligibility — check these BEFORE you spend time
Many companies spend 40-80 hours preparing an application, only to discover they don't meet a formal requirement. <strong>Check these first.</strong> If you don't meet all of them, you will be rejected administratively — regardless of the project's quality.
Unsure if you meet the requirements?
Our free CVR scan checks your company against Innobooster's eligibility criteria based on public data.
The 4 political themes — choose right or be rejected
Innobooster invests <strong>only</strong> in projects that hit at least one of four political themes. If the project doesn't fit naturally, it will be rejected — regardless of quality.
CO2 reduction, circular economy, biodiversity, sustainable construction, renewable energy.
Ask yourselves: Does the project measurably reduce CO2 or resource consumption? Can you quantify the environmental effect?
Strongest for: CleanTech, manufacturers with green transition, construction, energy. See also SMV:Grøn.
New medicine, digital health/AI, medical equipment, welfare technology.
Strongest for: Biotech, medtech, digital health, companies developing for the health sector.
AI, quantum technology, robots/drones, cybersecurity, biotechnology.
Important: “Digital technology” is NOT the same as “we're building an app.” There must be real technological novelty — new AI, new algorithms, new hardware. An app built with React and Node.js is not “critical digital technology.”
“Dual-use” technologies, drones, cybersecurity, logistics with defensive relevance.
New theme reflecting a changed geopolitical reality. Relevant for technology with both civilian and defensive potential.
The 5 most frequent reasons for rejection
Based on publicly available information from Innovation Fund Denmark:
The problem: The budget contains hours for “sales strategy”, “SEO”, “app updates” or “operations optimization”. Innobooster supports R&D — not normal business development.
Solution: Review the budget item by item. Remove everything that looks like operations. R&D activities: research, prototyping, testing, technical validation.
The problem: The project combines known technologies — “we're building a marketplace” or “we're making an app for our industry.” New for you, but not new for the world.
Solution: Describe specifically what is <strong>technically unknown</strong>. “We don't know if X works” is stronger than “We're building something new.” No concrete technical uncertainty = likely doesn't qualify. See also The software trap.
You force the project into a theme it doesn't belong to. The fund sees through it. Be honest — there are other programs.
The problem: You want to build advanced AI, but only have a business developer and a junior developer.
Solution: Include <strong>external knowledge providers</strong> with the specific competencies you lack. Name them in the application and budget for them.
The problem: Innovation Fund Denmark is an investor. DKK 1,000,000 invested for DKK 500,000 in additional sales over three years is a bad business.
Solution: Show ambitious but realistic ROI. Quantify export potential, jobs, and societal impact. The fund wants to see that the project is a good investment for Denmark.
Application step by step
The complete process. Typical time consumption: 3-6 weeks and 40-80 hours.
Create profile on e-grant.dk with MitID Erhverv
Do this early — not the day before the deadline. The portal can be slow. 15 minutes.
Find “IF - Innobooster” in e-grant
Choose “under de minimis” (200k-1M DKK) or “under the block exemption regulation” (1M-5M DKK).
Download official templates
Word template for activity plan and Excel template for budget. Both in the e-grant system.
Write project description (1-3 weeks)
Write in Word/Google Docs — never directly in the portal. See the structure below.
Fill out budget
Max 750 DKK/hour for own employees, min. 65% self-financing. Budget and description must match.
Book free sparring with the Business House
Free review of the application. Do this 1-2 weeks before the deadline — it improves the application significantly.
Prepare attachments
Activity plan, budget, visual A4 (recommended), video pitch (optional), CVs, annual report.
Submit by 12:00 on the closing date
Upload everything in e-grant. Submit 1 day before the deadline — the portal gets overloaded on the closing day.
Project description template
Innovation Fund Denmark's evaluation panel uses three evaluation criteria. Structure your description according to these:
📝 Structure: Innobooster project description
Recommended: 3-5 pagesA. Quality of the idea — Novelty and risks (~40% of the text)
Describe the problem, what is technically new, and what the technical uncertainty consists of.
Strong: “We don't know if the algorithm can handle real-time data volumes over 10TB within the latency requirements.”
Weak: “We're building a new and innovative platform that revolutionizes the industry.”
B. Impact — Value creation and market (~30%)
Market size, business model, export potential, jobs, societal impact. Quantify everything.
C. Quality of execution — Team and plan (~30%)
Key persons with competencies. Milestones with dates. Named external knowledge providers.
Want the template ready to fill out?
The TilskudTjek report includes a complete structure in Google Docs with examples per section, budget template in Google Sheets, and email template for Business House sparring. Tailored to your company.
Budget and liquidity — what most forget
Innobooster is paid <strong>retroactively</strong>. You pay first, the fund reimburses quarterly. This has consequences for your liquidity.
Cash-flow example: Project of 1,000,000 DKK
Combination with tax deduction — double gain
A combination most overlook: you can potentially combine Innobooster with R&D deduction for the expenses Innobooster does <strong>not</strong> cover.
Combination: Innobooster + R&D deduction
An Innobooster grant strengthens your position vis-à-vis the Tax Agency because the Innovation Fund has already assessed the project's innovation level. Read more in R&D deduction for software companies and the three-layer strategy.
Frequently asked questions about Innobooster
Free to submit. Preparation typically requires 3-6 weeks and 40-80 hours of work. The TilskudTjek report reduces this with templates, structures, and budget templates — but you must provide your project knowledge yourself.
Approx. 7-43% depending on theme and period. Average ~20-25%. Applications with high technical novelty and a clear thematic match have a significantly higher success rate.
Only with real technical novelty. An app with React and Firebase is not innovation. A new machine learning algorithm that solves an unsolved problem can be. The key: <strong>is there technical uncertainty?</strong> Read The software trap.
No. Grant, not loan. The money is documented via quarterly reports but not repaid. Even if the project doesn't achieve expected results — innovation involves risk.
Many successful recipients were rejected the first time. Ask for feedback, adjust the application, apply again. Address the specific points of criticism — don't send the same application.
Yes — but they must cover <strong>different activities</strong>. Both count towards your de minimis cap. Read more about SMV:Digital.
Innobooster uses competitive pools with specific application windows. Always check innovationsfonden.dk for current dates — we don't print dates that quickly become obsolete.
300,000 EUR (~2.2 million DKK) over a rolling 3 years. Covid compensation counts. Read the full guide: The de minimis rule explained.
Related guides
R&D deduction for software companies
What qualifies and what doesn't — incl. the Software Trap.
Read guide →SMV:Digital 2026: How to apply
Digitalization voucher — and how to avoid empty pools.
Read guide →The three-layer strategy: Grants + deductions + funds
How to combine all three layers for maximum value.
Read guide →Ready to find out if Innobooster fits you?
Free CVR scan matches your company against eligibility criteria. The report includes Deep Module with templates, budget template and precise next steps — tailored to your project.
Disclaimer: This guide is general guidance prepared by TilskudTjek. Programs, amounts, themes and requirements can change. Always check innovationsfonden.dk for current rules. TilskudTjek is not affiliated with the Innovation Fund. A match from our CVR scan is a qualified indication — not a grant guarantee.