Pre-project Funding

GCE Ocean Technology provides financial and professional support to establish externally funded RDI projects. Our partners and members can apply for pre-project funding from GCE Ocean Technology for concrete project ideas.

Pre-project funding from GCE Ocean Technology should be used for preliminary work aimed at gaining external funding for a main project. This could be to mobilise a project and/or conceptualise your idea.

We especially encourage joint projects between several companies and R&D partners, as well as projects with international partners.

Focus Areas

Projects we support must have potential for increased/new: revenue, markets, competitiveness, collaboration and external funding.

We will prioritize supporting projects covering one or more of our research, development and innovation (RDI) focus areas:

• Autonomy; including sensing, communication, machine learning/AI
• Power; covering both low carbon petroleum production and renewable energy
• Sharing and circular economy

Who Can Apply

To receive financial support from GCE Ocean Technology, your project must have minimum two partners where:

• at least one is an industrial company
• project owner being member/partner of GCE Ocean Technology

The project may well have partners outside the cluster, or seek to establish such collaboration.

Funding is only given at an early stage and until the project has progressed so far that it can be funded by Innovation Norway, the Research Council of Norway, EU or other similar funding possibilities.

Amount of Funding

The following amounts are achievable:

• 250 000 NOK for conceptualisation pre-projects, primary aimed at establishing larger RDI project with several industrial partners
• 150 000 NOK for mobilisation of pre-projects to establish RDI projects
• The project owner will need to contribute with minimum 50 per cent in-kind calculated based on his total cost.
• The hourly rate is 700 Norwegian kroner per hour

Learn more about the Application and Evaluation Process.