Business Finland has granted Solar Foods €77.8 million ($89.3 million) to construct and commission its Factory 02 in Selkäharju, Lappeenranta, Finland.

The funding includes a €39.6 million ($45.4 million) grant and a €38.1 million ($43.7 million) R&D loan related to the company’s Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEI) notification approved by the European Commission.

Business Finland’s funding decision is part of Solar Foods’ financing plan, first communicated in October 2025. The company’s financing needs consist of equity, debt and grants. The funding will go toward construction and contract management, the delivery of key process equipment, installation, commissioning and production ramp-up prior to the start of mass production. The funding is conditional upon the final investment decision for the Factory 02 production facility and securing the total financing.

“We are pleased with Business Finland’s funding decision,” says Solar Foods CEO Rami Jokela. “Solar Foods has executed its financing plan, communicated in October last year, with determination, and this funding decision is a significant part of the total financing in line with the company’s strategy.

“Supporting bold breakthroughs such as Solar Foods is part of Business Finland’s strategy,” says Lassi Noponen, director general of Business Finland. “Our role is to raise the level of ambition in Finnish R&D by sharing risk with companies pursuing transformative innovations. We were able to structure a significant financing package by combining Business Finland funding with EU clean transition instruments. Projects like this carry risks, but they are exactly the kind of high-ambition, high-expertise investments Finland needs to create entirely new industries and future growth.”

Solar Foods aims to make the final investment decision for Factory 02 this year. The company continues to prepare the investment decision, with the work focusing, among other things, on securing sufficient binding customer agreements, building the company's partner network, advancing the design of the production facility, implementing the financing plan, the novel food approval in the EU and a No Questions Letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Business Finland’s grant covers a maximum of 48% of the total costs eligible under the terms of the decision during 2027–2031. The grant will be used for the implementation and ramp-up of Factory 02 in co-operation with strategic partners, as well as Solein’s large-scale commercialization and the development of scalable business solutions and the expertise generated in the project. At least twice a year, the company must submit a cost statement on the project to Business Finland, presenting the costs incurred by the company from the project. Business Finland pays the company a subsidy based on approved cost statements but does not approve the costs definitively until the final report in accordance with the terms of the decision.

The R&D loan period is 10 years, of which the first five are a grace period. The interest rate of the loan is 1% and the loan is granted with no requirement of collateral. The State Treasury is responsible for the tasks following the granting decision, including drawing up the loan note and managing payment transactions. The State Treasury will pay the first installment for the loan (approximately 30% of the nominal value of the loan) in advance after the loan note has been signed, and all necessary documents, including the final investment decision for Factory 02 and information about other funding, have been submitted to the State Treasury. The amount of state aid related to the loan is estimated to be €6 million ($6.9 million). The loan is intended to be used to upscaling and optimizing Solein’s production process at Factory 02 and to achieve the targeted productivity, energy efficiency and optimal product characteristics. 

The hydrogen IPCEI initiative (Hy2Use) is about research, innovation and first industrial deployment of relevant infrastructure in the European hydrogen value chain. Solar Foods was selected as part of the project through the IPCEI notification granted by the EU in September 2022. In Finland, projects related to the hydrogen economy value chain are part of Finland’s Sustainable Growth Programme (Next Generation EU), which is funded by the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). The projects contribute to the government’s goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2035. 

The grants under Solar Foods’ previous IPCEI funding decisions (in December 2022 and February 2025) were allocated mainly to the construction and production of the Factory 01 production facility and the preparatory phase of the Factory 02 project, including permit processes, pre-engineering, basic design and site studies, as well as the assessment of co-location opportunities, related legal and financial services, and intellectual property rights. Taking into account the funding decisions granted to Solar Foods by Business Finland so far, the remaining funds under the IPCEI notification amount to approximately €21 million ($24.1 million), and the company does not have a funding decision on it yet. The company aims to obtain a funding decision for this remaining part of the notification.