CreaDemo and DigiDemo

The CreaDemo programme provides support for development projects in the creative industries and cultural entrepreneurship.

Application schedule

There will be two rounds of applications:

1. The application period for concept support will start on 6 March and end on 7 April 2025 at 16:00. The decisions on concept support will be announced in May. The project report for concept support and final grant report must be submitted in accordance with the agreement with AVEK, but no later than 15 December 2025. For more information on the concept support application process, please contact Media Art Commisioner Milla Moilanen during the call hours on 11 March and 18 March at 9:00–12:00.
2. The application period for demo grants will start on 20 May and end on 8 September 2025 at 16:00. The decisions will be announced in November. The project report and final grant report must be submitted in accordance with the agreement with AVEK, but no later than 15 December 2026.

For what?

CreaDemo grants are awarded for product development projects that seek new product or service innovations in the creative industries and cultural entrepreneurship. The projects can be carried out between companies, industry professionals or associations engaged in professional business, or networks and other forms of cooperation between them. The aim of the appropriation is to create new products, methods or services that are based on or utilise creative expertise. The grants are also awarded for the launch of multidisciplinary pilot projects between the creative industries and other industries, such as the manufacturing industry or the service industry.

The projects supported may come from different sectors of the creative industries or culture and may also promote the productisation and market launch of creative industry products or services.

Emphasis will be placed on projects that improve collaboration between different lines of business and, in particular, the matching creative expertise with other business expertise, creating new business and developing entrepreneurship within the creative industries. Multidisciplinary projects should primarily include at least one cooperation partner that is a company in the manufacturing, service or some other industry that is not considered to be part of the creative industries or a network thereof, but networking projects between creative industry companies only will also be considered.

Grants can be awarded for the production of a demo, pilot or prototype, or for concept design.

The total amount of funding for the CreaDemo programme is confirmed annually by the Ministry of Education and Culture in its decision on discretionary government grants to AVEK.

Concept support

The aim of concept support is to develop the idea of a content project into a finished concept.

In addition to the objective, the applications are assessed based on the following aspects:

• the plan for the concept’s content and development
• the plan for the concept’s further development
• the applicant’s previous experience

Those who have applied for and received concept support in 2025 can also apply for a demo grant in the second application stage, provided that the concept support has been reported before the deadline for the demo support application on 8 September 2025 at 16:00.

To whom?

Concept support can be awarded to private traders, individuals and working groups. The applicant is the person in charge appointed by the working group.

Concept support may be awarded to legally competent companies in the creative industry or networks of multiple companies. The company must be registered by the end of the application period. Registered cultural associations with legal capacity and responsibility to keep accounting records may also apply for the grant.

Funding and restrictions

Concept planning is eligible for a grant of 5,000 euros. The support can only be applied for with this amount.

The expert group may also award one grant of 2,000 euros for the further development of the concept idea (the amount cannot be applied for separately).

The grants come from a special appropriation granted by the Ministry of Education and Culture to AVEK for the implementation of the CreaDemo programme, which is de minimis aid (minor support) in accordance with the EU’s state aid regulations. The maximum amount of de minimis aid granted to a company is 300,000 euros within three consecutive tax years.

CreaDemo grants are taxable income for companies and individuals. The grant recipient must take care to notify the tax authorities of the grant received.

The recipient must find out whether it is obliged to comply with procurement legislation and take this into account in its activities. A grant recipient outside the state, municipalities or parishes may also be obliged to arrange competitive tendering of its procurements in accordance with the procedures laid down in the Public Procurement Act (Act on Public Procurement and Concession Contracts 29.12.2016/1397).

Decisions

The CreaDemo applications are reviewed by a group of experts. Support is granted on a discretionary basis. The review is based on a comprehensive assessment, factoring in the project goals planned by the applicant company and the project’s implementation plan in relation to the CreaDemo grant objectives. Furthermore, the company’s operational quality in terms of substance, functionality and professionality is evaluated.

Any previously awarded CreaDemo grants and their realisation and effectiveness are also taken into account in the review.

In addition to that, the Ministry of Education and Culture’s general criteria for granting state aid, are included in the review.

AVEK’s Board of Directors will confirm the expert group’s decisions. The applicants will be notified of the decisions via email. The decision will also be shown in AVEK’s application system.

Reasons why grants may not be awarded

An application will be rejected if it arrives after the deadline.

The applicant needs to have taken care to report on the previous grants it has received from AVEK.

The support is not granted

• for the production of educational material for general, vocational or higher education
• for exclusively technology-oriented projects
• for the creation and production of a single work of art
• for projects to develop online shops and marketing content or services
• for theses or their development
• for ordered works, i.e. product development projects for the applicant company’s client

Other financing / self-financing

Concept support does not require a percentage of self-financing or other financing.

Application process

The project applications are created via AVEK’s application system. When logging in for the first time, the applicant registers in the system.

If the applicant is a company or other organisation the person submitting the application must be authorised to sign documents on the organisation’s behalf. An applicant organisation can register with the system by signing in for the first time. You should register with a personal email address, not the general address for your organisation or similar.

Once registered, create a new organisation account on the ‘Create application’ page. The main user of an organisation will be set as the ‘leed member’ of the account. The leed member of an organisation account can add new users as members of the organisation and delete them if necessary.

In addition to this application notification, please remember to read the grant guidelines (further down on the same page).

Application

Fill in the applicant’s basic information on the application form. If the applicant is a company basic information includes the company’s industrial classification that can be checked on the Business Information System website.

Instructions for filling in the application:

Application title:
Name of the project or other identifying description.

What the support will be used for in brief and non-technical language (max. 300 characters):
A short description of the project in a publishable format.

Type of creative industry:
Tick one of the options.

Support sought:
Amount of support requested is 5,000 euros.

Total project budget:
The total budget or cost estimate for concept. The amount can be the same as the grant applied for.

Itemisation of the project’s cost estimate:
A breakdown of the costs of the project. The breakdown can be made directly on the form.

Extensive content description (max. 5,000 characters)
Project description or other content or product development plan and concept work schedule.

Working plan (max. 5,000 characters) 

• justification of the need to promote the concept plan
• the plan for possible multidisciplinary cooperation
• a statement of previous activities / CVs of individual or working group applicants.

Appendices: 

• Certificate of paid taxes / tax debts (compulsory if the applicant is company)
• Possible recommendation (other appendix)
• You may attach any other material you consider relevant to the application, including a link to visual material.

Previous support decisions

Previous decisions on CreaDemo grants can be found on a separate page.

Grant guidelines

Grant purpose and boundary conditions

The CreaDemo programme provides support for development projects in the creative industries and cultural entrepreneurship as well as for the launch of pilot projects between the creative industries and other industries, such as the manufacturing industry or the service industry.

The grants come from a special appropriation granted by the Ministry of Education and Culture to AVEK for the implementation of the CreaDemo programme, which is de minimis aid (minor support) in accordance with the EU’s state aid regulations. The maximum amount of de minimis aid granted to a company is 300,000 euros within three consecutive tax years.

The support may account for up to 80% of the project’s total costs. The other funding for the project may include funding from outside the applicant company, as well as self-financing from the company itself. The self-financing may include the cost of the applicant’s own work or the use of own equipment – the hourly rate for own work can be calculated at €19/h and the use of own equipment to a maximum of 60% of the rental price of similar equipment. An hourly tracking of your own work must be presented in the report.

Concept support does not require a percentage of self-financing or other financing.

Support may only be used for the specific purpose it has been granted for and under the conditions and terms defined in the agreement signed by the applicant.

CreaDemo grants are taxable income for companies and individuals. The grant recipient must take care to notify the tax authorities of the grant received.

The recipient must find out whether it is obliged to comply with procurement legislation and take this into account in its activities. A grant recipient outside the state, municipalities or parishes may also be obliged to arrange competitive tendering of its procurements in accordance with the procedures laid down in the Public Procurement Act (Act on Public Procurement and Concession Contracts 29.12.2016/1397).

Agreement procedure

A written grant agreement or commitment about a granted support is made with the recipient of the grant in the application system.

A grant decision becomes binding when the recipient agrees to the grant agreement/commitment and the instalments via the application system with their signature.

If the grant agreement/commitment is not signed within three months of the grant decision, the decision will expire.

The agreement may be cancelled and the support recovered if

• the support is not used within the agreed timeframe and for the approved purpose,
• the recipient has provided AVEK with misleading information that has affected the granting of the support or continuation of payments or
• the final report is not submitted within the agreed time limit and in the agreed form, and the recipient has not agreed on a new procedure with AVEK.

If the costs end up being less than the budget on which the grant agreement was based, AVEK may cut the grant amount proportionately and recover the excess amount if the final instalment does not cover it.

Payment

The grant is paid in two or more instalments. The grant recipient requests instalments through the application system, the instalments are subject to a reporting obligation and the last instalment is paid after the final report. The amount of the final instalment is at least 20% of the grant.

CreaDemo grant reporting

A final report on the use of the grant must be drawn up by the final report date set in the agreement/commitment. The final report is submitted in AVEK’s application system.

Concept support – information to be included in the final report:

• Short description
  Write a short description of the content produced, which is also in a publishable format.
• Written content report
  Realisation of the content and objectives with the help of the support, deviations from the plan and their impact on finances (companies). Concept plan. If the concept plan is very extensive, it can also be submitted as an appendix.
• Financial report (companies) and further plans
  Impact and importance of the support, further plans for the project.
• Attach any other necessary material, such as pictures.

The DigiDemo programme provides support for the product development of new digital content.

Application schedule

There will be two rounds of applications:

1. The application period for concept support will start on 6 March and end on 7 April 2025 at 16:00. The decisions on concept support will be announced in May. The project report for concept support and final grant report must be submitted in accordance with the agreement with AVEK, but no later than 15 December 2025. For more information on the concept support application process, please contact Media Art Commisioner Milla Moilanen during the call hours on 11 March and 18 March at 9:00–12:00.

2. The application period for demo grants will start on 20 May and end on 8 September 2025 at 16:00. The decisions will be announced in November. The project report and final grant report must be submitted in accordance with the agreement with AVEK, but no later than 15 December 2026.

For what?

DigiDemo is a product development grant for the development of new audiovisual or other cultural content and its narrative forms. Support can be awarded for the production of a demo or the pilot episode of a serial programme, or for concept planning.

The total amount of funding for the DigiDemo programme is confirmed annually by the Ministry of Education and Culture in its decision on discretionary government grants to AVEK.

Concept support

The aim of concept support is to develop the idea of a content project into a finished concept.

In addition to the objective, the applications are assessed based on the following aspects:

• the plan for the concept’s content and development
• the plan for the concept’s further development
• the applicant’s previous experience

Those who have applied for and received concept support in 2025 can also apply for a demo grant in the second application stage, provided that the concept support has been reported before the deadline for the demo support application on 8 September 2025 at 16:00.

To whom?

Concept supportcan be awarded to private traders, individuals and working groups. The applicant is the person in charge appointed by the working group.

Concept support may also be awarded to legally competent companies. The company must have been registered for at least 6 months before applying.

Funding and restrictions

Concept planning is eligible for a grant of 5,000 euros. The support can only be applied for with this amount.

The expert group may also award one grant of 2,000 euros for the further development of the concept idea (the amount cannot be applied for separately).

The grants come from a special appropriation granted by the Ministry of Education and Culture to AVEK for the implementation of the DigiDemo programme, which is de minimis aid (minor support) in accordance with the EU’s state aid regulations. The maximum amount of de minimis aid granted to a company is 200,000 euros within three consecutive tax years.

DigiDemo grants are taxable income for companies and individuals. The grant recipient must take care to notify the tax authorities of the grant received.

The recipient must find out whether it is obliged to comply with procurement legislation and take this into account in its activities. A grant recipient outside the state, municipalities or parishes may also be obliged to arrange competitive tendering of its procurements in accordance with the procedures laid down in the Public Procurement Act (Act on Public Procurement and Concession Contracts 29.12.2016/1397).

Decisions

The DigiDemo applications are reviewed by a group of experts. Support is granted on a discretionary basis. The review is based on a comprehensive assessment, factoring in the project goals planned by the applicant company and the project’s implementation plan in relation to the DigiDemo grant objectives. Furthermore, the company’s operational quality in terms of substance, functionality and professionality is evaluated.

Any previously awarded DigiDemo grants and their realisation and effectiveness are also taken into account in the review.

In addition to that, the Ministry of Education and Culture’s general criteria for granting state aid, are included in the review.

AVEK’s Board of Directors will confirm the expert group’s decisions. The applicants will be notified of the decisions via email. The decision will also be shown in AVEK’s application system.

Reasons why grants may not be awarded

An application will be rejected if it arrives after the deadline.

The applicant needs to have taken care to report on the previous grants it has received from AVEK.

The support is not granted

• for the production of educational material for general, vocational or higher education
• for exclusively technology-oriented projects
• for the creation and production of a single work of art
• for projects to develop online shops and marketing content or services
• for theses or their development
• if the project includes procurements that are contrary to EU sanctions regulations

Other financing / self-financing

Concept support does not require a percentage of self-financing or other financing.

Application process

The project applications are created via AVEK’s application system. When logging in for the first time, the applicant registers in the system.

If the applicant is a company or other organisation the person submitting the application must be authorised to sign documents on the organisation’s behalf. An applicant organisation can register with the system by signing in for the first time. You should register with a personal email address, not the general address for your organisation or similar.

Once registered, create a new organisation account on the ‘Create application’ page. The main user of an organisation will be set as the ‘leed member’ of the account. The leed member of an organisation account can add new users as members of the organisation and delete them if necessary.

In addition to this application notification, please remember to read the grant guidelines (further down on the same page).

Application

Fill in the applicant’s basic information on the application form. If the applicant is a company basic information includes the company’s industrial classification that can be checked on the Business Information System website.

Instructions for filling in the application:

Application title:
Name of the project or other identifying description.

What the support will be used for in brief and non-technical language (max. 300 characters):
A short description of the use of the project in a publishable format.

Type of creative industry:
Tick one of the options.

Support sought:
Amount of support requested is 5,000 euros.

Total project budget:
The total budget or cost estimate for concept. The amount can be the same as the grant applied for.

Itemisation of the project’s cost estimate:
A breakdown of the costs of the project. The breakdown can be made directly on the form.

Extensive content description (max. 5,000 characters)
Project description or other content or product development plan and concept work schedule

Working plan (max. 5,000 characters) 

• justification of the need to promote the concept plan
• the plan for possible multidisciplinary cooperation
• a statement of previous activities / CVs of individual or working group applicants.

Appendices: 

• Certificate of paid taxes / tax debts (compulsory if the applicant is company)
• Possible recommendation (other appendix)
• You may attach any other material you consider relevant to the application, including a link to visual material.

Previous support decisions

Previous decisions on DigiDemo grants can be found on a separate page.

Grant guidelines

Grant purpose and boundary conditions

The DigiDemo programme provides support for the product development of digital content.

The grants come from a special appropriation granted by the Ministry of Education and Culture to AVEK for the implementation of the DigiDemo programme, which is de minimis aid (minor support) in accordance with the EU’s state aid regulations. The maximum amount of de minimis aid granted to a company is 300,000 euros within three consecutive tax years.

The support may account for up to 80% of the project’s total costs. The other funding for the project may include funding from outside the applicant company, as well as self-financing from the company itself. The self-financing may include the cost of the applicant’s own work or the use of own equipment – the hourly rate for own work can be calculated at €19/h and the use of own equipment to a maximum of 60% of the rental price of similar equipment. An hourly tracking of your own work must be presented in the report.

Concept support does not require a percentage of self-financing or other financing.

Support may only be used for the specific purpose it has been granted for and under the conditions and terms defined in the agreement signed by the applicant.

DigiDemo grants are taxable income for companies and individuals. The grant recipient must take care to notify the tax authorities of the grant received.

The recipient must find out whether it is obliged to comply with procurement legislation and take this into account in its activities. A grant recipient outside the state, municipalities or parishes may also be obliged to arrange competitive tendering of its procurements in accordance with the procedures laid down in the Public Procurement Act (Act on Public Procurement and Concession Contracts 29.12.2016/1397).

Agreement procedure

A written grant agreement or commitment about a granted support is made with the recipient of the grant in the application system.

A grant decision becomes binding when the recipient agrees to the grant agreement/commitment and the instalments via the application system with their signature.

If the grant agreement/commitment is not signed within three months of the grant decision, the decision will expire.

The agreement may be cancelled and the support recovered if

• the support is not used within the agreed timeframe and for the approved purpose,
• the recipient has provided AVEK with misleading information that has affected the granting of the support or continuation of payments or
• the final report is not submitted within the agreed time limit and in the agreed form, and the recipient has not agreed on a new procedure with AVEK.

If the costs end up being less than the budget on which the grant agreement was based, AVEK may cut the grant amount proportionately and recover the excess amount if the final instalment does not cover it.

Payment

The grant is paid in two or more instalments. The grant recipient requests instalments through the application system, the instalments are subject to a reporting obligation and the last instalment is paid after the final report. Its amount is at least 20% of the grant.

DigiDemo grant reporting

A final report on the use of the grant must be drawn up by the final report date set in the agreement/commitment. The final report is submitted in AVEK’s application system.

Concept support – information to be included in the final report:

• Short description
  Write a short description of the content produced, which is also in a publishable format.
• Written content report
  Realisation of the content and objectives with the help of the support, deviations from the plan and their impact on finances (companies). Concept plan. If the concept plan is very extensive, it can also be submitted as an appendix.
• Financial report (companies) and further plans
  Impact and importance of the support, further plans for the project.
• Attach any other necessary material, such as pictures.