Business Finland and Team Finland: advice and services for Ukraine's reconstruction

Business Finland is a Finnish public organisation that provides innovation funding and internationalisation services. For companies interested in Ukraine’s reconstruction, it works in 2026 mainly as an advisory channel, not a funding channel. It shares market information, helps companies find partners and customers, and brings Finnish companies together around Ukrainian demand. As of 14 November 2026 we found no Ukraine-specific Business Finland funding service.

1. What Business Finland does for Ukraine

According to Business Finland, it “shares information about the Ukrainian reconstruction market and brings together companies that are particularly interested in developing solutions for the Ukrainian market in defense, civil protection, and various services in the municipal sector”.

Contact: the Ukraine desk, ukrainedesk (at) businessfinland.fi.
Who can use it: companies; the page states no eligibility or size conditions.

How many companies have been advised depends on the date and scope of the figure:

24 August 2026: “Since spring 2023, the Team Finland network has advised around 800 companies on Ukraine’s reconstruction market.” Construction, energy and defence companies have been the most active.
26 May 2026: Finnish public actors, including Business Finland, had advised over 700 Finnish companies since 2022. The same release said about 30 Finnish companies were operating in Ukraine at the time.

The two figures cover slightly different periods and groups of advisers, so they are not directly comparable.

2. FinEst4Ukraine: advice for Finnish and Estonian SMEs

FinEst4Ukraine is a joint project of Business Finland and the Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, funded by Interreg Central Baltic. Business Finland Oy is the lead partner. The project runs from 1 May 2026 to 30 April 2029.

What it offers (advice, no grant):

preparation and advice for entering the Ukrainian market
partner and customer search
trade missions to and from Ukraine
meetings with Ukrainian project owners
introductions to international financing institutions

Priority sectors (per Business Finland’s 26 May 2026 release): infrastructure and construction; energy; defence, security and crisis resilience; healthcare, schools and early-childhood education.

Targets: the project aims to help 100 SMEs and to produce at least 12 new contracts.

How to take part:

Finnish SMEs sign in to My Business Finland and book an appointment with Business Finland’s Ukraine reconstruction adviser.
Estonian SMEs contact the Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The service is available on a rolling basis until the project ends on 30 April 2029.

3. Events, recordings and tender sources

ReBuild Ukraine 2026 took place in Warsaw on 12–13 November 2026, with a Finland Pavilion organised by TSEG Oy. A Finnish–Estonian–Ukrainian networking event on 11 November 2026 was fully booked. Both events are now over.
Business Finland’s “Information about rebuilding Ukraine” page lists Team Finland Talks recordings from 2023–2024 (on energy, EPC contracting, municipalities, Nefco and procurement) and publications such as the Team Finland Service Path to Rebuilding Ukraine and part one of Finland’s national reconstruction plan.
For tenders, the same page points to Prozorro (Ukraine’s public procurement system, in Ukrainian) and DREAM, as well as the EBRD and EIB tender pages.

Outdated detail on the official page: the “Information about rebuilding Ukraine” page (last updated 5 June 2026) still says FUIF concept papers “must be submitted no later than on Friday 26 February 2025”. That round closed long ago. For the current FUIF situation, see our FUIF guide and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

4. What happened to Explorer and Tempo funding

Many Finnish companies used Business Finland’s general export-exploration grants to study Ukraine. Most of these have now ended:

Market Explorer: applications closed on 3 October 2025. Business Finland states that after that, Market Explorer “is no longer included in Business Finland’s funding selection”.
Tempo: the closed call “will not be reopened” (Business Finland, 21 January 2026).
NIY (startup funding) “will most likely remain closed” because of budget cuts (same source).
The Explorer services continue only for food and beverage manufacturers (Food Market Explorer and Food Exhibition Explorer), funded by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.

Do not rely on the 2023 page: a Business Finland news item from 2023 describes Ukraine-related funding of “up to €40,000, covering 50%”. The Explorer services behind it have since closed, so this is no longer available.

5. Business Finland grants that may still be relevant (not Ukraine-specific)

The following calls are not designed for Ukraine. We have not been able to confirm from the call pages whether a project focused on Ukraine is accepted. Ask Business Finland before you plan around them (for the food Explorers: foodexplorer (at) businessfinland.fi).

Service	Who can apply	Funding	Call period (as of 14 Nov 2026)
Food Market Explorer	Finnish SME or mid-cap manufacturers of food, beverages, supplements, novel food or pet food	Grant €5,000–20,000, i.e. 50% of approved costs (project €10,000–40,000). Call budget up to €510,000 (2026) and €250,000 (2027)	15 Dec 2025 – 30 Jun 2027
Food Exhibition Explorer	Same target group; at least four mutually independent Finnish SMEs or mid-caps must apply for the same foreign B2B trade fair	€1,000–10,000 per company per fair, i.e. 50% (costs €2,000–20,000). Up to €400,000 per year in 2026 and 2027	15 Dec 2025 – 31 Dec 2027
Sprint (R&D grant)	Small Finnish companies (under 50 employees, turnover or balance sheet ≤ €10 million) developing innovative solutions for international markets. The applicant must be “a limited liability company operating in Finland” and have at least €50,000 in equity. At least two-thirds of the project costs must be R&D. Companies under 5 years old must not have received earlier Business Finland funding of certain kinds (Sprint, Tempo, R&D funding, Young Innovative Companies or Deep Tech Accelerator), although the Sprint page is not consistent on this point, so check with Business Finland; companies 5 years or older must be seeking a significant change of direction in their business based on a new innovation	€75,000–100,000, i.e. 75% of a €100,000–133,334 project (de minimis aid)	Continuous call from 1 Sep 2026; no end date stated

Food Market Explorer requirements also include: a Finnish Business ID and a permanent establishment in mainland Finland; at least two people working in Finland (one full-time); a Rating Alfa credit rating of at least A; and at least one completed financial year.

General conditions: “Companies with a Finnish business ID have the right to apply for funding from Business Finland.” Sanctions screening applies.

How to apply:

Apply in Business Finland’s online service. Only a person entered in the Trade Register with sole signing rights, or a person with a Suomi.fi authorisation for “Applying for business financing”, can create the application.
For Food Market Explorer, costs are accepted at the earliest from the date the application is sent.
For Sprint, register in My Business Finland first and hold a meeting with a Business Finland expert before applying.

6. Where else to go in Team Finland

Business Finland itself points companies to other Finnish actors for financing:

Finnpartnership – Business Partnership Support grants for early-stage projects. See our Finnpartnership guide.
Finnfund – investment in private projects in Ukraine. See our Finnfund guide.
Finnvera – export credit guarantees and the SISU programme. See our Finnvera guide.
Ministry for Foreign Affairs / FUIF – concessional financing for Ukrainian public-sector buyers. See our FUIF guide.
Nefco – municipal green recovery programme. See our Nefco guide.

7. Non-governmental services (paid)

Finnish business organisations also offer Ukraine services. These are paid services, not public funding, and the figures below come from the organisations themselves.

EK and EastCham Finland – “Pro Ukraine”: a joint EK–EastCham office in Kyiv prepares company-specific market studies and arranges partner meetings. According to EK (17 August 2026), 100 companies had ordered a market study during the project’s first year.
Published prices (EastCham): market research €2,000 + VAT for members / €2,500 + VAT for non-members; meeting facilitation €1,200 / €1,500 + VAT.

Who is this relevant for?

Finnish companies, especially SMEs, exploring the Ukrainian market for the first time and looking for market information, partners or Ukrainian project owners.
Estonian SMEs, through FinEst4Ukraine via the Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Companies in other Nordic countries should note that FinEst4Ukraine covers only Finnish and Estonian SMEs, and that Business Finland services generally require a Finnish business ID.

Practical notes (our own advice)

Treat Business Finland as the place for advice and contacts. For money, the realistic Finnish routes in 2026 are Finnpartnership, Finnfund, Finnvera and FUIF.
Official pages on Ukraine are not always up to date. Check the date of any page or news item before relying on a deadline or amount.

Sources

Figures as reported by the sources on the dates shown.

Please note: Funding programmes, amounts and deadlines change often. Always confirm details from the official source before applying. This guide is general information, not financial or legal advice.