Today, the Structural Funds Partnership announced the award of SEK 4.6 million to the project 'Creative Power for a Green Transition'. With this, all co-financing is secured. The project will support companies through advanced business development, support for internationalisation and strengthened cross-sectoral collaboration - primarily between cultural and creative companies and industrial companies in the green transition.

"We are delighted that all the funders believe in the project. There is an enormous creative capacity in cultural and creative industries and through this project we hope that it will flourish even more and enrich other sectors," says Mr Perez. Barbro Renkel, CEO of eXpression Umeå.

The total budget of the project is SEK 13 million, divided into three work packages. Work package one includes a new collaborative model where cultural and creative enterprises meet other sectors to promote the development of new innovative goods, services and processes. The other two work packages are aimed directly at cultural and creative enterprises and include advanced business development and support for increased internationalisation.

The project will also contribute to increased gender equality and inclusion in the business community, and more venture capital and investment will be channelled to businesses started by women.

The project is funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), Region Västerbotten, Umeå Municipality and Umeå University. The project starts immediately and ends in spring 2026.

Read Region Västerbotten's press release here.

eXpression Umeå supports over 100 entrepreneurs every year and is one of Sweden's leading incubators for cultural and creative businesses. We provide business development that includes three offers: individual coaching, workshops with experts and a creative community.