Formas

What Formas does

Formas (Swedish Research Council for Sustainable Development) is a Swedish government research council founded in 2001 and headquartered at Drottninggatan 89 in Stockholm. It operates under the Swedish Ministry of Climate and Enterprise and the Ministry of Rural Affairs and Infrastructure, distributing more than 1.5 billion SEK annually to fund research and innovation projects in environment, agricultural sciences, and spatial planning. Approximately half of its funding is disbursed through an annual open call where researchers self-identify topics within Formas' mandate, with the remainder directed through targeted national research programmes on climate, sustainable spatial planning, food, and oceans and waters, as well as through 17 strategic innovation programmes co-funded with Vinnova and the Swedish Energy Agency.

Formas' core technology stack centers on Prisma, a shared online grant application and management system used to process competitive calls for proposals. The organization publishes an Open Data API that exposes data on funded projects, runs evidence syntheses to support Swedish environmental policy objectives, and communicates research results through its Extrakt online magazine, RSS feeds, newsletters, and events (including Almedalen seminars). It also hosts the Swedish Climate Policy Council. Approximately half of its funds are distributed through an annual merit-based open call using peer review.

Formas is funded entirely by Swedish government tax appropriations and does not generate commercial revenue or charge for its services. Its primary constituents are Swedish academic researchers, universities and research institutions (which serve as grant-administering organizations), and government agencies and policymakers who use its evidence syntheses to inform environmental policy. International collaborations include the Belmont Forum, the Weave cross-border funding initiative with Switzerland and Luxembourg, Science Europe, and IIASA. Leadership consists of Director General Emma Gretzer, supported by a management group including the Head of Communications, Administrative Manager, and Deputy Head of Department / Legal Counsel, with strategic oversight from a Scientific Council whose members are appointed by both the research community and the Swedish Government.

Name

Formas

Legal name

Formas

Website

https://formas.se

Company type

Private

Founded year

2001

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Formas is a Swedish government research council, founded in 2001 and headquartered in Stockholm, that distributes more than 1.5 billion SEK annually to fund research and innovation in environment, agricultural sciences, and spatial planning, serving Swedish academic researchers, universities, and policymakers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Government Research Funding

NAICS

Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321), Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813), Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (541720)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning (MEL) & Reporting for Donor Programs (BPADAOAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Governance, Public Financial Management & Service Delivery Reform (BPADAEAD), Institutional Capacity Building & Training (Workforce/Systems Strengthening) (BPADAEAC)

Keywords

• Research funding
• Sustainable development
• Environmental research
• Agricultural research
• Spatial planning

Headquarters

HQ city

Stockholm

HQ country

Sweden

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Government Research Funding Distribution: Formas operates as a government research council that distributes public funding rather than generating revenue. They receive appropriations from the Swedish Ministry of Climate and Enterprise and Ministry of Rural Affairs and Infrastructure. The organization distributes more than 1.5 billion kronor annually for research and innovation projects through competitive calls for proposals.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Formas is the Swedish government research council for sustainable development, allocating over 1.5 billion SEK per year to fund research and innovation in the environment, agricultural sciences, and spatial planning sectors. It runs annual open calls, national research programmes, strategic innovation programmes and international collaborative calls, and operates the Prisma application system and an open data API to administer funding and disseminate research outputs.

Product overview

Formas is a Swedish government research council for sustainable development that funds research and innovation. It does not offer commercial software products. Formas distributes over 1.5 billion SEK annually for research projects through various calls for proposals, including annual open calls and targeted national research programmes on climate, sustainable spatial planning, food, and oceans and waters. The organization also conducts evidence syntheses and communicates research results through its online magazine Extrakt and digital channels.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Annual Open Call Annual competitive funding call open to researchers and institutions working within Formas' mandate of environment, agricultural sciences and spatial planning. Distributes a share of Formas' more than 1.5 billion SEK annual budget to selected research projects.
• National Research Programmes Thematic multi-year research and innovation programmes covering climate, food, oceans and spatial planning, coordinated with other Swedish research funders and aimed at addressing national sustainability challenges.
• Strategic Innovation Programmes

Quantifiable outcome

• Distributes over 1.5 billion SEK annually for research projects

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered major, minor and core.

• Weave - Research Funding Without BordersmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 9 March 2022European research funding initiative enabling simplified cross-border funding procedures. Initial collaboration with SNSF (Switzerland) and FNR (Luxembourg) allowing researchers to apply jointly.
• IIASA (International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 5 November 2020Partnership for Young Scientist Summer Program offering fellowships for PhD students to study applied systems analysis at IIASA in Austria.
• Science EuropemajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 4 December 2019European organization representing research funding organizations. Formas' Director General has served on the Science Europe governing board, facilitating collaboration on research policy.
• Belmont ForummajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 August 2018International partnership for funding climate and environmental research. Formas participates in collaborative research actions on ocean sustainability and other environmental challenges.
• VinnovacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStrategic innovation programme collaboration for 17 programmes, including Smart Built Environment where Formas serves as principal funder. Joint funding initiative with Swedish Energy Agency.
• Swedish Energy AgencycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on strategic innovation programmes and joint initiatives for sustainable research funding.
• Swedish universities and university collegescoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerResearch communities that appoint electors for Formas' Scientific Council and serve as grant administrating organizations for funded research projects.
• MistraminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on water issues workshop in preparation for Horizon Europe, working together with Vinnova.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Forte (Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare): Forte is a Swedish government research council funding research in health, working life, and welfare, operating under the same government appropriations model and sharing the Prisma application system with Formas.
• Vinnova (Swedish Innovation Agency): Vinnova is Sweden's government innovation agency, a direct peer that jointly operates the 17 strategic innovation programmes with Formas and administers Swedish public research and innovation funding under a government mandate, serving overlapping academic and innovation customers.
• Mistra (Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research): Mistra is a Swedish research-funding foundation that supports strategic environmental research and collaborates with Formas on initiatives such as the Horizon Europe water issues workshop, sharing a sustainable development mandate.
• Swedish Energy Agency (Energimyndigheten): Swedish Energy Agency is a Swedish government agency that co-funds strategic innovation programmes with Formas and Vinnova, distributing research funding in energy and climate-related domains that overlap with Formas's climate and sustainable development portfolio.
• Vetenskapsrådet (Swedish Research Council): Vetenskapsrådet is Sweden's general government research council, sharing the Prisma application platform with Formas and funding academic research at Swedish universities under a comparable government mandate model.
• Belmont Forum: Belmont Forum is an international consortium of research funding organizations coordinating global environmental and climate research funding; Formas is a member and participant in Belmont Forum's collaborative research actions, including ocean sustainability calls.

Broad incumbents

• UK Research and Innovation (UKRI): UKRI is the UK's national research and innovation funding agency distributing research funding across disciplines including environmental science, offering a broad comparable model to Formas's mandate but at significantly greater scale and broader thematic scope.

Others

• Science Europe: Science Europe is a European association representing public research funding and research performing organizations; Formas is a member and its Director General serves on the governing board, making Science Europe a coordinating peer for cross-border funding policy.

Emerging players

• NWO (Dutch Research Council): NWO is the Netherlands' national research council funding scientific research across disciplines and managing national and international research programmes, comparable to Formas in operating model as a government-backed research funding body.

Regional players

• Swedish National Board of Housing, Building and Planning (Boverket): Boverket is a Swedish government agency operating in spatial planning and built environment policy, a domain within Formas's mandate, and a complementary domestic stakeholder that consumes Formas's research outputs for evidence-based planning policy.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks1 record

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/formasforsk
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/formas
• Facebookfacebook.com/forskningsradetformas

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Formas