What NordPlus does

NordPlus is the largest educational grant programme of the Nordic Council of Ministers, distributing approximately €10 million annually to educational organisations across 11 Nordic and Baltic countries (Finland, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Denmark, Greenland, Faroe Islands, Åland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania). Founded in 1991 with its first Baltic projects launched in the immediate post-Cold War period, the programme is administered by the Swedish Council for Higher Education (UHR) on behalf of the Nordic Council of Ministers. NordPlus serves preschools, primary and secondary schools, vocational institutions, universities, adult education providers, NGOs, and private companies through five sub-programmes: Nordplus Junior, Nordplus Higher Education, Nordplus Adult, Nordplus Horizontal, and Nordplus Nordic Languages. In 2026, 3,550 organisations applied, 635 applications were submitted, and 360 grants were awarded.

The programme's underlying technology is a grant management platform with an online application portal (espresso.hkdir.no) hosted by the Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills (HK-dir), supplemented by a project stories database and tooling for collaboration spaces, preparatory visits, and study visits. Each sub-programme is administered by a dedicated national agency — UHR (Sweden), EDUFI (Finland), UFS (Denmark), HK-dir (Norway), and Rannís (Iceland) — providing local language and country-level expertise. The programme committee comprises 16 members from participating countries' ministries who determine fund distribution.

NordPlus does not generate revenue. It is a publicly funded grant programme: capital flows from the Nordic Council of Ministers to grantees, with the programme operating as an intermediary rather than a commercial entity. GTM is hybrid event-driven and community-led — applications are submitted through the online portal, while programme awareness and applicant pipelines are built through national agency networks, thematic networks (e.g., NordPULS, KUNO, ECA, NordBiz, TURID, Nordplusmusic), project databases, and country-specific communications. Pricing takes the form of grant amounts (e.g., €38,620 for adult learner exchanges, €26,610 for teacher/staff exchanges) structured as multi-year contracts.

Name

NordPlus

Legal name

NordPlus

Website

https://nordplusonline.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1991

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

NordPlus is the Nordic Council of Ministers' largest educational grant programme, distributing approximately €10 million annually across 11 Nordic and Baltic countries through five sub-programmes covering all education levels, from early childhood to adult learning.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Educational Grant Programme

NAICS

Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321), Educational Services (611), Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (611310)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Intergovernmental Education Cooperation & Bilateral/Multilateral Programs (EDADALAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Dual/Joint Degree Programs (International) (EDAIABAD), Study Abroad Provider Networks, Consortia & Membership Organizations (EDAIAAAK)

Keywords

• Educational grant programme
• Student mobility funding
• Nordic-Baltic cooperation
• International exchange grants
• Education network funding

Headquarters

HQ city

Québec

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Educational Grants Distribution: NordPlus is a grant programme that distributes approximately 10 million euros annually to educational organisations across Nordic and Baltic countries for international exchanges, networks, and collaborative projects. As a publicly funded programme, it does not generate revenue but distributes funds from the Nordic Council of Ministers.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

NordPlus is an educational grant programme from the Nordic Council of Ministers that distributes approximately €10 million annually to educational organisations across Nordic and Baltic countries. It operates five sub-programmes — Nordplus Junior, Nordplus Higher Education, Nordplus Adult, Nordplus Horizontal, and Nordplus Nordic Languages — funding student and teacher mobility exchanges, joint study programmes, intensive courses, network-building projects, and language initiatives.

Product overview

NordPlus is the largest educational grant programme from the Nordic Council of Ministers, providing approximately €10 million annually to organisations across Nordic and Baltic countries for international exchanges, networks and collaborative projects. NordPlus comprises five distinct sub-programmes that together cover all levels of education: Nordplus Junior (early childhood through secondary education), Nordplus Higher Education (bachelor and master levels), Nordplus Adult (adult learning across all fields), Nordplus Horizontal (cross-sectoral innovative projects), and Nordplus Nordic Languages (neighbouring languages and culture). The programme is administered by the Swedish Council for Higher Education (UHR) on behalf of the Nordic Council of Ministers, with each sub-programme managed by a different national agency.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Nordplus Junior: Sub-programme for early childhood, pre-school, primary and secondary school education mobility and partnerships in Nordic and Baltic countries.
• Nordplus Higher Education
• Nordplus Adult
• Nordplus Horizontal
• Nordplus Nordic Languages

Products and services

• Nordplus Junior

Quantifiable outcome

• 635 applications received and 360 grants awarded in 2026, with 3550 organisations applying
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers12 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

19 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Swedish Council for Higher Education (UHR)coreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerMain coordinator for NordPlus programme, administers the Nordplus Junior sub-programme, and manages the NordPlus website and communications on behalf of the Nordic Council of Ministers
• Finnish National Agency for Education (EDUFI)coreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerAdministers the Nordplus Higher Education sub-programme for Finland and other participating countries
• Danish Agency for Higher Education and Science (UFS)coreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerAdministers the Nordplus Adult sub-programme, providing financial support for transnational mobility and project collaboration in adult learning
• Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills (HK-dir)coreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerAdministers the Nordplus Horizontal sub-programme for cross-sectoral educational cooperation
• Icelandic Centre for Research (Rannís)coreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerAdministers the Nordplus Nordic Languages sub-programme, supporting activities for strengthening Nordic neighbouring languages
• Business College HelsinkicoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoordinating institution for adult education exchange projects including 'Become an International Skills Expert' and 'Enhancing the International Skills of Educational Staff'
• Landvernd (Icelandic Environment Association)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in Nordplus Nordic Languages project 'Digital language meetups and Nordic cooperation for a greener future' developing ocean pollution teaching materials
• Norden i SkolencoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoordinating institution for Nordic teaching material translation project, distributing materials across all Scandinavian languages, Finnish, and Faroese
• CLIL Education CentreminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-coordinator of 'Digital Creative Education' Nordplus Junior project on digital teaching aids involving 6 educational institutions from 4 countries
• Explorations and Collaboration in the Arts (ECA) NetworkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNordplus Higher Education network of 17 art institutions from all Nordic and Baltic countries plus Greenland, providing interdisciplinary arts education courses
• NordPULS NetworkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNordic-Baltic music network of 27 music colleges promoting cooperation in rock, pop and jazz, coordinated by Royal College of Music in Stockholm
• Nordplusmusic NetworkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUmbrella network uniting all Nordplus music networks including jazz (Nordpuls), classical (Sibelius), opera (Nordopera), and folk music (Nordtrad) - over 40 higher music education institutions
• Royal College of Music in StockholmcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFounder and coordinator of NordPULS network and joint Master's degree programme 'Nomazz' in jazz with Royal Danish Academy of Music and Sibelius Academy
• NordBiz NetworkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNordic-Baltic higher education business network started in 1993 with 8 universities in 8 countries, providing intensive courses and double degree programmes
• KUNO NetworkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNordplus network of 16 Nordic-Baltic fine art academies aiming to become an art university without walls, promoting higher art education cooperation
• TURID NetworkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInterdisciplinary network of 7 higher educational institutions from Finland, Sweden, Norway, Estonia and Latvia in tourism, sport, health and culture since 1998
• Arcada University of Applied Sciences (Finland)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in TURID network focusing on Sport and Health Promotion
• Hedmark University (Norway)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in TURID network focusing on Teacher physical education, public health and sports
• Turība University of Applied Sciences (Latvia)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in TURID network focusing on International Tourism, representing Latvia

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Regional players

• Swedish Institute (Svenska Institutet): Swedish government agency funding international exchange, education cooperation, and cultural programmes focused on Sweden's relations with countries around the Baltic Sea and beyond. Directly comparable as a publicly funded grantmaking body for educational mobility, but operates at national level rather than inter-Nordic.
• Aktion Österreich-Ungarn / CEEPUS: Central European Exchange Programme for University Studies, a regional intergovernmental grant programme supporting academic mobility across Central and South-Eastern Europe. Comparable to NordPlus as a multi-country, intergovernmental educational mobility programme with national agency administration.
• Campus France: French national agency promoting international student mobility and higher education cooperation. Comparable to NordPlus in its public mandate to administer mobility grants and institutional partnerships, though France-only in geographic scope.
• Vigdís International Centre: Icelandic centre for international education and language cooperation, administering the Nordplus Nordic Languages programme. Comparable as a small public-mandate education grant administrator in the Nordic region.

Broad incumbents

• British Council: Publicly funded international organisation for educational and cultural exchange, operating global programmes for student mobility, language learning, and institutional partnerships. Comparable in its public-mandate, multi-country reach and grant-administering function, though with a much broader cultural remit.
• Erasmus+ (European Commission): The EU's flagship educational exchange programme covering mobility, cooperation, and policy experimentation across all education levels in 33+ countries. Directly comparable to NordPlus in mission and structure, but at a much larger scale (multi-billion EUR budget). NordPlus effectively operates as a regional complement to Erasmus+ in the Nordic-Baltic area.
• Fulbright Program (U.S. Department of State): Flagship US international educational exchange programme covering student, scholar, and teacher mobility. Comparable as a large, government-funded intergovernmental education grant programme, though bilateral and outward-focused rather than multi-country regional.
• DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service): National-level agency funding international academic cooperation and student/teacher mobility in 100+ countries. Comparable in its grantmaking-for-mobility model and administration of multiple sub-programmes, though primarily outward-looking from Germany rather than regionally intergovernmental.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/wearenordplus
• Instagraminstagram.com/wearenordplus
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/nordplus

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about NordPlus