Tekes and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs launched the five-year BEAM – Business with Impact programme at the Slush event in Helsinki 18^th of November 2014. The aim of BEAM programme is to bring together actors from Finland and developing countries to generate new innovative business and development impacts in target countries.

BEAM is the first joint Team Finland programme of Tekes – the Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation – and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and, at the same time, a new kind of tool for development aiming to bring sustainable growth in Finland and developing countries.

It is hoped that the programme will attract especially large-scale ecosystem projects, which may include enterprises, research institutes, non-governmental organizations and other actors. The applicant for financing must be a Finnish actor, but a partner or, for instance, a subcontractor can be from a developing country. The central consideration is that cooperation can be a means for promoting social development and generating sustainable business.

Information source and more about BEAM programme

http://www.tekes.fi/en/programmes-and-services/tekes-programmes/beam–business-with-impact/

http://www.tekes.fi/en/whats-going-on/news/the-beam-programme-of-tekes-and-the-ministry-for-foreign-affairs-brings-sustainable-growth-in-finland-and-developing-countries/