Seven innovation projects in AI, Quantum Technologies or ICT receive grants from Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation

The seven projects have been granted grants within the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation's Proof-of-Concept program. The purpose of the program is to bridge the gap between basic academic research to innovations.

Proof of concept grants give research groups at Swedish universities an opportunity to develop their early discoveries a further step towards validated methods, products or processes and to prepare them for commercialization.

“The program plays an important role in strengthening and accelerating innovation based on academic research. It is therefore encouraging to see the growing interest from researchers at universities across Sweden. This year, the Foundation has also shortened the evaluation process to more quickly meet the need for research-based innovation,” says Pontus de Laval, chair of the expert panel.

Between SEK 1 and 4 million

Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation awarded the first Proof-of-Concept grants in 2017. In 2019, the Wallenberg Launch Pad, WALP, platform, was created. Researchers who have or have had grants from any Wallenberg Foundation can apply to WALP with their ideas. Those who then proceed in the process receive support and coaching within WALP.

Overall, since 2017, a total of 165 Proof-of-Concept grants have been awarded.

The projects that have been granted funding will receive between SEK 1 and 4 million each over a project period of a maximum of two years. In addition to funding, the project leaders will receive continued support from the Wallenberg Launch Pad, WALP, team to develop their innovations to commercial maturity.

Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation announce Proof-of-Concept grants in three areas: life science, materials science, and AI, quantum technology or ICT.

A third call for Proof-of-Concept grants in AI, quantum technology or ICT, opens on January 15, 2027, with a deadline of February 12, 2027.

Awarded Proof-of-Concept grants in AI, quantum technology or ICT in the 2026 call:

Guilherme Barreto Xavier, Linköping University
A Compact High-Dimensional Certifiable Quantum Random Number Generator

Ali Elshaari, KTH Royal Institute of Technology
Hybrid 2D–3D Programmable Photonic Processors for Scalable Quantum and Optical Information Processing

Mats Granath, University of Gothenburg
Real-Time AI Decoders for Fault-Tolerant Quantum Computing

Laszlo Veisz, Umeå University
Artificial Intelligence-based Control of High-Peak-Power Laser Systems

Martin Monperrus, KTH Royal Institute of Technology
Sustainable Inference Usage in Agentic Coding Platforms

Johanna Björklund, Umeå University
MSynth: Scalable Synthetic Data Generation for Multimodal AI

Daniel Persson, Chalmers University of Technology 
AI-Assisted Ultrasound Guidance for Scalable Medical Training

Contact:

Pontus de Laval, chair of the expert panel, Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation.
+46 70-515 74 89
pontus.delaval@kaw.se

Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation was established in 1917. The Foundation’s aim is to benefit Sweden by supporting Swedish basic research and education, primarily in medicine, technology and the natural sciences. This is achieved by awarding grants to excellent researchers, projects and strategic programs.

Almost SEK 42 billion in grants has been awarded since the Foundation was established. In 2025 the yearly grants to excellent basic research and education in Sweden was in total SEK 2.5 billion, making the Foundation the largest private funder of scientific research in Sweden, and one of the largest in Europe.