APPLIED NANO SURFACES SWEDEN AB

Their core work

Applied Nano Surfaces Sweden AB (ANS) develops proprietary surface treatment processes that reduce friction and wear in mechanical components. Their core technology — marketed under the TriboGlide and Triboconditioning brands — modifies metal surfaces at the nano-scale to achieve lubricity without traditional oil-based lubricants. They work as a product-focused technology company, not a research lab: their H2020 work was about commercializing a ready-to-scale industrial process. The likely application areas include automotive drivetrains, industrial machinery, and any sector where reducing friction losses translates directly into energy savings or component lifetime.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

ANS followed the classic SME Instrument pathway: a feasibility study in 2016 (TriboGlide, €50K) to validate the concept, followed by a full Phase 2 development project in 2018 (Triboconditioning, €1.69M) to build a market-ready process. Both projects sit in exactly the same technical domain — friction and wear reduction — so there is no shift in focus, only a deepening of commitment and scale. The progression signals a company that successfully validated its core technology and moved toward commercialization within the H2020 period.

ANS appears to be a single-technology company scaling one core innovation toward market — their next logical step would be industrial partnerships or licensing deals, not further basic research.

How they like to work

ANS used the SME Instrument exclusively, which is a solo-applicant funding mechanism — meaning they have no recorded consortium partners in H2020. They acted as sole coordinator on both projects, keeping full ownership of the technology development. This suggests a company that prefers to control its IP and work independently rather than through large research consortia, which is typical of deeptech SMEs protecting a proprietary process.

ANS has no recorded consortium partners across their two H2020 projects, reflecting the solo nature of the SME Instrument grants they used. Their collaboration network within EU-funded research is effectively non-existent on paper, though their commercial relationships with industrial clients are not captured in CORDIS data.

What sets them apart

ANS occupies a narrow but defensible niche: a Swedish deeptech SME with a proprietary nano-surface process for friction reduction that has been EU-validated through two consecutive SME Instrument grants — a signal of technical credibility. Unlike academic tribology groups, they are oriented toward cost-efficient industrial deployment, which makes them a more direct partner for manufacturers seeking to reduce energy losses or extend component life. Their Uppsala base puts them in proximity to strong Swedish industrial and materials science networks, even if those connections are not reflected in CORDIS records.

Highlights from their portfolio

• Triboconditioning
  The largest of their two projects at €1.69M and the only SME Phase 2 grant, representing the full commercialization push for their core friction reduction technology.
• TriboGlide
  The Phase 1 feasibility grant that validated the concept and opened the door to the much larger Phase 2 — a clean example of the SME Instrument used as intended.