The new kid on the Nordic tech block.

Daniel Lilliehöök, Partner, and Gustav Nilsson, Analyst at GP Bullhound comment: “The data speaks for itself. Norway is becoming a major player in the Nordic tech ecosystem, and is rapidly catching up with other major European tech hubs. Where there are great ideas and entrepreneurship, investors will follow – Norway is proving that it can produce and scale impressive technology businesses. The future is bright, and at GP Bullhound we’re convinced that Norway is set to break through as one of the exciting tech markets in Europe.”

Key insights from the report include:

An investment boom – over the past decade, there’s been a shift in interest towards investment in Norwegian tech, both from local and international investors as well as strategics.

The rise of the unicorn – Norwegian unicorns emerging through increased levels of capital. Amongst the biggest names in the sector are internationally known businesses such as Meltwater, Gelato, Cognite, and Kahoot!

Significant IPO growth – in the past two years alone, there has been a significant jump in Norwegian tech IPOs, rising from 3 listings in 2017, to 10 in 2020 and 8 thus far in 2021, driven by the strong momentum in Norwegian public markets.

More and larger funding rounds – As the tech ecosystem in Norway has matured, late-stage fundraising of Norwegian tech companies has soared in 2021-YTD to $783m (up from $357m in 2020), driven by large rounds in Gelato ($240m), Cognite ($150m) and Oda ($141m).

Catching up with Nordic rivals – Norwegian tech ($2.2bn) is fast catching up to countries of similar size such as Finland ($2.9bn) and Denmark ($3.6bn) in total funds raised in the past 10 years, with Sweden ($10.3bn) still far ahead in total.

Lively M&A market – increased investor interest and activity has led to a rise of M&A deals in the past three years, with Visma standing out as a transactional leader.

One of the keys to Norway’s success and fast growth has been the ability to redeploy a skilled workforce available in the country – significant engineering and technical competencies are being redirected from oil and gas into tech.

Subsectors within technology that have dominated the space include the likes of industrial software, educational software, digital media and marketplaces.

Webinar
The key findings from the report have been presented during a Webinar on Thursday 18 November, with guest speakers including Trond Knudsen of TRK Group, Erik Hagen of Viking Venture, and Jørn Lyseggen of Meltwater, for their views on the latest in Norway’s tech space.
Scroll up to watch the recording.

Enquiries
For enquiries, please contact:
Daniel Lilliehöök, Partner, daniel.lilliehook@gpbullhound.com
GP Bullhound Insights team, insights@gpbullhound.com

About GP Bullhound
GP Bullhound is a leading technology advisory and investment firm, providing transaction advice and capital to the world’s best entrepreneurs and founders. Founded in 1999 in London and Menlo Park, the firm today has 10 offices spanning Europe, the US and Asia. For more information, please visit www.gpbullhound.com