Category: Business News
I spent a lot of my formative years in Norway, and have been periodically checking in on the Norwegian startup scene. The first time I went and had a look around was about five years ago, and what I found back then was pretty dismal. So, when I headed back to Norway this week to take a deep dive into the Norwegian startup scene at the Startup Extreme conference, I have to admit: My expectations weren’t that high. And boy, was that unfounded. In just a few short years has gone from been a pretty bleak affair to being a real — if nascent — startup ecosystem.
Norway has been a bit of an underdog in the Scandiwegian startup scene for a few years. Need proof? Quick! Name one Norwegian startup that isn’t the obvious one… But despite not basking in the limelight, it hasn’t exactly been withering away in the shadow of the relative successes of its other Scandinavian brethren either.
For one thing, partially in response to the cratering price of oil — on which Norway has traditionally been heavily reliant — the Norwegian government has doubled down on supporting startups both financially and through training and advice, with what appears to be one of the most supportive environments for startups I’ve come across yet.
A strong level of support is going to be important for a number of reasons: In a lot of successful startup ecosystems, there’s a strong drive to help new startups. This may take the form of ‘smart money’ (i.e. investors who don’t just drop money into the startup for equity, but also offer advice, contacts, or other ways of championing their investments), procedural advice, or operational know-how.
For example; if you are in a very active startup ecosystem, it’s possible to get a lot of advice around how to set up employee share options, how to deal with operational challenges, or how to deal with brand protection or patenting.
Peer learning is a powerful first step to form a baseline for what to expect before getting swept away by lawyers and accountants — in a new ecosystem, the peer learning isn’t as readily available, and seeing the government working with the startup scene to help plug that gap is refreshing.
In addition to the government, the Norwegian royal house has thrown themselves into the mix. HRH crown prince Haakon of Norway (which, given he is next in line to the throne, means he can legitimately be called King of the North, right?) opened the event with a funny (“In 1600 we invented clocks and started being late for everything”) and engaging speech about the history of innovation and entrepreneurship both in Norway and beyond.
The size of the ecosystem also means that it quickly becomes a tight-knit community. That could arguably go both ways, of course, but at least the channels of communication are open. My impression was that it appears that if your startup is able to formulate the right question, chances are pretty decent of being connected with the right persons to help you find a solid answer.
Five years ago, I found that the startup scene in Norway had a handful of players and very little support infrastructure to go with it. Today, it’s a completely different world. I look forward to diving more in depth over the next few months, but here are a few tasty morsels to get you started…
Futurehome is making all your smart home bits talk to each other
If you’ve tried to build a ‘smart home’ recently, you’ll have spotted that most devices are pretty dumb; or at least they’ve been struck by the Tower of Babel curse: Getting them to talk to each other is bloody hard. Starting with their home market in Norway, but rolling out internationally later, Futurehome is one to keep an eye on.
No Isolation is tackling isolation challenges for children with long-term illnesses
Children suffering from long term illness often struggle with crushing isolation issues, and according to No Isolation‘s CEO, 80% of children with severe disabilities have no friends at all. This is the problem the company is tackling with a product launching later this year; a fantastic startup than can hand-on-heart say they’re making the world a better place.
Staaker is a drone that follows you around
Wear an armband and your drone will fly slow (or fast) circles around you as you make a half-hearted attempt at avoiding to kill yourself on the ski slopes. Very impressive tech; if you’ve not heard of Staaker yet, don’t worry; soon, you won’t be able to avoid it.
Nabobil is taking on Turo, Getaround and co with some truly astonishing numbers
Nabobil (Norwegian for ‘Neighbor Car’) is a sharing economy for cars platform – much like Getaround et al. The company is showing some truly impressive traction, and while it’s currently only serving the local market, it has some ambitious expansion plans up its sleeve and a pretty impressive plan of how to get there. Definitely one to keep an eye out for.
Fish food company MiniPro wins startup pitching competition
I was surprised to find a fish food company winning a startup pitching competition; but on closer reflection, it’s the perfect story to illustrate why Norway’s isn’t like other startup ecosystems.
All the startups I can’t talk about… yet
A number of the startups I met with in Norway — both as part of Startup Extreme and separately — aren’t ready to share their full stories yet. But they will be, and when they do, you know where to come looking for you – that’s right; your favorite green-mastheaded tech site. Stay tuned.
Please read the full article by clicking the link below.
Source: TechCrunch