Katherine Mellis: “In Oslo, I’m able to pursue my career to the utmost alongside colleagues who similarly love the outdoors and embrace a variety of interests.”
"It’s quite unique that I can go cycling or skiing in the forest before work—and still make it to the office by nine,” says Katherine Mellis.
Katherine grew up in Silicon Valley, where many of the biggest tech and venture capital firms are based. She studied bioengineering at Berkeley and has a background in healthcare.
A desire to become better versed in finance led her to London to complete her MBA, after which she joined the Healthcare Investment Banking team at Goldman Sachs.
Katherine enjoys working with healthcare-related businesses because it’s a sector where you can make a huge impact and where incentives are in lock-step.
"Healthcare touches everyone. There are massive problems to solve across the sector, which creates immense opportunities. And to top it off, if you’re able to make a lot of people healthier, it typically translates into strong financial returns as well,” she says.
Now in Oslo, Katherine heads up healthcare-related investments at venture capital firm Sandwater, investing in early growth-stage companies across Europe.
Sustainability, in and out of work
After two years of COVID with multiple lockdowns in London, Katherine got an opportunity to move into venture capital, so she and her husband decided to relocate back to his home town of Oslo.
“Having grown up in California, I’m used to having ready access to the outdoors, and we both felt that we missed an element of that living in such a big city”, she says.
Now in Oslo, Katherine enjoys “pretty much everything that gets me outside!” which can involve backcountry skiing, gravel biking, horseback riding and more. “Everyone knows that Norway has stunning nature - but I don’t think everyone realizes how accessible it is. The fact that you can hop on the underground train in city-centre and ride it all the way to the ski slopes is pretty unique.”
A sustainable foundation for building her career
When asked how she found the move, Katherine replied that the transition from investment banking in London to early-stage VC in Oslo was multifaceted.
“Though the hours can certainly still be intense, I’m more in the driver's seat today in terms of managing my time and working with young companies and teams that I find inspiring and get a lot of energy from.”
The change in career and city has allowed Katherine to embrace a new rhythm that she hopes will be a sustainable foundation for building her career for many years.
“All of the founders and start-ups I work with have big ambitions – and problems rarely pop up during the 9-5! At the same time, I’ve tried to be more conscious about embracing the cyclicality of the job – there are natural ebbs and flows. If we’re working toward closing a deal, it’s all hands on deck. But there are also slower periods where I widen my lens and nerd out researching particular topics - and these are times where I can take advantage of all that is on my doorstep in Oslo.”
"Norway is at the forefront of many climate and renewable energy agendas"
With venture capital fund Sandwater, Katherine manages a portfolio of HealthTech and ClimateTech startups. She notes that Oslo and Norway have a growing ecosystem within energy and climate-related ventures, with a robust investor landscape and a maturing group of companies that are attracting increasing interest abroad.
“It’s been interesting to be a part of and to see the development within the local ecosystem, even just in the past couple of years.”
“Internationally, Norway is seen as being at the forefront of many climate and renewable energy agendas.” Take aquaculture for instance, where Norway is responsible for over half of the world’s salmon production.
Within their climate mandate, Sandwater has evaluated several companies looking to improve the sustainability of aquaculture feed. Last year they made their first investment in the space with a decentralized insect-farming company.
“Norway is the leader here. This is just one example where being in Norway provides a sector-knowledge advantage.”
While there are many positives, Katherine also notes that recent policy changes have had detrimental effects for start-ups and founders, and disappointingly are in direct conflict with many of the efforts she sees being made to encourage local innovation and entrepreneurship.