Tonje’s Take: Norway’s Position in the Nordics — All to gain on venture capital
The Nordics collectively make up the world’s 11th largest economy and are well positioned to build a globally competitive VC landscape. Yet Oslo is falling behind our Nordic neighbours.
Dealroom’s Global Tech Ecosystem Index 2025 covering 288 global startup ecosystems, ranks all four Nordic capitals Stockholm, Copenhagen, Helsinki, and Oslo among the top 50. Yet despite being in good company, Oslo ranks last in the region for invested capital per capita and total capital invested. Following a period of strong growth, activity is slowing, held back by reduced access to venture capital and a tax regime that makes scaling more difficult.
This year, six of Norway’s leading VC firms are raising new funds. But for those relying on Norwegian LPs, the outlook is challenging. Norway lacks a deep institutional investor base and family offices that fuel venture ecosystems in neighbouring countries.
We have a solid early-stage VC community with players like Sondo, Startuplab and SNÖ that operate as co-investors when international VCs are doing their first investments in Norway. But VCs need capital to raise their funds to stay active and attractive for co-investors. Whenever I meet with international investors that is what they are most interested in. They want access to the local investment community.
The LP Gap: A Structural Disadvantage
A new report from Menon confirms the LP gap: Norway’s public capital sources are the weakest in the Nordics. Over the past five years, neighbouring countries have received four to seven times more funding through institutions like Tesi (Finland), EIFO (Denmark), and Saminvest (Sweden) than Norway has through Investinor. That’s not just a funding gap, it’s a structural disadvantage.
Investinor has played a key role in building Norway’s startup ecosystem. That’s supported by data and echoed by every investor I’ve spoken to. Its fund-of-funds mandate is one of the few public tools we have to strengthen early-stage investing. And when used right, public capital unlocks private capital.
Norway has no shortage of wealth. But we’re not yet building the mechanisms needed to channel it into the next generation of companies. We need stronger alignment between public and private LPs, to compete on a global scale.
At recent events and meetings in Berlin, the sentiment toward the Nordics has been overall positive. Many international investors are eyeing the region and strengthening their presence here. But for Norway to stand out and attract those investors, we need a strong local foundation, both public and private capital that international investors can co-invest with to bring our ecosystem to the next level
If we want to compete globally, we need to invest like it.
