Innovation Dock Startup Exchange Programme
We help Norwegian growth companies scale internationally, and international growth companies set up in Norway.
Not for the travel or the conferences, but for results: the right meetings, and the customers, partners and capital that come from them, in a new market and faster than a company gets there alone. Run with Equinor and partners abroad, and supported by Agenda Vestlandet.
Taking your company international?
Both are open to Innovation Dock members. Ask us which membership fits.
Register your interest- Apply for this year's programmeFree to take part: one-to-one meetings with customers and capital in a new market, through Greentown Labs in Houston and CodeBase in Aberdeen, with more countries on the way.
- Borrow a desk abroadA desk and a way into the innovation community at our partners while you're there.
Two directions, one network.
A shortcut into a new market, both ways. Our partners abroad know the people who matter in their market and open those doors for our companies, and we do the same with the industry we know here.
Into Norway
International growth companies that want into the Norwegian energy market come to Stavanger when the industry gathers for ONS. Our partners abroad help choose them, and we fill their week with meetings with potential customers and partners, and a stage in front of the industry.
Out into the world
Norwegian growth companies ready for a new market travel with us to energy hubs abroad, chosen with Equinor and a jury of partners. Our partners there, Greentown Labs in Houston and CodeBase in Aberdeen, open the doors they know and set up the meetings.
After the trip
A week opens the door. The follow-up meetings, the introductions and the pilots once everyone is home are what count, so we stay with the companies after the trip.
The rounds so far.
- 2024Houston & Boston
Where it started
Equinor introduced us to Greentown Labs, the climate tech incubator, in August 2023. In February 2024 we went to Houston and Boston to meet Greentown Labs, Activate, Rice Alliance, the Ion and Dynamo, and set up the exchange.
The deal is simple. When companies come to Stavanger, we organise everything here; when we take companies to Houston, Greentown Labs organise everything there. They know the people who matter in Houston and open those doors for our companies, and we do the same with the industry and ecosystem we know in Norway. For a startup it is a shortcut into a new market: straight to the right people, without spending a year finding them.
Bridging innovation across borders
Greentown Labs, HoustonN 29°45′ W 95°22′ - Aug 2024ONS, Stavanger
Six companies to Stavanger
The first round came to us. During ONS 2024, one of the world's largest energy conferences, we hosted three companies from the US through Greentown Labs and three Norwegian companies nominated with Startuplab.
For a week they pitched in Equinor's tent and in the ONS Scale-Up Pitch Competition, joined workshops at the World Energy Cities Partnership meeting and met the industry one to one.
- CalWaveUS · Wave energy
- Advanced IonicsUS · Green hydrogen
- CLS WindUS · Wind turbine installation and maintenance
- ZEG PowerNorway · Hydrogen with carbon capture
- RenasysNorway · Chemical-free water filtration
- SoundsensingNorway · Monitoring for buildings
Vågen, StavangerN 58°58′ E 5°44′ - Sep 2025Houston
Four Norwegian startups to Houston
Then we turned it around. Thirteen hubs and investors across Norway recommended 34 startups, seven pitched to a jury with Equinor, Energy Transition Norway and Startuplab, and four came with us to Houston Energy & Climate Startup Week.
They pitched at Equinor's and Woodside Energy's offices, had ten back-to-back investor meetings at the Rice Alliance Energy Tech Venture Forum, took part in Innovation Norway's NordicLink and presented to more than 300 people at Local to Global.
- RenasysNorway · Chemical-free water filtration
- Installer.comNorway · Software for installer services
- Glint SolarNorway · Site screening for solar and storage
- Hive AutonomyNorway · AI and autonomy for industrial machines
Houston, TexasN 29°45′ W 95°22′ - Aug 2026ONS, Stavanger
Eight companies from four countries
Back in Stavanger for ONS 2026, with companies from the US through Greentown Labs, from the UK through CodeBase, from Brazil through IBP and ANP, and one of our own.
All week we booked one-to-one meetings with potential partners and customers, and doors opened at Equinor, Shell, TotalEnergies and Stavanger city council. All eight took the stage at the Global Scale-up Showcase in the tent we share with Equinor and Aibel at ONS+, and several of them pitched in the final of Startup World Cup Stavanger.
- ATS EnergyUS · Waste heat to power
- BiaTechUS · AI for industrial operators
- FennexUK · Safety and compliance software
- Lean DecomUK · Decommissioning training
- NOR Space IntelligenceBrazil · Satellite and AI monitoring
- Pix ForceBrazil · Computer vision and drones
- MonitoraiBrazil · Sensors and AI for asset monitoring
- NovatechNorway · Energy and emissions forecasting
ONS, StavangerN 58°58′ E 5°44′ - Sep 2026Aberdeen
A bridge to Scotland
After ONS we went to Aberdeen, with CodeBase as our host, to meet Opportunity North East and its tech and bio hubs, Robert Gordon University, the University of Aberdeen, the National Decommissioning Centre, ORE Catapult and the Net Zero Technology Centre at the Energy Transition Zone, Aberdeenshire Council and Invest Aberdeen.
The visit ended in an agreement to bring a delegation of Norwegian growth companies to Offshore Europe in Aberdeen in 2027.
What happens after is the point.
- HIVE
Met Houston-based Veriten during the Houston week. In July 2026 HIVE closed a USD 15 million round led by SuperSeed, with Veriten, Skyfall and Nysnø among the investors.
- Renasys
From Førde. Part of the first two rounds, and in 2026 the winner of Startup World Cup Stavanger, on its way to the global final in San Francisco.
Renasys wins Startup World Cup Stavanger - The class of 2026
By the end of ONS week, several conversations had already moved into follow-up meetings, and new pilot talks were under way.
Where we're going next.
We keep growing the network: into Europe, where many regions face the same transition as ours, and to Brazil, where our partners from ONS 2026 opened the door. We pick the companies for the 2027 trips in the spring.
- AberdeenA delegation of Norwegian growth companies to Offshore Europe, with CodeBase as our host.
- HoustonNew rounds to Houston Energy & Climate Startup Week with Greentown Labs.
- BrazilWith our partners from ONS 2026 as hosts, IBP and the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, and Cubo Itaú, Inovabra and Abstartups’ CASE in São Paulo, we are getting to know Brazil’s innovation and research hubs and finding openings for Norwegian companies.
- FranceCoworking and innovation hubs in Paris, and a French partner for the network.
- Denmark & the NetherlandsEnergy regions in the same transition as ours, the first steps of a European network, with Sweden and Finland on the list too.
- ONS, StavangerEvery other year the round comes to us, when the energy world gathers in Stavanger.
Supported by Agenda Vestlandet.
Agenda Vestlandet supports our work to connect growth companies from Western Norway with international markets for three years, from 2026 to 2028. It helps pay for the trips, the round at ONS and closer ties to innovation hubs in Europe, so more companies from the region reach customers, partners and capital abroad, and get there faster.
The announcement (in Norwegian)“Innovation Dock has shown over time that they can connect companies, capital and industry in a way that gives concrete results. It is this ability to deliver that we want to strengthen.”
Partners along the way.
Want to come along?
Tell us about your company and where you want to go. We pick the companies for every round together with our partners, and come back to you before the next one. A hub abroad that wants a bridge to Norway can use the form too.
