Norway has the capital. Why aren’t more startups scaling?
Norway needs more companies that can turn technology into exports, jobs and new industries. At Arendalsuka, Innovation Dock, Nordic Edge and Validé are bringing together founders and investors to discuss what is preventing more Norwegian startups from scaling internationally.
Norwegian founders are good at developing new technology and building promising companies. The real challenge often begins when they need to grow.
Access to growth capital becomes more limited. Securing the first major customers takes too long. The Norwegian home market is small, while entering international markets requires capital, experience and strong networks.
The numbers illustrate the problem: In the first half of 2025, fourteen times more capital was invested in startups in Sweden than in Norway. Swedish founders do not have fourteen times better ideas.
So what is stopping the capital, and what needs to change?
Capital for innovation
During Arendalsuka, Innovation Dock, Nordic Edge and Validé invite founders, investors and key representatives from the Norwegian capital market to the discussion:
Kapital til innovasjon: Hva hindrer norske gründere i å skalere?
Capital for innovation: What prevents Norwegian founders from scaling?
The aim is to move beyond general statements about the importance of entrepreneurship and address the structures that determine whether promising companies can actually grow.
Are Norwegian funds too small? Are the incentives for private investors too weak? Do startups struggle to access pilot customers? Or have we simply not built an ecosystem capable of supporting companies from early-stage development to international growth?
Meet the speakers
The discussion brings together perspectives from venture capital, fund management and founders with first-hand experience of the Norwegian capital market:
Allon Groth, Managing Director, Norwegian Venture Capital & Private Equity Association
Grethe S. Meisingset, Partner, HitecVision
Jon Trygve Berg, Partner, Sarsia
Merete Nygaard, Founder and CEO, Lexolve
Christopher Sveen, Co-founder and CEO, Renasys
The event will be opened by Terje Eide, CEO of Nordic Edge. The discussion will be moderated by Anne Cathrin Østebø, CEO of Validé and Validé Invest, with closing remarks from Elianne Strøm Topstad, Program Manager at Innovation Dock.
More than access to capital
For Innovation Dock, this is about more than increasing the amount of capital available.
Founders also need access to the right customers, expertise, industrial partners and international networks throughout their growth journey.
If Norway wants to create the next generation of internationally competitive companies, we need an ecosystem that makes it easier to start, test, grow and expand beyond the Norwegian market.
The capital gap is not a law of nature. It is the result of the structures, incentives and priorities we have chosen — and those can be changed.
Part of the Stavanger region’s programme at Rygerelektra
The event is part of the wider Rygerelektra programme coordinated by Stavanger Chamber of Commerce during Arendalsuka.
The programme is delivered with Sparebanken Norge as main partner, in collaboration with the municipalities of Randaberg, Stavanger, Klepp, Gjesdal, Hå, Sola, Eigersund, Sandnes, Suldal and Time, as well as Rogaland County Municipality.
Date: Tuesday, 11 August 2026
Time: 11:15–12:00
Venue: Rygerelektra, Langbrygga, Arendal
Event organisers: Innovation Dock, Nordic Edge and Validé