The EU's investment fund boosts its efforts in Norway, invests 210 million NOK into SINTEF's seed fund

The European Investment Fund (EIF) is intensifying its support for Norwegian technology startups by making its third and largest investment to date in SINTEF’s seed fund. Combined with contributions from Norwegian partners, the SINTEF Venture VI fund will manage a capital of half a billion Norwegian kroner. This substantial investment aims to foster the creation of 10-15 new companies, leveraging SINTEF’s long-standing tradition of pioneering technological advancements to develop solutions for a better society

The independent Norwegian research institute currently has 20 start-ups in its portfolio. SINTEF's latest fund – SINTEF Venture VI – has invested in the four most recent of these: Cartesian, MoreScope, Sonair and Mia Health.

"Our investors are result-oriented like all other investors. In addition, they want the capital to contribute to sustainable social development, and we provide that guarantee," says Anders Lian, CEO of SINTEF TTO and SINTEF Venture.

Close to 300 million NOK was invested in the fund in 2023 from the investors KLP, Gjensidigestiftelsen, Sparebankstiftelsen DnB, Sparebank1 SMN, Reitan Kapital, Koteng Holding, Investinor and SINTEF. Most of these have also invested in former SINTEF funds. Now that the EIF and Bernh.Brekke – a Norwegian regional industrial player since 1880 – have invested in the fund, the fund has total assets of half a billion kroner, which is the same amount as its predecessor, SINTEF Venture V, which was fully financed in 2018.

"We highly appreciate SINTEF’s role as a leading tech transfer accelerator in Norway.” Said EIF chief executive Marjut Falkstedt. “Norway recently joined the European Union’s “InvestEU” programme, which allows us to invest a lot more in the country. It is part of the EIF’s core mission to support innovative SMEs, as they tend to have an important impact on employment and the economy. We are glad to once again partner with SINTEF to make pursue this goal also in Norway.”

The European Investment Fund also invested in SINTEF's previous two funds, which were set up in 2014 and 2018. EIF invested 94 million NOK in 2014 and increased to 155 million NOK in 2018. This latest investment is their largest to date and brings the total investment in startup companies from SINTEF up to 459 million NOK.

“The investment from EIF is a great recognition of SINTEFs work to bridge the gap between research, commercialization and societal impact. It is also a result of the government’s effort to give Norwegian businesses, investors and technology developers access to the InvestEU program” says Norway’s Minister of Trade and Industry, Cecilie Myrseth.

Private capital will solve societal challenges

The research institute SINTEF, which is an independent foundation, has been engaged in applied research since 1950 and has an extensive history of innovation that includes several of the technologies that have led to a very high societal impact. Some examples are GSM mobile technology, multiphase technology and carbon capture and storage (CCS).

"We are working to deliver technology and innovations that give society and business the opportunity to change in line with the requirements for a more sustainable society. I am very happy to see that the start-ups we create contribute greatly to realizing the UN's sustainability goals and that they are succeeding so well attracting capital from professional investors at home and abroad in the phase where they will grow out of the laboratories and up to a large scale," says SINTEF's President and CEO Alexandra Bech Gjørv. 

The research institute's more than 2200 employees work in close collaboration with academia, the public sector, industry and other business and industry in strategically important disciplines for restructuring and radical innovations.

Knowledge in enabling technologies such as bio-, nano-, materials technology and digital technologies or in domains within industry, oceans, health, energy, digital, the built society and production is sold for the benefit of the clients or through the development of start-up companies. 

“Investing in our seed funds gives exposure to a diversified portfolio of startups with three common denominators: Their cutting-edge technology, the societal impact they aim for and the quality and maturity of the business case through the fact that our investment directors work side by side with the researchers all the way from the idea-hatching to the commercial phase,” says CEO of SINTEF TTO and SINTEF Venture Anders Lian.

Facts about SINTEF TTO

-          SINTEF's technology transfer company, which commercialises proprietary research results through licensing and selling technology to existing companies, and to new companies that are spun out of SINTEF's research environments.

-          Manages several seed/early-phase funds that invest in start-up companies from SINTEF. These funds are important tools in the commercialisation of research results from SINTEF, and both national and international investors are involved in the funds.

-          Manages currently holdings in 20 companies. See the full portfolio here: https://www.sintef.no/en/tto/holdings/?id=234329

Facts about SINTEF Venture VI

-          Seed fund managed by SINTEF TTO which invests in start-up companies from SINTEF

-          NOK 500 million in total assets

-          The investors in the fund are SINTEF, KLP, Gjensidigestiftelsen, Sparebankstiftelsen DnB, Sparebank 1 SMN, Reitangruppen, Koteng Holding, Investinor, Bernh. Brekke and European Investment Fund

-          The fund is designed to promote environmental and social characteristics in line with Article 8 of the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR)

-          Has invested in four start-up companies:

• Cartesian AS:
  • Offers heating and cooling solutions by storing and extracting thermal energy from phase change materials
  • https://cartesian.no/
  • Located in Trondheim
• MoreScope
  • Provides a data-driven platform for companies and investors to use to quantify climate impact, carbon footprint and avoided emissions
  • https://www.morescope.com/
  • Located in Oslo and Trondheim
• Sonair
  • Offers a 3D ultrasonic sensor for robots
  • https://www.sonair.com/
  • Located in Oslo
• Mia Health
  • Offers a solution that gives individuals and companies easy and precise insight into the actual health benefits of the activity they do
  • https://miahealth.no/
  • Located in Trondheim

Facts about the European Investment Fund (EIF)

• EU Equity Fund Investment Facility in the EEA
• The investments are made in funds that provide financing to small and medium-sized enterprises
• Established in 1994, it is owned by the European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Commission, and public and private banks and financial institutions
• Has provided funding to over 2 million companies since it was established.

Contact information

CEO SINTEF TTO and SINTEF Venture Anders Lian
Telephone +47 911 05 411
Email  anders.lian@sintef.no.

Interview requests for SINTEF CEO Alexandra Bech Gjørv can be made through
Communications Director Stein Mortensholm
Telephone number +47 990 09 600
Email stein.mortensholm@sintef.no