Developing a thriving innovation and venture capital ecosystem in Oslo
Developing a thriving innovation and venture capital ecosystem in Oslo
Oslo's challenges ahead
Norway is among the most productive economies in the world, supported by strong research institutions, high educational attainment, and sound economic structures. Oslo Science City represents the country’s densest concentration of universities, hospitals, research institutes, start-ups, and innovation actors – forming a strong foundation for research-based innovation in Oslo.
At the same time, Norway faces a structural transition. As the relative importance of oil and gas declines over time, new high-productivity growth engines must emerge in other sectors. Turning world-class research into scalable companies will be essential to sustaining future prosperity.
However, strong research alone is not enough. Commercialisation requires capital, competence, and a well-functioning venture capital (VC) ecosystem.
And building a thriving VC ecosystem takes time. International experience shows that it often requires one to two decades of sustained effort before a self-reinforcing ecosystem emerges – where successful founders become investors and scaleups generate new growth engines.
To investigate this further, we benchmark Norway against Nordic and European peers and assess how policy tools and framework conditions shape the ecosystem in this report commissioned by Oslo Science City.
The main findings of our study
Insufficient risk capital
Our analysis shows that the primary constraint in Norway’s innovation ecosystem is a lack of risk capital – particularly at early stages.
VC investments relative to GDP are significantly lower than in Nordic peers and below the EU average.
Fundraising by Norwegian VC funds is weak, signalling limited investment capacity in the years ahead.
The role of policy tools and framework conditions
At the same time, the broader policy environment makes it less attractive for founders and investors to take risks: wealth taxation of unrealised gains and exit taxation limits incentives for start-ups, scaleups, and international talent. Additionally, public capital plays an important role in nascent VC ecosystems, but Norwegian levels are lower than in comparable countries and are to a large extent channelled directly to companies rather than through funds, bypassing ecosystem-wide effects.
Three key priorities to improve the VC ecosystem
Strengthen incentives for research-based innovation, including higher founder ownership, better-aligned academic incentives, and closer collaboration between research institutions and corporates.
Increase and refocus public capital to crowd in private investors, with a stronger emphasis on fund investments.
Improve framework conditions, particularly by reforming exit and wealth taxation to strengthen incentives for founders, investors, and international talent.
Get the full details below, including methodology and what characterises a robust and thriving VC ecosystem.
Download the summary report here.
This study was commissioned by Oslo Science City.
In brief
Insufficient risk capital is the main bottleneck in Norway's innovation and venture capital ecosystem, with VC investment at 4 basis points of GDP, the lowest among Nordic peers and below the EU average.
4 basis points Annual gain to Danish GDP from increased trade since 1992, equal to DKK 90,000 per household.
EUR 88 million Average annual public investment at seed and VC stage, against EUR 278 million in Denmark and EUR 156 million in Finland.
2/3 Share of Norwegian public seed and VC capital invested directly into companies rather than through funds, the only such pattern in the Nordics.
37.84 per centAnnual saving for each Dane from imports from five low-wage countries, set against buying the same goods again inside the EU.
EUR 227 million Total Norwegian VC investment in 2024, up from EUR 56 million in 2015.
Commissioned by Oslo Science City. Authors: Jonas Bjarke Jensen. Published March 2026. Data covering 2015 to 2024. Norway, benchmarked against Denmark, Sweden, Finland and the Netherlands.
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Related work
Swedish Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (SVCA)
Economic footprint of Swedish venture capital
The European Commission
Study on equity investments in Europe: Mind the gap
Swedish Private Equity & Venture Capital Association
The economic footprint of Swedish Venture Capital and Private Equity
Confederation of Swedish Enterprise (Svenskt Näringsliv)
Future taxation of company profits: What to do with intangibles?
Related Links
Download the summary report here
About this analysis
Copenhagen Economics analysed the Norwegian innovation and venture capital ecosystem in international perspective, across four parts: innovation and commercialisation, the workings of venture capital, the state of the Norwegian VC market, and exit opportunities. The analysis benchmarks investment, public capital and tax data against Nordic peers and the Netherlands, and draws on interviews with investors, founders and institutions across the ecosystem, among them Investinor, Nysnø, Hadean Ventures, Ferd Capital, SINTEF, Inven2, Innovation Norge and the European Investment Fund.
Public support figures are estimated from the annual reports of Investinor and Nysnø, with growth and expansion investments excluded. For Nysnø, the 2024 portfolio split is applied across the whole period, which may under- or overstate the direct investment share if direct and fund investments performed differently.