Venture V, whose limited partners include the European Investment Fund, will invest in spinouts from Sintef and NTNU.
Research organisation Sintef has launched a Nkr500m ($61m) seed fund called Venture V aimed at local research commercialisation.
Sintef has injected $13.5m into the fund through its venture capital arm, Sintef Venture, while the EU-owned European Investment Fund (EIF) has committed $19m. Norway’s municipal pension fund Kommunal Landspensjonskasse (KLP) has provided $9.3m.
Backers also include Reitan Kapital, the corporate venturing arm of retail group Reitan, diversified conglomerate Orkla, financial services firm SpareBank1 SMN’s Invest subsidiary, charitable foundations Gjensidigestiftelsen and Sparebankstiftelsen, and pension fund manager MP Pensjon.
Venture V will invest in early-stage spinouts from Sintef and its partner, Norwegian University of Science and Technology. The vehicle will be managed by Sintef TTO, the research agency’s tech transfer office, and will focus on sectors such as life sciences, clean energy and ICT.
Sintef’s earlier funds include the $34m Venture IV launched in 2014 with participation from Sintef, EIF and SpareBank1 SMN.
Alexandra Bech Gjørv, chief executive of Sintef, said: “The commercialisation of research results and the development of new companies and jobs is part of our mission, which the government expects us to deliver on.
“Access to capital in the seed development phase is important and especially challenging. We are delighted to have partnered with long-term investors that see the potential in our research.”
Anders Lian, managing director of Sintef TTO, said: “We are delighted to have strengthened the investor base with new, ambitious partners. All the investors have a joint commitment to building a strong value chain for the commercialisation of new technologies and creating value for society.”
