Are there any Norwegian unicorns?
Unicorns are fast-growing privately owned technology companies, with at least $ 1 billion in market value, equivalent to 8.2 billion NOK. The term is interpreted slightly differently and was first used in venture capital environments in the United States in 2013.
Now in June 2021, there are more than 700 unicorns in the world.
Do we have any Norwegians? The answer is yes.
We have Kahoot ASA, which was established in 2013 and has a market value of approx. NOK 30 billion as of June 2021. The company develops game-based learning systems, is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange and was worth more than NOK 5 billion when it went public in October 2019.
The technology company Cognite was established in 2016.
Their technology disconnects data sources from industrial operations and makes the data available to machines and people so that they can make better decisions about production, maintenance, emissions and efficiency.
Cognite works with the power industry, shipping, oil and gas industry and process industry. In May 2021, the company is priced at NOK 13.3 billion after a capital raising.
The goal is an IPO on US Nasdaq.
A third company is Autostore AS – the Nordic region’s leading robot warehouse. By automating logistics solutions, the company hopes to reduce time, costs and space utilization in large warehouses. The company is not yet listed on the stock exchange, but after Japanese Softbank entered the ownership side of the company in April 2021, the estimated market value is NOK 65 billion. The company will probably be listed on the stock exchange in the near future.
Kolonial.no was founded in 2013 and has recently changed its name to Oda to invest internationally, initially in Finland and Germany. The online store has a turnover of NOK 50 million a week and is expected to have a turnover of NOK 2.5 billion this year. After Japanese Softbank and technology investor Prosus entered the ownership side in April this year, the company was valued at NOK 7.5 billion. In a new capital injection in June 2021, the company is valued at NOK 10.2 billion, and is thus a unicorn.
Source: Innovation Norway