Raised NOK 100 million for new regional seed funding initiative

As seed funding is outside funding for a company’s earliest stages, the form of capital is a tool for getting ideas off the ground and giving a potential company and idea life. The first investments are expected to be placed already this year.

Looking for partners

The region has several exciting business industry developments, like Eide Fjordbruk’s new closed pens for aquaculture, innovative renewable energy producer Kitemill, Invertapro’s new factory for utilising local food waste and organic side streams for insect production and the HUB projeccts; Deep Purple hydrogen project in Hardanger and BIR’s new biogas facility in Voss Biopark.

The Hardanger Hydrogen Hub defined a a HUB in the collaboration Grøn region Vestland, an initiative where Vestland County and Innovation Norway facilitate cooperation between public and private stakeholders to ensure an efficient green transition effort. 19 strategically defined hubs across the region serve as focal points for green transformation, enabling the establishment of new value chains throughout the county each with the potential to generate 17,000 new jobs, boost exports, and reduce emissions.

The Deep Purple project in the Tyssedal and Odda regions aims to create a secure and reliable system for storing compressed hydrogen underwater. The project is a continuation of Tizir’s hydrogen conversion plans and will play a crucial role in meeting the growing demand for hydrogen in the area. Green hydrogen will be produced locally using water electrolysis and the abundant hydroelectric power available in Tyssedal. Tizir, Statkraft, TechnipFMC Kongsberg, and Odda Technology are collaborating on this initiative.

In Voss Biopark, one of Norway's largest waste disposal companies BIR, is aboust to start building a biogas processing plant at Bjørkemoen in Voss municipality. With a capacity of 15 000 tons of waste the potential energy output is 28 GWh. When opening next year, the plan is that this processing facility could be the heart of a full-scale bio park with several circular value chains.

Invest in Bergen recently visited Voss Bioark and Kitemill in Voss for an exciting update on what is going on in Voss. 

The partners have room for companies and business ideas that can fit into the value chains. Could this be the location for your company, don’t hesitate to contact us!

Early stage

The Hardanger Voss fund will primarily invest in growth-oriented startups, allocate some capital for existing business transformation, and support ventures that create positive ripple effects in the region.

The fund will be run by a new foundation, Investment Foundation Hardanger Voss, that was founded this week. The foundation’s purpose is to foster innovation and growth in the Hardanger and Voss regions through investments in seed funds and other initiatives. The final investment mandate and profile will be developed after the summer. An investment committee and board will also be appointed. Per Berge is Chairman of the new investment foundation.

You can read more and follow the fund here.

The initiative comes from Sparebankstiftinga Hardanger, which, together with partners including Ullensvang municipality, Kvam municipality, Eidfjord municipality, Ulvik municipality, Voss municipality, and Voss Sparebank, has collectively donated 100 million Norwegian kroner to the foundation. Their goal is to make the region attractive for both living and working, fostering new skilled jobs and promoting an entrepreneurial culture.

Voss Business Park Istad offers a range of ready-zoned plots where road access, power, fibre optics, a water supply, and sewer system are already in place.

There are also several commercial areas with availability. You can see more details here.

Don’t hesitate to contact any of our advisors if you see opportunities in this area.