Shaping the Norwegian Alliance for Startups & Tech

For a country to grow internationally competitive companies, it needs to nurture entrepreneurship and technological innovation  🔗. Over the last decades, entrepreneurship has been the primary source of global innovation - and disruption - and the global leaders are young companies. A vibrant and strong tech startup sector is vital for a countries competitiveness going forward. In Norway, traditional industries and business dynamics dominate.

The Norwegian startup ecosystem has matured significantly when it comes to the number of companies, growth rates, investment attraction, and general public attention. This shift is yet to vibe reflected in policy making and politics. An area where the traditional business associations and industries still dominate. The startup scene is represented by individuals who lack alignment and the ability to be a professional partner to politicians and other special interest organizations.

That is why - Mesh, StartupLab, TheFactory, and StartupTRD - have come together to see if this is the right time to start a political organization on behalf of the tech startup scene. Combined we have set aside 400.000 nok and we have worked since beginning of 2023 to get started. The organization should be by and for the leading tech startups in Norway. We will therefore include a select group to take part in the establishment of the organization and the development of the initiative depends on their wishes and decisions. Once a foundation is set we will welcome a larger group of startups and founders into the initiative and we will hopefully launch a political organization that can represent the tech scene professionally and forcefully together.