The Norwegian capital Oslo is a thriving tech startup ecosystem that has a buzzing startup scene. Adding to this, the government of Norway also supports the budding companies with initiatives including Startup Norway. And, there are events such as Startup Weekend Oslo that makes it interesting and motivating for budding entrepreneurs and young startups.
Top deals in Oslo in Q2 2020
It is no secret that Oslo is home to some aspirational tech startups in Europe across industries. And, here we have listed the top US VC deals in Oslo in Q2 2020 as reported by Pitchbook.
Zelluna
Founder/s: Namir Hassan
Founded year: 2016
Total funding: €7.5 million
Zelluna Immunotherapy is a T Cell Receptor (TCR) cell therapy company secured €7.5 million equity funding and public grants. The company will focus on the development of TCR-NK cell therapy products based on its proprietary tech platform where TCRs are expressed functionally in NK cells. Recently, the company also announced the formation of partnerships with leading NK organisations providing access to NK cells, additional competency and expertise, and manufacturing facilities.
The company is pioneering the development of T cell receptor (TCR) guided natural killer cell immunotherapies for solid cancers’ treatment. It will secure new TCR targets via internal development programs as well as partnerships with other groups and companies.
Aprila
Founder/s: Israr Khan, Kjetil Barli, Per Christian Goller, Heiki Strengelsrud
Founded year: 2016
Total funding: €18.7 million
Aprila Bank announced that it secured $7.5 million Series A funding (nearly €6.67 million). This comes after the $21 million funding that it secured from Alliance Venture, Aksel Lund Svindal and others. However, the company hasn’t disclosed the investors that took part in the recent funding round.
Aprila Bank is an invoice finance provider based out of Norway. It enables users to sell the invoices directly from the accounting software. Users need to register on the platform and click on the sell button in the accounting software to receive funding. The company’s API-based tech platform connects around 130,000 SMEs via partnership agreements with leading accounting and cloud-based ERP system providers.
Vibbio
Founder/s: Marianne Bratt Ricketts, Stine Norum
Founded year: 2016
Total funding: €1.7 million
Vibbio, a Norwegian tech startup works on solutions that provide the most efficient forms of business communications. Currently, it is surpassing all other online formats and can be used to engage with audiences within and outside organisations. Vibbio believes in empowering teams with an easy to use tool to create branded in-house videos and solve various communication tasks efficiently.
The company disrupts the traditional agency model for video production, by leveraging technology and offering a full-service cloud-based video solution.
Vibbio’s vision is to make smart video accessible, affordable and automatic. Early in June, this startup secured €1.19 million funding from Nettuno Capital, Orkla Venture, TRK Group, 2M2D, and Investinor.
Preppio
Founder/s: Amin Fard, Reza Shamshirgaran
Founded year: 2017
Total funding: NA
Preppio is an onboarding experience software based out of Oslo. During the critical pre- and onboarding stage employees often lose their engagement and even quit. The company empowers HR and hiring managers to save time while increasing employee engagement and help reduce turnover. Preppio is a new breed of software that works without employees needing to download new apps or log into separate platforms. Preppio raised €0.28 million from Skyfall Ventures, Jon Stene, TRK Group, and Fredrik Gulowsen early in June this year.
Tipio
Founder/s: Jan Johannessen, Kristian Wulfsberg Majer, Elin Parr Ohme, Michael Lybek
Founded year: 2017
Total funding: €220k
Based out of Oslo, Tipio operates a consumer-driven marketplace for group purchases. It bagged €0.20 million in a fresh round via an equity crowdfunding campaign on Folkeinvest. With this investment, it will develop its digital marketplace that will let customers get better purchasing prices by grouping certain items. Tipio works with the vision to enable consumers take back power and decide for themselves, which product they want an offer on. Finally, a group buying platform will let them secure unique deals.
Bio-Me
Founder/s: Morten Isaksen
Founded year: 2016
Total funding: NA
In April this year, Bio-Me secured €2 million funding in terms of public support and grants from The Research Council of Norway to develop a companion diagnostic test for immune checkpoint inhibitor cancer treatments. It is known that the gut microbiome influences the efficiency of the ICI cancer treatments.
Bio-Me will us its breakthrough Precision Microbiome Profiling (PMP) technology to develop a microbiome-based test that can identify responders to ICI treatments. It has been developed by a close collaboration between leading academic researchers and clinical experts in the field. It is believed that the project will run until the end of 2023 and the diagnostic test is anticipated to improve patient outcomes significantly.
Stock photo from TTStudio/Shutterstock
