Key Takeaways
- • Norway's government invests less in venture capital than any other Nordic country, according to AMWatch, and Investinor's CEO argues it must invest significantly more to keep pace with its neighbors.
- • Investinor's funding proposal requests NOK 600m (EUR 56m) per year from the state budget over four years, or NOK 2.4bn (EUR 224m) in total.
- • Investinor, Norway's state-owned investment company, is the country's largest and most active venture capital investor, with approximately NOK 4.2bn invested in total per its own published figures.
- • The article was published on 9 October 2026 by Halvor Elverum; the full text is behind AMWatch's subscription paywall, so the CEO's complete arguments are not available in the sources reviewed.
Summary
AMWatch reports that Norway's government invests less in venture capital than any other Nordic country, and that Investinor's chief executive says the state must increase its investment significantly to keep pace with neighboring countries. The article, written by Halvor Elverum and published on 9 October 2026, frames the issue as one of competitiveness in the regional venture ecosystem. The CEO's headline position is that Norway must keep investing "billions" in venture capital, though the full article is paywalled and the detailed reasoning is not available in the material reviewed.
Investinor's own funding proposal provides the concrete figures behind the argument. The company has requested NOK 600m (EUR 56m) annually from the state budget for four years, totaling NOK 2.4bn (EUR 224m). Investinor describes itself as the largest and most active venture capital investor in Norway, stating that it has approximately NOK 4.2bn invested in total. Its investment capacity depends on state funding, which is the basis of the current request.
Investinor is government-funded and invests in competitive, high-potential Norwegian companies. The publisher context indicates that the company has previously received supplementary state capital as part of a crisis package for Norwegian start-ups and growth companies, though the timing of that allocation is not specified in the sources and should not be read as a current development. The AMWatch piece sits within its Private Markets coverage, and the core question for institutional allocators is whether the requested budget uplift is approved and how it affects Norway's domestic venture pipeline relative to Nordic peers.
Investinor's own funding proposal provides the concrete figures behind the argument. The company has requested NOK 600m (EUR 56m) annually from the state budget for four years, totaling NOK 2.4bn (EUR 224m). Investinor describes itself as the largest and most active venture capital investor in Norway, stating that it has approximately NOK 4.2bn invested in total. Its investment capacity depends on state funding, which is the basis of the current request.
Investinor is government-funded and invests in competitive, high-potential Norwegian companies. The publisher context indicates that the company has previously received supplementary state capital as part of a crisis package for Norwegian start-ups and growth companies, though the timing of that allocation is not specified in the sources and should not be read as a current development. The AMWatch piece sits within its Private Markets coverage, and the core question for institutional allocators is whether the requested budget uplift is approved and how it affects Norway's domestic venture pipeline relative to Nordic peers.
Go deeper than the headline
Research every firm in this story, track the ones that matter and get the daily briefing — free for 7 days.