THE NORWEGIAN VENTURE CAPITAL CONFERENCE

THE NORWEGIAN VENTURE CAPITAL CONFERENCE 2015
Invitation to the Norwegian Venture Capital Conference 2015
Venue: Dokkhuset, street address Dokkparken 4, Trondheim
Date: 2nd June 2015
Time: 2:00 PM (Registration from 1:30 PM)
Tapas and drinks from approx. 7:00 PM
The Norwegian Venture Capital & Private Equity Association (NVCA) and Investinor hereby
invite you to the Norwegian Venture Capital Conference on June 2nd in Trondheim, Norway.
Don’t miss this opportunity to get unique insights into global technology trends, an overview
of the international venture capital markets as well as inspiration on company communication
and story telling.
The Norwegian Venture Capital Conference is a meeting place for investors, entrepreneurs,
advisors and public policy makers. The conference is an annual gathering for those with a
shared interest in shaping global business of the future.
During the afternoon program we will:
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Have the scene set by an overview from the Ministry of Finance
Be inspired by the journey and recent successful exit of the company GasSecure
Gain valuable insights about the international venture capital markets from leading
venture capital firms Global Catalyst Partners and e.ventures
Learn more about how to create fast growth for a young innovate company from the
successful Norwegian serial entrepreneur behind the New York startup Tapad
Receive guidance on the market for investments with environmental impact from leading
pan-European venture capital firm Environmental Technologies Fund
Be enlightened on how to tell the exciting story of a startup company by London based
communication agency Creation
PROGRAM:
Active ownership – a foundation for growth?
Jon Gunnar Pedersen, State Secretary - Ministry of Finance
Jon Gunnar Pedersen is a State Secretary in the Norwegian Ministry
of Finance. Previously he was a Director and Partner at Arctic
Securities ASA. Mr Pedersen has also, among other positions, been
an Advisor at Immobiliare AS, Director at Orkla Securities AS and
Managing Director at Orkla Securities (UK) Ltd.
Mr Pedersen has an MBA, Finance and Strategy, from the
Northeastern University, Boston and a Cand. Mag, History,
Economics and Political Science, from Oslo University.
Creating buzz around innovative startup companies
Kate Steele, Executive Vice President, EMEA & Microsoft Global Client Relationship
Lead – Creation
Kate has almost 20 years’ experience working in marketing and
communications. Based in London, she is the global lead for
Creation’s largest client, heading a team that covers over 60 markets
worldwide. Kate was appointed EVP of Creation in 2014, moving
from sister agency Weber Shandwick.
Kate’s primary focus has been on working with brands in the
technology, professional services and health and wellbeing
spaces. Kate has provided organizations with counsel around
corporate communications; b2b engagement; b2c engagement;
employee engagement; issues and crisis management and
philanthropy/CSR. Before starting her career in Public Relations,
Kate was a freelance broadcaster, telling stories and hosting
programmes for the BBC and a variety of regional/specialist stations.
Kate took her MA in English Literature at Cambridge University, where she was made a
Scholar in 1992 and was awarded a further MA in Radio Broadcasting from London
University. In her spare time, she pickles things, bakes things and is learning how to ride
horses.
Investing with environmental impact
Henrik Olsén, Founder and Managing Partner - Environmental Technologies Fund
Henrik is a founder and Managing Partner of the Environmental
Technologies Fund, one of Europe’s leading growth equity funds
focusing on investing in rapidly growing companies with a big
environmental impact. Prior to founding ETF in 2005, Henrik spent
13 years at GE. Most recently he was a Managing Director of GE
Equity, General Electric’s private equity business, where he
successfully invested in high growth businesses across Europe since
1996. Previously, he worked for a number of different industrial
businesses within GE, where he focused on mergers and
acquisitions as well as post-merger integration and operational
management.
Henrik is a Swedish national and has an MBA from the Stockholm School of Economics,
which included a scholarship exchange with the New York University Stern School of
business. He is the chairman of the European Advisory Board of the Cleantech Group.
Building entrepreneurial ventures into international major companies
Kamran Elahian, Co-founder and Chairman - Global Catalyst Partners
Born in Tehran, Iran, Mr. Elahian immigrated to the U.S. in
1972. He received his degrees in computer science, mathematics
and computer graphics from the University of Utah by the age of
22. In addition, Mr. Elahian studied Integrated Circuit (chip) design
at Stanford University's Honors Program while working as a design
automation software engineer at Hewlett Packard (HP). As an
entrepreneur, Mr. Elahian co-founded ten companies, three of
them failed (e.g. Momenta), six of them produced a total market
cap of over $8B (e.g. Cirrus Logic).
As a VC, Mr. Elahian co-founded Global Catalyst Partners with
investments in the U.S., Japan, China, India and Israel.
Inspired by the indomitable, peace-loving Mahatma Gandhi, Mr. Elahian has developed his
own brand of philanthropy; one that makes the most of modern technological innovations,
such as mobile communications and the Internet, to bridge the social and political differences
among people which he has coined as iGANDHITM
GasSecure – exit of the year?
Knut Sandven, Founder and CEO – GasSecure
Knut Sandven is the founder and CEO of GasSecure. GasSecure
develops gas detectors for the oil and gas market, and its products
are being trialed and used by major operators worldwide. The
company was recently sold to Dräger for more than 40 times last
year’s revenue, which gave the venture capital investors an average
annual return of 70%.
Knut has for most of his career been working with new sensor
technology and applications for the oil and gas industry through
research and start-up companies. He has an MSc in Naval
Architecture from NTNU in Trondheim, Norway and MIT in Boston.
Venture capital perspective from a truly global VC firm
Jonathan Becker, Vice President - e.ventures
Jonathan Becker is a Vice President with e.ventures. Before rejoining
the European team in Hamburg and Berlin, Jonathan had been part
of the firm’s San Francisco team.
Prior to e.ventures, Jonathan held several positions within the Otto
Group, one of the largest e-commerce companies in Europe. His
duties included the rollout of a new eCommerce platform for Otto
Japan in Tokyo and the creation of several web applications for the
product discovery startup smatch.com. Jonathan has a technical
background holding a degree in Computer Science and Business Management.
Creating growth for a young company
Are Traasdahl, CEO and Founder - Tapad
Tapad CEO and Founder Are Traasdahl has more than 15 years’
experience in mobile and digital content. He is a frequent contributor
on mobile advertising technology for outlets such as CNBC and
Bloomberg News, and he has been featured in Forbes, the Wall
Street Journal, The New York Times, Ad Age and other major news
outlets. He was recently named EY Entrepreneur of the Year - 2014
(NY, Ad Tech) and one of Business Insider’s “Most Important People
in Mobile Advertising.”
Traasdahl also currently holds several board positions and heads
Spring Capital, an investment holding company. Prior to Tapad, he
founded Thumbplay, a mobile entertainment service that he grew to more than $100 MM in
revenues in less than 3 years before he exited the company (the company, later acquired by
Clear Channel, is now called iHeartRadio). He was previously a senior executive with
Telenor Group, an international provider of telecom, data and media communications
services.
Moderator and host
Johan Brand, Co-Founder & CEO - Kahoot!
Johan co-founded and is the CEO of Kahoot!, an educational
gaming platform with millions of users world wide. He has over a
decade’s experience merging creativity, innovation and technology.
He is a serial entrepreneur and his work has included high profile
projects for brands including Mercedes, BBC, HP, and Unilever, as
well as startups in London and abroad. He co-founded We are
Human a lean co-creative company, that incubates and develops its
own IP, including the innovative EdTech platform Kahoot!
Recently, Johan launched The Nordic Connection, an
entrepreneurial network based out of London's TechCity, with a
focus on creating global opportunities and connections for Nordic startups. This lead him to
innate the Oslo Innovation Embassy in London, and facilitate he Creative City Alliance
between Hackney, Oslo and Austin signed in Austin 2014.
Johan is a fellow at the Royal Society of Arts (The RSA), a regular speaker and lecturer at
universities and events ranging from the interactive XXSW in Austin, to the political OECD in
Paris. He is a BAFTA Children's Award Jury Member, and winner of numerous awards such
as the prestigious Webby People Choice Award.
The program may be subject to changes
About the organisers:
NVCA is an independent, non-profit association supporting the interests of companies and
persons active in the Norwegian private equity industry.
Investinor is a government funded investment company. It targets highly competitive and
promising Norwegian companies aiming for international growth and expansion. Investinor
manages NOK 4.2 billion (EUR 550 million).
Registration
Due to facility capacity, space is limited and early registration is encouraged.
Registration fee NOK 1200,- (non-refundable).
Please note that all registrations can be
transferred to another company rep prior to conference (preferred) or at on-site registration.
Registration: https://www.deltager.no/TheNorwegianVentureCapitalConference2015
Contact person for the event:
Katrin Haram, Tel. +47 90 19 75 78 or email: katrin.haram@investinor.no
Accommodation
Discounted rooms (single room 1195 NOK) will be available at Scandic Nidelven Hotel.
For room reservations, please contact Scandic Nidelven Hotel at +47 73 56 80 02 or email
nidelven@scandichotels.com. The Room Reservation Identification Number is INOV010615.
Logistics
The airport shuttle departures every 10 minute in both direction, Monday - Friday, between.
04.00 from Trondheim and at. 07.20 from Vaernes. Customized service to all flights and all
flight arrivals on Saturday. Airport shuttle bus serves all hotels in the city center and runs
from / to St. Olav's Hospital and Marienborg station.