High growth companies in Norway

High growth companies play an important role in the Norwegian economy, making a disproportionately large contribution to employment, value creation and productivity growth.

We define high growth companies as companies with an initial annual turnover of at least NOK 10 million that achieve average growth of at least 20 per cent over the following three years.

To sharpen our focus going forward, we have mapped the number of high-growth companies in Norway and in our own customer portfolio, their defining characteristics, their contribution to the Norwegian economy, and the challenges they face before and during their growth journey. Based on these findings, we offer the following innovation policy recommendations:

• Establish a national accelerator that provides capital, competence-building programmes and mentoring for companies with groundbreaking technology and strong value creation potential.
• Strengthen staffing at our international offices to ensure Norwegian businesses receive the support they need to grow in international markets.

Read the full report on high-growth companies in Norway at the bottom of this page.

The number of high growth companies has increased significantly in recent years. Ten years ago, Norway had around 3,000 high growth companies, compared with just over 5,500 in 2023. This recent increase has mainly been driven by rising prices. High growth companies play an important role in the Norwegian economy. In 2023, they accounted for 2.2 per cent of active Norwegian limited companies, but generated around 19 per cent of their total turnover.

Half of all high growth companies have experienced several phases of high growth. Among the high growth companies identified in the period 2013–2023, half had one growth period, a quarter had two, and the remaining quarter had three or more. For high growth companies with two growth periods, separate periods are just as common as two consecutive periods.

The retail and construction sectors have the largest numbers of high growth companies. This reflects the fact that they are also Norway's largest industries by number of active limited companies. The proportion of high growth companies is highest in power supply and oil- and gas-related services. In 2023, Oslo, Vestland and Rogaland had the largest numbers of high growth companies (1,342, 640 and 595 respectively), while Troms, Telemark and Finnmark had the fewest (125, 125 and 62 respectively).

Chapter 3 of the report analyses the number of high growth companies in our customer portfolio, based on companies classified as high growth companies at the end of 2023.

Around 25 per cent of the companies classified as high growth companies in 2023 received support from us between 2015 and 2022, in the form of loans, grants and/or advisory services.

High growth companies have primarily used innovation loans and innovation grants.

We have also looked at three other types of companies that have successfully scaled up: companies classified as gazelles in Dagens Næringsliv's rankings, listed companies and, finally, so-called unicorns – young companies valued at EUR 1 billion.

We have supported 15 per cent of the gazelle companies, 34 per cent of the listed companies and 80 per cent of the unicorns, which are a relatively small group. The high proportion of listed companies we have supported is probably linked to the fact that companies seeking a stock market listing have a relatively significant need for investment capital.

We interviewed 15 high growth companies in our portfolio to gain qualitative insights into the challenges they face or have faced, as well as their experiences with the business support system and with us in particular. While the findings offer limited scope for drawing general conclusions, they provide valuable stories that illustrate the challenges many high growth companies encounter on their growth journey. The companies highlight challenges related to capital, competence and exports.

The companies we spoke to identified access to sufficient capital during the growth phase as their main challenge. Many companies find it difficult to raise large amounts of capital in Norway and have to look abroad. For example, one software company pointed out that Norwegian capital markets underestimate the cost of building a globally competitive software company.

Building strong teams and a strong organisational culture is another major challenge for companies in the growth phase. This is particularly true for project-based companies that need to increase their headcount quickly. One first-time founder described how difficult it can be to go from doing everything yourself to leading a team of more than 50 employees.

Many companies struggle to build their brand and earn the trust of customers abroad. They often underestimate the importance of prioritising sales and marketing and allocating sufficient resources to them. Visiting potential customers once a quarter or believing that 'if the product is good enough, it will sell itself' is not enough.

For enquiries or questions about this report, contact us at: data@innovasjonnorge.no