Women entrepreneurs offer billion-pound potential, but investment is lagging behind

‘We need more women to study finance, more women to work in venture capital firms and more women to start companies.’

Tonje Ørnholt, Head of Investment at Oslo Business Region, says this, referring to the recently published Female Innovation Index report.

'The share of capital going to female entrepreneurs in Norway is low, at just 17 per cent. Although Norway is above the European average, countries such as Finland and Denmark are far ahead of us,' says Ørnholt.

In Denmark, 20 per cent of total investment goes to female business leaders, while in Finland the figure is as high as 30 per cent.

Ørnholt finds it particularly surprising that Sweden, with its mature startup ecosystem and among the highest overall investment levels in Europe, invests just 14 per cent in female founders.

Despite limited investment capital, more and more female entrepreneurs in Norway are gaining recognition and achieving success with their innovative ideas. Entrepreneurs building sustainable and technology-driven businesses that can scale across borders are doing particularly well.

One entrepreneur going from strength to strength is Ulrikke Lien, founder of the startup Sensorita, which is revolutionising waste management using sensors, machine learning and artificial intelligence. The company has received NOK 16 million in funding from the Research Fund and a total of NOK 5 million from us. It has also secured funding from other sources. Last year, the company raised NOK 34.5 million in international capital from Telenor and leading US investment firm Brick and Mortar Ventures.

Lien wants to help increase the number of female founders – especially in the technology sector.

She has received the same feedback from investors and business partners. Lien mentions one of the company's investors, who said that they had never lost money by investing in a female founder.

‘Women tend to be solution-oriented, creative, organised and resilient. Many of my female friends have personal qualities that would make them fantastic entrepreneurs, but it seems that not many women consider entrepreneurship a possible career path. Society loses out as a result,’ says Lien.

Lien had never imagined becoming an entrepreneur either. Studying at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) proved a turning point. There, she met the right people and received strong encouragement to create something of her own. This was crucial to her decision to pursue entrepreneurship.

Sensorita has developed a solution that uses radar and AI to monitor containers in the construction industry. The technology provides real-time data on container locations, how full they are and the type of waste they contain. This enables more efficient waste management, lower costs and reduced emissions.

‘Our ambition is to become the preferred solution for every waste management company looking to digitalise,’ says Lien.

Norway needs more people to follow Lien's example, and we want to pave the way for more companies like Sensorita to emerge.

‘It is well documented that diversity brings new perspectives and delivers better results. Only one in four founders who receive startup funding from us are women,’ says Kaja van den Berg.

Investing in female entrepreneurs is important for increasing diversity in business. Tonje Ørnholt at Oslo Business Region highlights that part of the solution is to recruit more women to venture capital firms.

‘We need more women to help shape the investment process. The next step is to bring more women into partner roles, where they can have even greater influence at the table,’ Ørnholt says.

Together, we and Oslo Business Region support and strengthen Norway's investment ecosystem to attract capital to Norwegian scale-up companies.

Over the past three years, Ørnholt has seen positive developments. Venture capital firms such as Startuplab, Skyfall, Sandwater and Idékapital have recruited women to new positions. She believes this sends a positive signal.