Making video meetings easier for millions of users

Digital meetings and video conferences can be challenging when participants use different technology platforms or join from physical meeting rooms. Incompatible solutions place demands on both organisers and users, and often lead to delays and security issues.

Oslo-based Synergy Sky integrates digital meeting solutions from other providers, including Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, Zoom and Cisco Webex. It also optimises physical meeting rooms used for video conferencing. According to the founders, Synergy Sky is currently the only provider without a meeting platform of its own, making it a partner rather than a competitor.

The company has an extensive customer list of around 500 clients, including well-known companies such as Société Générale, Ericsson, Dell, Storebrand and Tieto.

When they received their first innovation loan from us in 2015, the company already had a well-established revenue stream, but applied for capital to strengthen its product and market development internationally. A few years later, a grant for an innovation contract enabled them to develop the communications platform further.

'Our funding from Innovation Norway has undoubtedly enabled us to expand globally,' says Ståle Reitan, founder and CEO of Synergy Sky.

The NOK 21 million innovation loan they received from us in 2021 is supporting further international growth. By commercialising the solution, they can enable millions of existing systems to work across video platforms. Our loan is key to both the scale of the project and the pace of delivery.

'Synergy Sky has used several of our services and demonstrated a strong capacity for innovation and delivery. The company is already a leading global player, which enabled us to grant it a loan for further scaling,' says Benjamin Bækkelund Haskel, financing adviser at Innovation Norway Oslo Viken.

The company is less concerned with helping businesses increase their Return on Investment (ROI) than with reducing their Waste of Time (WOT).

'On average, companies spend 12 minutes setting up a video conference. NAV, for example, has more than 1,000 meeting rooms. They could save a great deal by using more efficient video conferencing solutions,' says Reitan, before elaborating.

- With Synergy SKY CONNECT, users get a simple interface that makes it easier to communicate from a physical room with large digital audiences in different countries. This avoids delays and wasted time, reduces travel costs and optimises the use of expensive premises.

Most of its customers are in the US, England and Scandinavia. Synergy Sky has built a reseller network of 60 partners that sell the company's products to their customers. Microsoft and Cisco also act as distributors, selling through their own partners. The Oslo-based company has sales offices in the US, the UK and Sweden, with more planned.

The pandemic has been challenging, as businesses have made less use of physical meeting rooms and securing new sales has been difficult. Now that the pandemic is receding, the market is considered to have significant and growing potential.