EIF IN
NORWAY
Investing in the future of Norwegian SMEs
Small and medium-size enterprises are the heart of the Norwegian economy.
Representing 99% of all businesses and more than two thirds of the workforce, Norway’s 314,821 SMEs are responsible for driving innovation as well as spurring on growth, and their daily routine is what ensures the competitiveness of the Norwegian economy. But to do that, they often need finance.
At the same time, as the smallest actors in the economy, they are often the hardest hit when the economy encounters turbulence, which is why it is so crucial for them to have financial options in order to maintain and eventually grow their businesses.
At the EIF, our mission is to improve access to finance for small businesses across the EU. In Norway, we have been supporting SMEs using a broad range of instruments, including many tailored to the needs of the Norwegian market and designed with the Norwegian government and local authorities.
As a result, we’ve been able to support more than 35,600 Norwegian businesses, ranging from companies specialising in emergency power supply, AI-driven biotech, and translating text to sign language, making sure they have the financial fuel they need to pursue their ambitions.
Our intention is to continue to extend this type of support to the Norwegian market, making access to finance easier as we collectively move towards a greener, digital and more inclusive Europe.
Success stories
Ava Ocean
Success stories
Ava Ocean
“There are so many high-value resources lying on the seabed. We believe that if we are to close the food gap, we need to utilise those high-value resources in a sustainable way,” explains Øystein Tvedt, CEO of Ava Ocean.
Ava Ocean, founded in 2016 in Ålesund, is on a mission to reinvent seabed harvesting and making process of collecting scallops more sustainable. The company is transforming the seafood industry by utilizing precision harvesting, an eco-friendly technique that minimizes harm to marine ecosystems while responsibly extracting high-quality, nutritious seafood. As Øystein explains: “Harvesting units operate just above the seabed. A pumping solution creates a water flow, lifting the scallops into the basket with little to no damage to the seabed. A sorting mechanism can also return non-scallops to the seabed and there’s camera technology so we can see where it’s best to harvest.”. By closing the food gap through sustainable practices, Ava Ocean is paving the way for a future where the marine ecosystem’s resources are preserved and utilized responsibly for generations to come.
Sector Fisheries Purpose Internationalisation, scaling-up
Aqua Robotics
“If we want to meet future demand, farmed salmon production needs to increase by approximately 75%,” explains Kjetil Storhaug Njærheim, CEO of Aqua Robotics. Aquaculture, which is now the fastest-growing sector in food production, faces major challenges, especially when it comes to the sustainability of farmed fish.
Cleaning of nets is crucial for maintaining healthy fish, as fouling blocks water circulation, resulting in an increased fish mortality. Traditional power washing is detrimental because it stresses fish and harms their environment. Aqua Robotics’ HALO system offers an alternative to water jetting by offering an innovative solution: a robotic cleaner which gently brushes sides of the cage net without high-pressure or noisy pumps. This improves fish health and growth, while also reducing CO2 emissions by eliminating the need for using vessels to visit facilities for cleaning. It is estimated that each net pen saves 24 tonnes of CO2 per year.
By 2025, Aqua Robotics plans to have a fleet of 150 robots to meet growing demand, targeting North-Atlantic countries and beyond, with a goal of capturing 20% of the market by 2028. “We’re renting out the robots, providing a full service. We’re convinced that using technology to ensure the net is clean will become the standard approach.” says Kjetil.
Sector Fisheries
Purpose Expansion
AION
“Plastic is a good material. It’s lightweight, robust, reliable. We just need to enable a shift from linear to circular use,” says Runa Haug Khoury, CEO of AION, emphasizing the urgency of tackling plastic pollution.
Based in Oslo, AION pioneers “circularity as a service” by scaling a circular plastic economy. For instance, the company partnered with McDonald’s across Nordic markets to create recycled plastic trays that last up to 20 years, significantly reducing waste and demonstrating how circular solutions can transform everyday products.
With EIF-backed investment from Ocean14, AION is expanding its operations to address the global plastic crisis, which sees only 15% of 282 million tonnes recycled annually. By fostering transparency, traceability, and innovative reuse practices, AION’s approach is a critical step towards closing the loop on plastic pollution and ensuring a sustainable future.
Sector Recycling, plastics, circularity
Purpose Growth, internationalisation
C-Feed
C-Feed, a spin-off from Scandinavia’s largest independent research organisation SINTEF, specializes in producing copepods for commercial purposes. Those tiny crustaceans, found in marine and freshwater habitats serve as a sustainable source of feed for baby fish.
With a growing population and rising food demand, C-Feed’s innovative sustainable fish feeds offer a timely solution, as global aquaculture, including Norwegian salmon production, is set to expand rapidly by 2050. Many researchers and companies have already tried without success to make fish cultivation more efficient and sustainable, but a large proportion of the young fish die during the early stages. Only the copepods and copepod eggs supplied by C-Feed have been able to achieve better results by decreasing mortality rates in the critical phases, increase growth and produce healthier fish.
The company is growing rapidly and, in 2016, opened a new production plant capable of supplying feed for 50-60 million farmed fish. “Thanks to funding from investors, we were greatly looking forward to making the jump from small-scale production to the industrialisation of copepod cultivation”, said CEO Rune Bjerke.
Sector Eco-innovation, fish feed
Purpose Growth
Key figures
Figures as of December 2024
Over
of EIF financing
Transactions with financial intermediaries
Equity investments since inception
Guarantees support since inception
made available for
Norwegian businesses
Mandates in focus
The EIF continues to deploy capital in Norway under a wide range of strategic programmes and mandates. Below are brief summaries of our main initiatives in Norway.
InvestEU
The InvestEU programme provides the EU with crucial long-term funding by leveraging substantial private and public funds in support of a sustainable recovery. It is helping to mobilise private investments for the EU’s policy priorities, such as the European Green Deal and the digital transition. The InvestEU Programme brings together under one roof the multitude of EU financial instruments previously available to support investment in the EU, making funding for investment projects in Europe simpler, more efficient and more flexible. The programme consists of three components: the InvestEU Fund, the InvestEU Advisory Hub and the InvestEU Portal. The InvestEU Fund is implemented through financial partners that will invest in projects using the EU budget guarantee of €26.2 billion. The entire budget guarantee will back the investment projects of the implementing partners, increase their risk-bearing capacity and thus mobilise at least €372 billion in additional investment.
RCR
The EIB’s Risk Capital Resources (RCR) is the core pillar of the EIF’s equity activity. It has enabled us to pursue our equity strategy in the venture capital and growth segments for more than 25 years. In 2024, RCR accounted for about 24% of our equity activity, committing €1.7bn to financial intermediaries.
EFSI
The European Fund for Strategic Investments formed part of the EU’s Investment Plan for Europe, launched by the European Commission in 2015. EFSI addressed market gaps in financing – whether in infrastructure, research, energy efficiency or risk finance for SMEs – and mobilised private investment into these areas. Through EFSI the EIF deployed €10.5bn in resources of the European Commission, the EIB and the EIF to improve access to finance for SMEs and small midcaps.
EGF
The European Guarantee Fund was created by the EIB Group with contributions from Norway and other Member States to protect companies struggling in the crisis caused by COVID-19. With almost €25bn in guarantees, the EGF allowed the EIB and EIF to swiftly offer companies, mostly SMEs and mid-caps, access to loans, guarantees, asset-backed securities, capital and other financial instruments. The EGF forms part of the package of recovery measures put in place by the EU, with the objective of providing a total of €540bn to support the hardest hit sectors of the European economy.
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