New seed fund,
new team
for entrepreneurs by entrepreneurs
Our third seed fund
We invest in promising digital technology startups that aspire to build substantial economic, social and environmental value by utilizing sustainable business models.
Sustainability offers tremendous upside for founders, investors and society. Technology is key to sustainable development, equal rights and growth.
Our new seed fund is managed by a brand new team of former entrepreneurs that have built and sold international tech companies. Combined with almost 15 years of experience from venture capital we are confident that we can offer startups far more value than just money.
This is ProVenture
Since 2006 we have backed talented people who came to us with ambition and bold plans.
Our mission is to help exceptional entrepreneurs to build game changing tech companies, and deliver great return for our investors.
We have three funds under management, totalling 1.3 billion NOK. Each of our funds are managed by dedicated teams of experienced entrepreneurs located in our Trondheim and Stavanger offices.
We take great pride in being a professional and reliable partner that works hard to help unlocking the potential in the teams invest in.
40 exits and 3 IPOs under our belts
professional and reliable risk takers
Our team
Borgar Ljosland
Senior Partner
Borgar joined ProVenture Management in 2020. He brings 22 years of experience as a serial entrepreneur and start-up CEO. Borgar has broad experience from international business development in multiple market verticals - working with technologies ranging from semiconductors, electronics, computer graphics, security, media and software. Borgar holds an MSc in Computer Science from NTNU.
Geir Ove Kjesbu
Senior Partner
Geir Ove joined the ProVenture team in January 2018. He has significant industrial experience from Q-Free ASA where he held several leading postions, also as CEO. Geir Ove has solid investment experience from Investinor, where he held the position as CEO for eight years. Geir Ove holds an MSc in Computer Science from NTNU and an Executive MBA from Insead.
Ingvar Katmo
Senior Partner
Ingvar joined ProVenture Management in 2007 from McKinsey & Company. During his two years with McKinsey he specialised in serving oil and energy clients on a wide range of topics. Ingvar holds an MSc from the University of Mannheim and an MBA from the University of Oregon.
Tom Arnøy
Senior Partner
Tom joined ProVenture in January 2020. He brings a vast experience from his background as co-founder and CEO in ZEDGE, which he took public as CEO on New York Stock Exchange in 2016. Tom has also been an angel investor for many years. In 2017 Tom was awarded "Founder of the Year, Norway" at Nordic Startup Awards.
Frederik Hvistendahl
Senior Partner
Frederik joined ProVenture in 2016. He started his career in Schlumberger as field engineer and in his more than 30 years of international Oil & Gas experience he has held CEO positions in 5 companies ranging from start-ups to larger, well established companies. He has also been serving as Chairman of the Board in several start-ups and early stage technology companies.
Frederik holds an MSc in Mechanical Engineering from NTNU.
David Lysne
Managing Partner
David joined ProVenture Management in 2014. He brings more than 28 years of international oil and gas experience to ProVenture within R&D, entrepreneurship and international oil service. Over a period of 16 years he was managing director for various research and service companies. David holds an MSc in Mechanical Engineering and a PhD in production technology from NTNU.
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