Welcome to our new main event series, Tech Town Hall. Once a quarter, we invite founders, investors, and executives to an event where we highlight the startup ecosystem’s biggest news and most pressing issues. The format is based on a laid back news/talk show with pointed questions hosted by our co-founder and CEO, Anders Mjåset. The goal is to deep dive into the biggest headlines with the people who actually make up the stories and to do so in a setting that optimizes interaction and networking amongst the participants. To make the event as valuable as possible for networking we have made the event invite-only, with the ability to apply for access for founders, executives and investors.

Join us for the premiere on the 23rd of March from 16.00-18.00, and hear more about:

16.30-16.40 Startup Visas
Maja Aderiansen & Kyle Havlicek-McClenahan

16.40-17.00 Impact Unicorns
Tharald Nustad & Johan Brand

17.00-17.30 Crypto & Gaming
Espen Malmo, Bård Kasin & Milad Mirshahi

Dune, Nansen and PortalOne are the newest Unicorn level startups in Norway. From day one, they have been global and can all be connected to the greater Web3 trend. The newborn Unicorns are followed by other booming startups such as Presail, Firi and several others, making it a very exciting space. International top tier VCs like Andreessen Horowitz, Accel and Founders Fund invest alongside the next generation of Norwegian VCs such as Skyfall Ventures. Espen, the managing partner at Skyfall Ventures, has raised a NOK 250 million fund focusing on this area. We will dive deeper into Web3 and the fascinating stories behind Presail and PortalOne.

Espen Malmo – Managing Partner & Co-Founder, Skyfall Ventures
Bård Kasin – CEO & Co-Founder, PortalOne
Milad Mirshahi – Head Of Communications & Co-Founder at Presail

Tharald Nustad started Katapult almost ten years ago and was considered mad for putting all his money and energy into what was defined as impact startups. The last two years have proven him right, and Katapult has now invested in four companies that have ended up with a billion-dollar valuation. We have invited Tharald for a deep dive into his thinking. Joining him is another true creative and one of the most impactful founders, Johan Brand of We Are Human & Kahoot!  – the company Tharald labelled as the one that got away. We will discuss what an impact startup is, what it means to be a true vision lead company and why the success stories are coming now.

Tharald Nustad – Founder, Katapult
Johan Brand – Co-Founder, Kahoot! & We Are Human

Kyle Havlicek-McClenahan has a master’s degree from NTNU, specializing in chemistry, industrial economy and entrepreneurship. After his studies, he played an important role in several startup organizations, ultimately leading him to start Scales with two co-founders in 2020/21. Long story short – Kyle ended up with visa troubles due to hard bootstrapping, and a promising startup has been forced to move out or close down. Unlike our neighboring countries, we don’t have a startup visa. What would a startup visa look like, and why don’t we have it? Kyle has unvoluntarily become the poster boy for startup visas in Norway and joins us together with startup scene veteran Maja Adriaensen, to discuss the legal framework and what we need to change to compete for top international startup talent.

Kyle Havlicek-McClenahan – CEO & Co-Founder, Scales
Maja Adriaensen – CEO & Co-Founder, Startup Norway