Shifter is an independent news site about Norwegian tech startups in the new economy. We cover big and small events in the startup industry while reporting on innovation in bigger companies. We focus on ideas, challenges, money, power, people and good stories from everywhere.

Learnlink ble startet i 2016 og tok i løpet av kort tid posisjonen som landets ledende leverandør av online én-til-én-undervisning. I 2020 ble tilbudet utvidet med sommerkurs i koding etter sammenslåingen med CodeAndGo . I dag jobber vi med å ruste barn for fremtiden ved å lære de STEM-fag på en morsom og givende måte. Dette gjør vi både 1-til-1 og i grupper, både fysisk og online. Med på laget har vi det vi “Pros” - toppstudenter barna ser opp til som bidrar til å tenne lærelysten. Alle i Learnlinks kjerneteam har høye ambisjoner for veien videre og brenner for å hjelpe barn med å lære det de trenger for fremtiden. I tillegg til de faste ansatte bistår et knippe dyktige rådgivere og et erfarent styre med retning og strategi. Nå som vi ser at Learnlink-modellen virkelig har potensiale, er planen å øke veksttakten ytterligere i Norge og ta den videre i utlandet. ENGLISH Learnlink was founded in 2016 and quickly took the position as the country's leading provider of online one-on-one teaching. In 2020, the offer was expanded with a summer course in coding after the merge with CodeAndGo. Today we work to prepare children for the future by teaching them "STEM" subjects in a fun and motivating way. We do this both 1-to-1 and in groups, both physically and online. Everyone in Learnlink's core team has high ambitions and is passionate about helping children learn what they need for the future. Additionally, a number of skilled advisers and highly experienced board members assist with developing guidelines and strategy. Now that we see that the Learnlink models really has potential, the plan is to increase the growth rate even further in Norway and take it abroad. In other words, there are very exiting times ahead!

WeWantToKnow is a French-Norwegian company that focuses on Game-Based Learning. Its first product is the math game "DragonBox" and it has more games in the planning stages. The company was founded by financial analyst turned math teacher Jean-Baptiste Huyhn, the leading French game developer Patrick Marchal, and former Opera Software executives Rolf Assev and Christen Krogh. WeWantToKnow aims to make learning fun, easy and addictive. DragonBox does away with tedious equations and math quizzes, replacing them instead with a simple game involving cards and a magical box. The game evolves as kids master the skills and concepts presented. After one hour of playing DragonBox, twelve-year olds can tackle equations their parents struggle to solve. DragonBox was pre-launched in Norway to let schools, kids and parents test the game. Almost immediately, it rocketed to the top of the charts, becoming the most purchased app in the Apple App Store in Norway-- displacing other, more traditional games - check it out at - www.dragonbox.com

We work continuously to inspire, motivate  and engage people to work together for more diversity in business.    We aim to close the gender gap. SHE Community strives to make businesses better and by better we mean more diverse. Through events, conferences, study programs, and as a consulting partner to businesses we aim to motivate for diversity and inspire for equality – for all people. SHE community consists of people who believe that diversity drives profitability and progress, and who works directly towards closing the gender gap. We recently launched She Index that measures gender equality in business. She Community was founded in 2014, by two enthusiastic women, who wanted to do more for the current and coming generations. The first step? Focusing on the current situation and inspire more women to become leaders and entrepreneurs. 

We’re building a Nordic marketplace for building and renovation, where home owners and real estate developers meet quality assured contractors and architects. Our goal is to streamline the pre-construction process by providing our customers with a simple and highly effective tool for finding the right company. We believe in data based decision making, meaning that the smartest way to find the right contractor or architect for a given project is by real time analysis of large amounts of data. Combining this with an industry leading quality assurance methodology makes Byggstart the go-to marketplace to help people build and renovate fearlessly. Want to more? Check out www.byggstart.no / www.byggstart.se or get in touch!

Stingray Marine Solutions AS offers intelligent technology for the aquaculture industry. The mission is to facilitate sustainable, intelligent and increased salmon production. Through the use of camera vision, advanced software, data collection and laser technology, the Stingray system removes sea lice from the fish in a gentle, efficient and welfare friendly way. BIG DATA is collected, integrated, structured and presented as useful reports to farmers. This enables Stingray users to secure better fish welfare, reduce handling of the animals and harvest smarter from the sea.

Impact Mapper is an online software tool for donors and nonprofit organizations to keep all their social change data, surveys and stories in one place. We make data analysis and visualization efficient so you can more clearly communicate your impact and invest your time and money in what counts: seeding social transformation around the world.

Ripple Aerospace is a Norwegian aerospace company developing the oceanic Sea Serpent launch system. Leveraging Norway's long history of seafaring, shipbuilding, and maritime technology, we are developing a rocket class capable of being built, launched and recovered on the sea. Given the inefficiency of the space economy and launch service industry, our goal is to bring to market a mobile, reusable and scalable launch system capable of delivering medium, heavy and super heavy payloads into space. With industrial and commercialization partners from across Norway and abroad, the oceanic Sea Serpent launch system aims to be the preferred method of cargo transportation into space, providing the global economy a low-cost and accessible launch system.

AVENO is a technology company that helps businesses build, improve and scale their digital operations. We develop modern websites, custom software, CRM systems, SaaS platforms, e-commerce solutions, AI-powered tools and business automation. Our focus is on creating practical digital solutions that solve real business problems — whether that means building a new customer-facing platform, improving internal workflows, automating repetitive tasks or developing a complete custom system. AVENO works with businesses in Norway and internationally, delivering both smaller digital projects and larger custom software solutions. We combine modern development tools, AI-assisted development and strong commercial understanding to build solutions that are fast, scalable and easy to use. Our portfolio includes live solutions such as CRM platforms, prospecting systems, e-commerce platforms and business websites currently used in daily operations. In short, AVENO is a digital technology partner for companies that need modern software, web solutions and automation to grow and operate more efficiently.

The Problem Most workplaces struggle with high sick leave — and the root causes are rarely acute injuries or illness. They are lifestyle-driven issues: • fatigue and low energy • stress and mental strain • poor sleep • musculoskeletal pain • unhealthy habits • lack of support These problems build up over time, and employees try to handle them alone. But people don’t change their health on their own — and employers don’t have the tools or competency to help them. The result? High sick leave costs, reduced productivity, and employees who are stuck in patterns they can’t break. Why it matters Sick leave is one of the biggest hidden costs in business. A single employee on sick leave costs on average 65 200 kr per year — and 20% of employees account for 80% of the total. Most of these cases are preventable with the right support. At the same time, people want help: 85% prefer guidance from a qualified professional rather than trying to solve health challenges alone. ABEL’s Role ABEL solves this gap. We connect employees with qualified health coaches who follow them closely over time — mentally, physically, and socially. Through structured guidance and our digital platform, we help people make sustainable lifestyle changes that reduce sick leave and increase wellbeing. The impact: Employees get better health. Companies save money. Society reduces the burden of preventable illness.

ClarityChain gives your procurement team the context to act—not just react. By processing millions of internal and external data points, we turn complexity into clarity, enabling better supplier selection, more accurate cost forecasting, and faster negotiations. Vision: "To transform procurement into a strategic intelligence function that drives competitive advantage through data-powered decision making." Mission: "We give procurement teams the context to act—not just react—by turning complexity into clarity through intelligent data integration and AI-powered insights."

Mattehelten ble startet med én klar visjon – å gjøre matematikk enklere og hjelpe elever som sliter med faget. Vi vet hvor frustrerende det er for foreldre å se barnet sitt streve med matte uten å vite hvordan man kan hjelpe. Matematikk er et av de fagene flest elever sliter med i skolen, og konsekvensene kan være store både for selvtilliten deres og fremtidige utdanningsmuligheter. Statistikk fra 2016/2017 viser at 22 % av tiendeklassingene fikk karakteren 2 eller lavere i matematikk, og i 2024 strøk over 20 % av privatistene i 2P, R1 og R2-matte. Disse tallene viser at mange elever ikke får den oppfølgingen de trenger for å mestre faget. I tillegg ser vi at stadig færre velger realfag på videregående, fordi de opplever matte som for vanskelig. Dette bidrar til mangel på ingeniører, IT-spesialister og andre viktige yrker, som igjen påvirker samfunnet og fremtidens arbeidsmarked. Mattehelten ble startet for å snu denne trenden. Vi hjelper elever med å tette kunnskapshull, bygge mestring og oppnå bedre resultater, slik at matte ikke blir en hindring, men en mulighet. Gjennom 1-til-1 digital undervisning tilbyr vi skreddersydd mattehjelp der elevene får tett oppfølging hver uke. Vi bruker Google Meet og tegnebrett for å forklare både skriftlige utregninger og digitale verktøy som GeoGebra, regneark og programmering. Mattehelten ble grunnlagt i 2020 av Stephan Hung Nguyen under pandemien. Han så hvor mange elever som slet med matematikk og ønsket å gjøre en forskjell. Med sin ekspertise innen undervisning og matematikk startet han et gratis tilbud for ungdommer – både for å støtte dem gjennom pandemien og for å øke interessen for faget. I løpet av tre år underviste Stephan opptil 20 timer i uken helt gratis, ved siden av studiene. Etter hvert økte etterspørselen, og flere forespurte fast digital undervisning. For å kunne hjelpe flere begynte vi å ta betalt, slik at Stephan kunne undervise på fulltid. Fokuset var – og er fortsatt – å tilby undervisning preget av empati, trygghet og mestring. Ryktet spredte seg, og stadig flere ønsket mattehjelp fra Mattehelten. I 2023 hadde vi 4 undervisere, i 2024 vokste vi til 11, og i 2025 har vi 20 dyktige undervisere – alle med samme mål: å hjelpe elever med å mestre matte og føle seg trygge i faget.

Vandre is a young Norwegian tech company with the ambition to impact the environmental situation by making textile brands succeed in reducing their footprint by making clothes and garments live longer. The world’s garbage piles are growing. In 2021, 40.000 tons of used fashion clothes ended up in the Atacama desert in Chile as their final destination. This is just one example of how the textile industry is not even close to being sustainable. The sports and textile industries face strict requirements and a major upheaval, when the EU is planning to introduce sustainability reporting and requirements to offer consumers repair of products in 2025. Our platform connects brands in the industry with certified repair centres and facilitates a seamless user journey with logistics and payment options. The platform is also a sought-after tool at repair centres, as it helps to make their daily operations more efficient. We have currently launched in Norway, and plan to expand to the rest of the Nordics and beyond in the future. Our HQ is in a co-working space office in downtown Oslo – a two-minute walk from Nationaltheatret, where we share office with a small PE fund, and have lunch break together with. We also have employees in other cities working remotely. As a small team, some of us are quite often on the go and strive to stick to our digital workplace practices as much as possible. This enables the whole team to work quite flexibly when needed, together with some well-appreciated face time at the office as often as possible. Today the team is communicating openly using Slack and ClickUp to organise daily work and product development. There you will feel the motivating and active vibe from the other team members, our CEO Henriette, and our always-on-the-go working Chairman and brand relationship manager Simen. We are still a small team, but team spirit we have and everyone is highly motivated to make a difference in the world and help grow Vandre to reach it's full potential. Our culture is built on trust, freedom and humour. As most team members work from home most of the time, we always strive to be available during the working hours, and prioritise weekly meetings to stimulate the team spirit being a partly remote team. In addition we believe in a high level of freedom for each colleague to find their own optimal w/l balance. Prioritising a run before lunch or picking up kids in the afternoon is all up to the individual colleague. You know best what works for you. Finally our culture is also characterised by a high level of humour, with lots of laughs and a good vibe between team members. Our team today consists of passionate and skilled people representing deep industry knowledge and experience. We are constantly open-minded scouting for entrepreneurs with a varied skill sets with the proper drive to take us forward, together with a few dedicated roles (as below). We are looking for employees who always strive to develop themselves and our organisation. We expect you to be committed and eager and to have the ability to work in teams. The team is characterised by an entrepreneurial and innovative mindset. Working at Vandre you join our effort to create a better and more sustainable textile industry, you will be part a highly dedicated and ambitious team with great and talented colleagues who love their job, and last but not least you will have fun at work.

Kvikk is a B2C Insurtech company disrupting the travel insurance sector through our mobile platform. Designed with millennials, Gen Z and their expectations in mind, our vision is clear: 
Revolutionizing the way we protect ourselves while exploring the world. We are leveraging GEO-fencing technology to distribute, personalize and offer quotes tailored to your location in real-time. No more hassle with paperwork or waiting in line. We are 100% digital and are providing a full insurance experience in the pockets of everyone leaving their homes. In Norway 50% of all young adults don't have travel insurance, and they perceive insurance as complicated, expensive and unavailable. At the same time, the insurance industry lacks digitisation with only 40% of all insurance sales taking place on a digital platform. We have developed travel insurance tailored to the specific needs of each traveller, all within a convenient and user-friendly app. By harnessing the power of GEO-fencing we ensure travellers receive seamless coverage when and where they need it, offering a level of flexibility unseen in the industry. We have built the insurance product, and we are going to build the app. Simen started working on Kvikk while studying Innovation & Management, and has previously been travelling around the world several times and do understand the importance of travel insurance. We honestly believe that insurance companies should do better. In this digital world, insurance should be more available for the customer. There should be possible to buy insurance, get an overview and file claims within minutes, and always available in your own pocket. We also believe in fair and transparent products, where the customer actually gets a personalised products tailored to their own travel pattern. We want to rewrite the rules of insurance by making it available, fair, easy and personalised.