Norway · Nordic Early-Stage
Founders investing in founders.
An investor collective of experienced entrepreneurs backing early-stage Nordic companies — with capital and the experience of having been there.
We have been exactly where you are.
Not observers. Not advisors. Founders who have raised, hired, failed, pivoted, and exited — and are still building.
First cheque. No agenda.
We invest early, dilute alongside you, and have no follow-on pressure. Our only interest is that you win.
20 founders. One call away.
Whatever you are dealing with — someone in this collective has been through it. That is the whole point.
Portfolio
Companies we back
Why Støttehjulet
We invest with our minds.
Support with our hearts.
01
We're founders at heart
Known for our founder-friendly approach, we invest in you as a founder first. We commit to a transparent, honest relationship built on lived experience — not theory.
02
Our network is Nordic
We welcome you into a tight-knit community of Nordic founders and operators. Access world-class networks and operational expertise from people who have been exactly where you are.
03
Patient, long-term capital
We avoid follow-on pressure and dilute alongside you. We are your partners for the long haul — not investors chasing the next round or a quick exit.
Our Approach
How we decide who to back.
Støttehjulet started as a group of founders who kept calling each other anyway — about term sheets, co-founder conflicts, pricing models, investor dynamics, and all the things you can't Google. We decided to make it official.
We are not a traditional fund with a fixed thesis. We are still figuring things out — the same way you are. But collectively, we have been through most of what early-stage founders face. That lived experience is what we bring to the table, alongside the cheque.
We remain flexible and curious, blending community spirit with enough structure to be useful. Like the companies we back, we keep refining our model as we grow.
We are agnostic. But something has to be exceptional.
We don't have a sector filter. What we do have is a bar. Team, idea, industry dynamics, timing — at least one of these needs to be genuinely exceptional. Not good. Exceptional.
Our primary focus is companies that are either VC-backed or deliberately building toward that path — where ambition is structural, not just aspirational. We look for founders who are playing to win a large market, not building a comfortable business.
That said, we look broader than that. We have backed media companies, agriculture tech, and consumer hardware. If the opportunity is real and the founder is the right person to go after it, we want to be in the conversation.
What we look for
We are not a traditional VC. We are founders who have built, scaled, and exited companies — and want to help the next generation do the same.
Reach out to apply →Nordic founders
We focus on early-stage companies in the Nordic region.
Pre-seed & seed
We invest at the earliest stages when founders need us most.
Sector-agnostic
We back exceptional founders across all industries.
No follow-on pressure
We dilute alongside you — no pressure to raise on our timeline.
Founder-friendly terms
Simple, transparent deal structures with no surprises.
Community access
Immediate entry into our network of operators and fellow founders.
We started this because we kept calling each other anyway — about term sheets, co-founder conflicts, pricing, investor dynamics. At some point we thought: if this is useful for us, it's useful for someone else too. That's all Støttehjulet is.
Håkon Høgetveit
CEO, Vouch
The Collective
20 founders.
50+ businesses built.
Experienced Nordic founders and operators, here to support you on every step of your journey — from first cheque to first exit.
Martin Andersen
CEO, Ezone Energy
Energy entrepreneur leading clean maritime propulsion and sustainability ventures.
Håkon Høgetveit
CEO, Vouch
Building Vouch, an AI-powered hiring assistant that combines recruiter intuition with domain expertise.
Michael Svensen
CEO, Silfer
Founder of Silfer, a virtual CFO platform for accounting and financial planning for startups.
Brede Bjørhovd
CPO / CTO
AI/ML specialist with 10+ years in computer vision and data science.
Frederic Rivelsrud
CEO, Aeon
Medical doctor and founder driving longevity through science-based health and wellness clinics.
Sigbjørn Nome
CEO, Ignite
Former BCG consultant and co-founder of Ignite Procurement, building sustainable supply chain software.
Kristian Kaurstad Morthen
CEO, Dimension Agri Tech
Pioneer in precision spraying sensors that reduce pesticide use while increasing agricultural yields.
Per-Kjetil Skare
Founder, Hakone
Aker veteran turned founder — building Hakone, a Nordic coffee chain, from the ground up.
Edvard Erdal
Entrepreneur and investor in the Norwegian startup ecosystem.
Carina Nikoline Reppesgård Ytre-Eide
Co-founder, Aboveit
Commercial and operational leader with deep insurance, startup and consulting experience, turning strategy into scalable growth.
Vegard Bikset
CEO, InfraTag
Technology innovator and CEO building infrastructure-layer products from western Norway.
Atle Lycke
Founder, Approof
Builder and problem-solver, founder of Approof — background checks made simple.
Erlend Anfinsen
Business Analyst, Onix
Commercially minded business analyst with scale-up logos, strong on strategy, product and execution.
Navdeep Singh Malhi
Navdeep Singh leads data, analytics, and AI for major Nordic media and foodtech companies.
Andreas Sylthe
Founder, Nordavind Invest
Early-stage investor and founder of Nordavind Invest, backing Nordic startups.
Trond Simonsen
CEO & Co-founder, ROEST
Co-founder of ROEST, building AI-powered coffee roasting technology used in 90+ countries.
Eivind Wibe Hårberg
Senior completions engineer with international intelligent well and project management experience.
Isaac Gray
Co-founder, Witted
Designer-turned-dev-turned commercial leader who built Witted Norway from zero to 150 MNOK.
Vinh Duy Nguyen
COO/CCO/CoS
Commercial and operational leader with deep insurance, startup and consulting experience, turning strategy into scalable growth.
Community
A community for founders, by founders.
Join our Discord server — an open community for early-stage founders, aspiring investors, and anyone curious about the Nordic startup ecosystem.
Join Discord →Podcast
Honest conversations about early-stage investing.
The Støttehjulet podcast — real talk about the challenges, decisions, and rewards of backing early-stage Nordic founders.
Listen on Spotify →