If you’re thinking about launching your very own tech startup and are considering Norway as the place to do it, you’re not alone. The country’s capital, Oslo, was recently declared the best startup hub in the world by Virgin, while Norway has been increasingly gaining global recognition as a European tech player that welcomes international investment.
As the wealthiest country in the world by many measures and home to Europe’s fastest-growing capital city, Norway could be the perfect launchpad for your tech startup. Read on to find out the five essential tips for starting a tech company in Norway.
1. Get Your Paperwork in Order
The first thing you will need to do is to ensure that you are able to move to Norway and set up your business there. If you live in the EU or EEA, then there are no restrictions on moving to Norway, buying property, and setting up a business. If you are from elsewhere, then you can apply for a Norwegian entrepreneur via the government’s Residency Through Business scheme. With this, you can submit a detailed business plan to authorities, and they will decide whether to grant you a visa to do business in Norway. Thousands of people have already taken advantage of this scheme.
2. Apply for Norwegian Tech Funding
Norway is one of the most expensive countries in the world for launching a startup, due to high labor costs and corporate taxes. However, don’t let that deter you. Norway has a dense funding infrastructure designed specifically to make sure that entrepreneurs can access the capital they need to see their startup thrive. You can look at Innovation Norway to find tax-free business grants ranging from around $3.000 to thousands of dollars. In addition, schemes such as SkatteFUNN allow you to have 20% of your business costs reimbursed as tax deductions.
3. Make Customer Service Your First Priority
One of the most important tenets of doing business in Norway is customer service, something that is valued above almost anything else with customers and business partners. The successful Norwegian online casino platform Norgescasino, which helps Norwegians find the best real-money online games, explains that 24/7 customer support with English language agents is now a crucial prerequisite in the Norwegian business landscape. Therefore, if you want to succeed it is important that you follow Norgescasino’s advice and make sure you have the right customer support network in place.
4. Tap Into Local Tech Talent
One of the main reasons that Norway is such an attractive destination for tech startups is the astonishing level of local tech talent. As well as being one of the most highly-educated countries on the planet, Norway also has one of the highest densities of software engineers in the world, one of the highest levels of English fluency, and is among the highest levels of digital literacy in the world, according to Forbes. This means that any tech entrepreneur should have little trouble recruiting the talented minds they need to see their company thrive.
By following these steps, you will be able to take advantage of everything that Norway has to offer for ambitious tech entrepreneurs.
