The startup scene in Norway

Trondheim’s city-brand page identifies ocean autonomy, energy, semiconductors, AI, health technology, and advanced engineering as technology areas. The municipality describes the Ocean Autonomy Cluster as bringing together companies, researchers, and public actors, and identifies Fremtidens Industri as its manager. It also reports that RENERGY has more than 100 members and project partners across renewable energy and zero-emission systems. [1][2][3]

A Trondheim Tech Port report published in 2023 counted 89 ocean-technology companies in Trondheim within a 123-company Trøndelag sample. The report attributed NOK 8.4 billion in revenue to the sample for 2022 and counted 3,462 employees as of August 2023. These figures describe the report’s regional sample, not a full city startup census. [4][5]

NTNU describes 6AM as a central Trondheim accelerator offering finance, a network, and incubator space; 6AM reported rolling applications when checked on October 4, 2026, while its six-month program form stated no cohort deadline. NTNU also describes NTNU Discovery as supporting commercial validation of ideas. Its student pre-project route requires completion before company formation and does not allow projects linked to an existing company; the student page listed recurring deadlines, including October 31, when checked on October 4, 2026. [6][7][8][9][10]

NTNU TTO says it has started 73 spin-offs and lists companies in which it retains an ownership interest. As examples, it describes Zeabuz as a spin-off focused on smart urban waterways. ProDecs says its energy-investment research began in an NTNU PhD in 2018 and that it spun out in 2024 after seven years of research with NTNU BRU21 and Research Council of Norway support. Nomono says it was founded in Trondheim in 2019 as a SINTEF spin-off; its October 4, 2023 announcement reported a NOK 55 million (€5.4 million) late-seed round. [11][12][13][14][15]