NTNU Student Investor Day: June 5th 2025

We are proud to invite the top 10 student-driven startups from NTNU to meet a selection of Norway’s foremost early phase investors, for the 5th annual NTNU Student Investor Day!

By Henning Philip Patricksson

Together with Sparebank 1 SMN, 6AM Accelerator, StartupTRD and NTNU we are glad to repeat past years successful event – for the 5th time; the NTNU Student Investor Day!

Every student-driven startup from NTNU are invited to apply for the event according to the application criterias listed below. Of the applicants, 10 startups are selected to attend the event where they will get to pitch their business idea and be a part of an intense round of speed-dating round with a selection of Norway’s foremost early phase investors.

New for this year is that we also allow applicants from other universities! We have saved a few extra spots, and would like to invite student-driven startups from our fellow universities across the country to apply for the NTNU Student Investor Day 2025!

The winners will receive up to 200.000 NOK in prize money, and the winner of “Best Business Concept” also qualifies for the finals of Sparebank 1 SMN’s competition “Fremtidens Verdiskaper 2025”! (Eng.: Value creator of the future) This latter only applies for applicants from NTNU Trondheim and Ålesund.

This is an opportunity you don’t want to miss!

Do you want to participate as an investor?
Click the button below to send an email and apply as an investor. Don’t wait until the last minute, the seats are quickly filling up!

What is Tech Hugs & Rock’ Roll?

“Tech, Hugs & Rock’n Roll” is a celebration of the innovation ecosystem in Trondheim, where StartupTRD invites startups, businesses, passionate individuals, and all corners of the community that are dedicated to innovation and technology in Trondheim.

There will be a prize ceremony, drinks, speeches and a great party. Attendees at NTNU Student Investor Day will be shuttled from NTNU to THRR after the main event is concluded.

We hope that as many as possible of you will join us continuing the evening there, as we celebrate the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Trondheim!

More info about Tech Hugs & Rock’n Roll can be found at techhugs.no

Why NTNU Student Investor Day?

The goal of NTNU Student Investor Day is to create an arena for student-driven startups at NTNU to meet investors, and vice versa.

In doing so, we aim to facilitate for the startups to learn more about what investors look for. Even more so, we want to aid the startups to start a dialogue with investors early on – hoping that it will be a stepping stone for them to raise the capital needed to build a sustainable business.

For 2025 we would also like to extend this invitation across the country, to other universities. In doing so we hope to inspire other parts of Norway to share our enthusiasm for student entrepreneurship.

Engage Centre on Vimeo.

Awards

There are two award categories:

• Best Business Concept
• Sustainability Award

A total of 200.000 NOK will be awarded to the winners.

The winner of Best Business Concept will also be granted a spot in the final of Sparebank 1 SMN’s competition “Fremtidens Verdiskaper 2025”, with a chance of winning 500.000 NOK! The latter only applies for applicants from central Norway (ie. Trondheim & Ålesund).

Additionally, one of the participating startups will automatically be accepted into the 6AM Accelerator program (valued at 120.000 NOK!)

Read more about 2024’s success and winners here:

Student Investor Day 2024 – ” An invitation to join the next big businesses on their journey” 

How to apply

Applications are sendt as a “3-pager” (pdf-format) where all elements listed below should be addressed. You choose yourself how the format and structure of the 3-pager are.

The deliverable should be maximum 3 pages – hence the name “3-pager”. We prefer that you write in Norwegian, but you may also write in English. Note that the event will be held in Norwegian.

Value proposition
Briefly, what is your business idea?
What value does your business idea offer to the market?

Team
Who is behind the idea and why are you fit to succeed?

Problem
Which problem(s) do you aim to solve with your idea?

Solution
What is your concept, product or service?
What makes it unique, is it scalable, is it doable, is it new?

Customer and market analysis
Who is your customer, user, and what market need do you fulfill? How large is the market, who are the players in it, and how can you address it?

Business model and value chain analysis
What does your business model look like, and where do you place yourself in the value chain?

Sustainability
What makes your idea more sustainable – either environmental, economical or socially – than others in the market?

Additionally, in the email with the application you will have to answer the following questions.

Question #1 (max 500 characters)
What new value will your business idea offer to the market?

Question #2 (max 500 characters)
Which sustainability goals does your startup address, and how?

Question #3 (max 500 characters)
Why is it important for your startup to meet investors right now?

Question #4 (max 500 characters)
What is your business’ connection to the university?
List your team, their role, and graduation year.

Thus, the mail will answer the three questions above, and have one pdf with maximum 3 pages attached.

Click the button to apply before the 30th of April, 23:59.

Requirements for applying startups:
The majority of the team is required to be a registered student (Bachelor, Master, PhD) at NTNU, or any other Norwegian university, or have been a registered student within the last 12 months (i.e. graduation in 2024). Startups with a clear connection to the universities will be prioritized.

The same startup can only attend NTNU Student Investor Day 2 times. If the startup applies for a third time, the application will not be considered.

If you have any questions, send an email to wilhelm.kielland@ntnu.no.