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  • Engager Roger Sørheim honoured as “Excellent Teaching Practitioner”

    Engager Roger Sørheim honoured as “Excellent Teaching Practitioner”

    By Meike Siefkes

    The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) awards its scholars with this honour for their clear and consistent focus on student learning in their teaching activities. Excellent teaching practitioners emphasise planning, implementing, assessing, and adapting their teaching practice in a way that best supports the students’ learning outcome. Excellent teaching practitioners have an inquiry-based approach to the development of their own teaching and programmes of study at NTNU. Pedagogical merit awards highlight the value of efforts to develop good teaching in higher education. Insight into the factors that improve students’ learning outcomes is important for work on the quality of education at NTNU. Teaching staff who work together and share valuable experience from their teaching are important in developing the programmes of study. 

    In November 2022, Engager Roger Sørheim was awarded this honour. We met him to talk about the significance of being honoured as an Excellent Teaching Practitioner.

    Engage (E): Hi Roger, first of all: congratulations on being honoured as an Excellent Teaching Practitioner. Let me ask you this straightforwardly: Why did you get this award?

    Roger Sørheim (RS): That is a good question; why did I get it? What was documented in the application was that I have been involved in a lot of activities that put the learner, so the student, into the focus. With activities that take the learner seriously, we continuously experiment, test, and try new things together. That is important for me: doing things together with the colleagues at the department and in later years at Engage and the NTNU School of Entrepreneurship. In general, the way of experimenting, actually testing out and then documenting the effect of what we are doing in entrepreneurship education, was highlighted in the decision to select me for this honour. This was an effort from more than one. It was a team effort to lift both the programme and later the Centre for Engaged Education through Entrepreneurship, Engage.

    E: What role did Engage play on your journey to becoming an Excellent Teaching Practitioner?

    RS: The backdrop is that we started the NTNU School of Entrepreneurship back in 2003. Back then, a venture creation programme like that was something very special and something that very few had heard about and tested. So it took some years until it got any recognition and traction. And then together with Øystein Widding, and later on other colleagues here at the department, we built quite a robust programme for entrepreneurship education. It became clear that elements of what we were doing at the School of Entrepreneurship could be adopted in other contexts and also further developed in other contexts. This goes into the direction of “entrepreneurship as a method”. We saw that this could be an opportunity for a centre of excellence in education (SFU).

    E: What does it mean that you, a professor in entrepreneurship education, are the first in your department to be awarded this honour?

    RS: Hopefully that we are doing something that is considered novel – and also something that works. It hopefully is a positive thing for the environment but also maybe an opportunity to spread the word to other departments, other professors, that could be inspired by what we are doing. And on the other hand, we could be inspired by what others are doing. Because we are becoming a part of a collegium that is determined to make good teaching and create good learning environments for the students. I think it is an opportunity for several more colleagues within Engage to apply and become honoured as an Excellent Teaching Practitioner.

    E: What are the implications of this award? How does this award influence your next steps?

    RS: Together with all the activities we are doing, we put entrepreneurship education even more on the agenda. But this is just one of the beneficial impacts of the honour. The award also confirms that our approach is a valid path to follow; maybe the award could be a little bit of help in creating legitimacy and bringing our vision into other environments, other departments, other faculties. But in general, I don’t think that this award itself revolutionizes anything. It is a confirmation that what we are doing is recognised as something useful.

    E: Do you have any closing remarks?

    RS: The most important take away: the teamwork made it happen.

  • Pop-up stores – a practical approach to university studies

    Pop-up stores – a practical approach to university studies

    The 24-28 October, 8 different student companies popped up in the common area of Nord University of Bodø. Anyone passing had the chance to purchase reflex totebags, winter kits, T-shirts, caps, bracelets, and iced coffee. The pop-up store founders were students of the new course Entrepreneurship and Value Creation, developed by Sølvi Solvoll, Trine Åsheim Bernhardsen and Ingrid Berg Sivertsen.

    By Lene Øy

    High spirits among the students participating, here pictured in front of their pop-up stores.

    In the course Entrepreneurship and Value Creation at Nord University in Bodø, students get a practical approach to university studies. As part of the course the students have been working in groups to create student companies.

    Madeleine Lillegård, one of the students, says: “It has been of great value to be part of this experience, because I want to start my own company one day. This gave us the opportunity to learn more about how things work, for example registration in Brønnøysundregisteret. It was much more exciting than just being told theoretically how to do things.”

    Collaboration with Ungt Entreprenørskap

    This event has been a collaboration with Ungt Entreprenørskap Nordland (Young Entrepreneurship) who work to increase creativity, creative joy and confidence among youth.

    Hedda Eldøen, CEO of Ungt Entreprenørskap, says: “It’s fantastic to see the students on stand today. They have developed ideas in such short time, and are now here with finished products that they can sell. Three weeks ago, when we last met them, they were still in the idea development phase. It is also impressive to see how they use their own network during the product development phase.”

    Hedda Eldøen and Nora Kristensen from Ungt Entreprenørskap were pleased with the result of the project.

    Nora Kristensen, adviser at Ungt Entreprenørskap Nordland, says that: “It is very good to see that the students are acquiring entrepreneurial skills through these student companies. Ungt Entreprenørskap and many others believe that these are very important skills that students need, regardless of whether they choose to start something themselves or are employed in an existing company. We hear from the students that they have encountered challenges during the process and that they have had to be creative to come up with new solutions.”

    The course Entrepreneurship and Value Creation

    Sølvi Solvoll has, together with Trine Åsheim Bernhardsen and Ingrid Berg Sivertsen, developed the course Entrepreneurship and Value Creation. Trine is a PhD candidate, and will study the teams as part of her research. The student feedback was unite: This was a challenging, but fun learning experience.

    The course, which connects theory and practice includes in total 39 students from Bachelor in Business Administration, International Marketing and 9 international students on exchange. The course is divided in two parts. Initially, the students get an introduction to the theory behind entrepreneurship, with a lot of activities and games as learning strategies. Secondly, they are divided into teams with a challenge to come up with a business idea that they would test as a student company. “Today, we can see all the 8 groups being here and they have solved their task exceptionally. To see them getting their first sales done is a big victory, and makes me very proud on behalf of the students”, a touched Sølvi says. “This was a great way to integrate international and Norwegian students”, Trine says – also clearly proud of the achievements of the students.

    Sølvi Solvoll (in the middle) with Lars Morten Lundbakk (left) from DNB and Ulrikke Kristensen (right) from DNB.

    “The different workshops and tasks through this semester have trained the students on idea generation, constructing a concept, presentation, marketing, and economics. This has been useful knowledge during these last weeks of completing their projects.”

    Ingrid Berg Sivertsen, Project Manager at Engage, Nord University

    Sølvi also points out that this is a new course, with many new elements to be tested. They have faced many challenges, but these challenges give them experience to further develop the course. This is also the main reason making a student company is a mandatory activity. To give the students the experience they need to establish their own companies one day. “We hope and believe that the students now are better equipped to see new business ideas and create new values.”

  • Book launch: REFRAMING THE CASE METHOD IN ENTREPRENEUSHIP EDUCATION: Cases from the Nordic Countries

    Book launch: REFRAMING THE CASE METHOD IN ENTREPRENEUSHIP EDUCATION: Cases from the Nordic Countries

    November 28th at 5pm, Mo i Rana

    Are you interested in how stories and lessons from business and entrepreneurs become learning tools to give students important skills and competence? See you at the book launch!

    The book can be bought or read from the publisher here.

    Edited by:
    Karin Wigger, Assistant Professor of Industrial Management, Linköping University, Sweden and Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship, Nord University Business School, Nord University
    Lise Aaboen, Professor of Technology-Based Entrepreneurship, Department of Industrial Economics and Technology Management, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)
    Dag Håkon Haneberg, Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship, Department of Industrial Economics and Technology Management, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)
    Siri Jakobsen, Associate Professor of Innovation, Nord University Business School, Nord University
    Thomas Lauvås, Associate Professor of Innovation, Nord University Business School, Nord University, Norway

  • Kelpinor receives one million NOK from Norinnova and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

    Kelpinor receives one million NOK from Norinnova and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

    By William Husby Hoven

    Arctic Ignite

    Artic Ignite is a yearly accelerator program located in Tromsø, Norway. The event is held under the aegis of Norinnova, in collaboration with the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Every year ten lucky start-ups are selected to take part in the program, where each participating start-up receives NOK 100.000 in starting capital for the development of their business idea. At the end of the program three start-ups receive development grants of half a million NOK each, based on the companies’ pitches on stage. In addition, the participating start-ups can be awarded the “People’s Prize”, consisting of another NOK 500.000.

    Nowadays, raising capital might be difficult for young entrepreneurs with a business idea in Northern Norway, a challenge Arctic Ignite tries to address. Their mission is to facilitate for more start-ups being able to develop their business ideas in Northern Norway, reaching out to young, talented entrepreneurs based in the region. As part of the accelerator programme, the carefully selected participants are given an opportunity to attend two different gatherings, encountering a panel of experts fully focused on their ideas. Furthermore, they get access to relevant networks and are given an opportunity to present their ideas in front of a jury during the final event.

    Hermann Schips, Christoffer Joys Røang, Ole Jørgen Thue Holthe and Johan Ludvig Holst at Arctic Ignite, Tromsø.

    Kelpinor

    Kelpinor is a marine technology start-up originating from NTNU, focusing on kelp farming for the future. They have developed a cultivation technology that reduces costs of kelp production by up to 40%, in comparison with current methods. The company has ambitions to grow 10,000 tonnes of kelp by 2027, which is 10 times the current total production in Norway. On their journey towards achieving this goal the company starts production of kelp in January 2023, after Kelpinor’s first production plant is launched in the sea outside of Sandhornøy in Gildeskål in November this year. This plant has the size of 8 football pitches, and 10 tonnes of kelp will be harvested during the summer of 2023. The funds from Arctic Ignite will play a very important role in enabling them to achieve their goals in the years to come.

    The Kelpinor team in Tromsø after the award ceremony at Arctic Ignite.

    The jury was greatly impressed by Kelpinors’ pitch on stage, and awarded them the “Jury’s Innovation Prize” of half a million NOK. And as if that wasn’t enough, they managed to win the “People’s Prize” as well – a prize consisting of another half a million NOK, decided exclusively by the public. We would like to express our deepest congratulations to Kelpinor, and cannot wait to follow their journey in the time to come!

  • Together to: Innovate

    Together to: Innovate

    On the 21st of September, the event “Together to: Innovate” was held for the very first time, as part of NTNU and The Mine’s partnership with Equinor. The first prize was 300,000 NOK, and students across all disciplines had the opportunity to participate and compete against other students. The competition’s only criterion was that the students could present a concrete idea, project, or start-up that can positively contribute to the energy transition. In addition, the winner gets access to Equinor’s professional expertise and counseling for three months.

    By William Husby Hoven

    The overall ambition of Engage is to develop students’ entrepreneurial skills at the higher education level, to become change agents in all contexts. As a way of achieving this goal, we connect today’s students with the business world – in this way, we can contribute to solving the challenges of the future. The innovation award “Together to: Innovate”, in collaboration with Equinor, was an arena where students were given an opportunity to present their green ideas in front of a professional panel. It will require a lot from us as a society to succeed in the green transition, and the energy sector in particular will play an important role in the years to come. Therefore the students were encouraged to pitch their green ideas, projects, or start-ups – innovations that can contribute to the energy transition and Equinor’s journey towards net zero.

    Brilliant, green ideas for the future

    Originally there was 300.000 NOK as the main prize at “Together to: Innovate”, to be handed out to the winning group of the competition. On the contrary, the panel was so impressed by the green ideas and solutions presented by the competing students, that they couldn’t decide on just one winner. Therefore they chose two different start-ups as winners of the competition, and both start-ups received 300.000 NOK each from Equinor. Additionally, the third prize received 100.000 NOK for their project. The winning start-ups of the competition were Versiro and Kelpinor, congratulations!

    Versiro and Kelpinor – the two main winners of the competition.

    We had a talk with Kelpinor from the NTNU School of Entrepreneurship, a marine technology company. Kelpinor has developed a method for harvesting and launching kelp, enabling economies of scale. Kelpinor has high ambitions and aims to produce 5.000 tonnes of kelp by 2027. Here is what the CEO of Kelpinor, Hermann Schips, had to say about the importance of reaching the top in the competition:

    “The competition was a lot of fun! Going all the way to the top wasn’t something that we had expected. When we realized that we were among the finalists, we thought: Yes! Because then we knew that we would have access to Equinor and their professional expertise for three months. And that is of an infinitely greater value than the cash prize itself. At the same time, winning the main cash prize of 300.000 NOK, will be of enormous importance to us as a start-up company. It’s so important that the things we want to achieve with Kelpinor, now suddenly become much more achievable.

    But maybe the most important thing for us about winning the competition is that we have gotten recognition for the great number of hours and efforts that we have put into the company. We often dedicate more than 60 hours weekly to our project, and it is a fantastic feeling to get a confirmation like this stating that we are heading in the right direction.”

    Hermann Schips, CEO Kelpinor

    The Mine – the center of innovation in Trondheim

    Furthermore, we asked Hermann to elaborate on NTNU’s strategy on the development of The Mine as an innovation centre and the importance of building bridges between students and the business world. Here is what he had to say:

    “I think NTNU’s strategy of building The Mine as a centre of innovation connecting students and the business world together, is very solid. The fact that we as students see real issues, and face real businesses that want these issues solved, is fundamental for our development. And having The Mine as a hotspot, where it’s completely safe to ask about anything and to seek advice from people with a great competence in their field, is invaluable. And I think that Engage acts as a strong driving force in accomplishing this mission, in a very positive way.”

    Hermann Schips, CEO Kelpinor

    When we are talking about innovation in Trondheim, The Mine is the number one place to be. It is located at Gløshaugen NTNU, and is the heart of everything there is related to innovation within the city of moustaches: Trondheim. Here we gather students, employees and the business world, so that everyone is working together in developing the best solutions for the future. The presence of external businesses within the innovation environment in Trondheim, is of great importance. The insight of the business world is crucial for students in the processes of developing the best solutions that the world desperately needs, especially regarding the green transition. “Together to: Innovate” and other similar events are also of great value for the business world itself. The innovation environment in Trondheim is home to a great number of clever ideas – some of them might even solve challenges that the businesses themselves aren’t aware of yet.

    We also talked to Charlotte Sørensen, who is Head of student engagement at Engage. She has been one of the key persons in the build-up and development processes of The Mine and the innovation environment in Trondheim as we know it today.

    Charlotte Sørensen, Head of student engagement

    “In order to have the innovation environment in Trondheim at its best, we are completely dependent of collaboration between students, employees and the business world. At The Mine we currently have four partners: Sparebank 1 SMN, our main partner, Equinor, DNB and Element Logic. Firstly, one of the reasons for why we want to include externals at The Mine, is because we want the students to face and to be working on actual challenges. Furthermore, so that they can provide expert knowledge that we need. Lastly, it’s fundamental to connect the students with businesses at an early stage. Not only for the students themselves, but also for the businesses. After all, the students of today are the ones who will be solving the issues of tomorrow.”

    Charlotte Sørensen, Head of student engagement at Engage

    In addition, Charlotte was heavily involved in the processes of planning the event along with Equinor. As part of their mission of reaching net zero as a company, Equinor is searching for new, green ideas. Therefore, in collaboration with Engage and NTNU, Equinor has launched the new yearly event “Together to: Innovate”, in order to facilitate for green entrepreneurs with great ideas to succeed. To sum up, overall the event was a big success, and Equinor were greatly impressed by the students’ efforts and their green ideas. We are already looking forward to next year’s event!

  • Inspired to improve healthcare

    Inspired to improve healthcare

    Entrepreneurship education engaging students to improve healthcare!

    By Gunn-Berit Neergård, researcher at SFU Engage

    In august, the graduate students of nursing education at NTNU were invited to participate in a three-day innovation camp. The students were introduced to innovation, entrepreneurship, authentic challenges by industry actors and collaborative team work. The camp ended with a pitch competition after four intensive days of working with healthcare challenges in the Norwegian context.

    The NTNU nursing faculty has provided this camp to their students for six years, with various stakeholders and pedagogical solutions – for instance by throwing an online innovation camp during the Covid-19 shut down of society in 2020. For 2022 they had given the students the choice of participating – the camp was no longer a mandatory part of the education to earn a bachelor’s degree in nursing. This seems to be an interesting pedagogical choice that might be fruitful; at 8AM more than a hundred nursing students found the innovation camp relevant to their careers as future nurses, and attended the lectures in the big auditorium at Øya helsehus. Being there by their own choice might influence the atmosphere and cause less resistance than mandatory participation. This is for sure an interesting pedagogical test, knowing from research that «forced» participation in innovation camps for nursing students has come with some protests and negative attitudes among students. As another interesting change, the faculty is now exploring a four-day programme as compared to a previous three-day programme. This is also a change that might suit the students well, as previous research show that students experience three-day camps as too short, with few real opportunities to gain knowledge about authentic challenges and potential solutions. It is impressive to see the faculty implement such research-based pedagogical changes!

    Engage has been present at the innovation camp with lectures and student mentors from Spark* since the very beginning in 2017. This year, researcher and nurse Gunn-Berit Neergård opened the camp with an introductory lecture about entrepreneurship. She also shared her story becoming an entrepreneur through the NTNU School of Entrepreneurship. She was very happy to be ‘back home’ at her old campus, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing!

    Engage look forward to following the innovation camp for nurses in the years ahead, and wish the students and faculty all the best with this year’s camp.

    Interested in research about entrepreneurship education for nursing students?

    Enabling Entrepreneurial Empowerment Through a Three-Day Entrepreneurship Camp

    Innovation camp for nursing students: Igniting an entrepreneurial spirit in three days

    From the Engage blog: The value of entrepreneurial nurses

  • Building Spark* Split

    Building Spark* Split

    By Ingeborg Sofie Bogen

    Spark* Split was started this fall as a part of the CHIC – Creating Holistic Innovation Capacity project. The team gathered for the first time in november, and started building their organization from there. Spark* Split has come far since their start in november. Since then they have grown as a team, recruited their first mentees, and started a collaboration with a local startup to learn even more about entrepreneurship in practice. The event was a great way to tell the rest of the university what Spark* Split is all about.

    The Spark* Split team organized an event that reflected the core values behind Spark*. The team got the chance to talk about how Spark* will look in Split, what mentoring is like, and their journeys as entrepreneurs and mentors. After the event there were also opportunities for networking between students, and faculty that had shown up. The Engage team go the chance to talk about how Spark* is organized at NTNU, and why it is a success here. We also got the chance to talk a little bit about maritime innovation, and how students have started their very own maritime startups. The maritime sector is big in Split, so many of the students had interesting thoughts on the topic. The turnout of the event was even better than expected according to both the faculty and the students. Their theory behind this was the fact that this was a student-led initiative.

    Spark* event in Split exceeded all of my expectations. We had many positive responses from everyone present at the event which gave us a huge boost in confidence to keep going forward. Holding an in-person event for students was the best way of introducing such an initiative. It made everything feel more ‘real’ and, through engaging participants, we motivated them to step up a bit and think about some of their ideas – no matter how big or small they may seem to them.

    As stressful as it was to start a student initiative and an event from scratch, we were fortunate enough to have Spark NTNU mentors and the University of Split by our sides to help us with every obstacle in the way. Hopefully, we will keep going strong and successfully keep spreading Spark* among students at our University.*

    -Sara, Leader of Spark Split*

    We also got the chance to hold an internal workshop for the team. Focusing on how their progress is going, and also how they could work together as a team. The team also got the chance to reflect around the value of Spark, and how Spark could be valuable for potential sponsors. The team had so many different inputs, and ideas on why Spark* is such a valuable initiative. Their thoughts were insightful, and something that will be useful for the future of Spark* Split.

    We are excited to keep following Spark* Split in the time coming, and to continue to learn from eachother’s experiences in the future!

  • Entrepreneurship for improved teaching – intensive UNIPED-module in June and September

    Entrepreneurship for improved teaching – intensive UNIPED-module in June and September

    By Gunn-Berit Neergård

    Engage SFU is hosting an intensive two-day UNIPED-module, where the participants will receive an introduction to entrepreneurship and how this can be implemented and integrated into existing and new courses. The course language is Norwegian, and you must expect lectures and group discussions in Norwegian. The assessment will be based on an oral presentation in the end of the module. For more information, look in the Norwegian description below.

    Entreprenørskap for bedre undervisning – intensiv UNIPED-modul i juni og september

    Entreprenørskap er et «hot topic» i høyere utdanning, og skal implementeres i en rekke disipliner i tiden fremover. Er du en av dem som må, bør, eller vil lære mer om entreprenørskap? Da er denne modulen for deg. Engage SFU arrangerer nå en intensiv to-dagers UNIPED-modul for undervisere ved NTNU, hvor deltakerne får en innføring i entreprenørskap og hvordan dette kan implementeres og integreres i eksisterende og nye emner.

    Hva er entreprenørskap?

    Entreprenørskap har tidligere vært assosiert med store byggeprosjekter og anleggsarbeid. I realiteten omfatter entreprenørskap prosessen der man skaper ny verdi for andre, og det kan ta form som en innovasjon eller en ny organisasjon. Med entreprenørskap setter vi enkeltmennesker i stand til å reagere på utfordringer i samfunnet og skape endringer – ny verdi – for en bedre verden. Entreprenørskap er derfor viktig i flere kontekster, med stor relevans i alle disipliner. Det «entreprenørielle tankesettet» til en entreprenør er verdifullt i en rekke situasjoner. Det kan benyttes i oppstart av nye selskaper og ved utvikling av nye løsninger i etablert industri, arbeidsliv eller i samfunnsmessig sammenheng. Entreprenørskap er dessuten et nyttig verktøy for å kunne nå FNs bærekraftsmål. Det entreprenørielle tankesettet spenner derfor bredt og er aktuelt i alle disipliner – blant annet er det sentralt i både Fremtidens Teknologi- og HUMSAM-studier.

    Entreprenørskap i egen kontekst

    Denne UNIPED-modulen vil gi undervisere en introduksjon i sentrale faglige konsepter for entreprenørskap. De vil lære om et entreprenørielt tankesett, verdien av dette i ulike fagdisipliner, samt få en innføring i SFU Engage sitt utdanningsrammeverk for utvikling av studenters entreprenørielle tankesett. Gjennom diskusjoner og gruppearbeid jobber deltakerne med å overføre innholdet fra kurset til egen undervisningspraksis. Mot slutten av modulen utvikler og gjennomfører deltakerne hver en kort undervisningsøkt der innhold fra modulen integreres med eget fagfelt. Deltakerne i modulen vil etter gjennomføring kunne utvikle egen undervisnings- og utdanningsaktivitet slik at entreprenørskap kan bli en naturlig del av den faglige aktiviteten. Blant annet vil Engage sitt utdanningsrammeverk være sentralt i modulen. Slik vil undervisere som deltar kunne integrere faglig aktivitet innen entreprenørskap som er tilpasset egen utdanningsdisiplin og -kontekst.

    Datoer: 20. juni – 21. juni 2022

    Klokkeslett: 09:00-16:00 begge dagene

    Sted: Gløshaugen, Trondheim

    Påmeldingsfrist: 1. juni

    Påmelding via Kurskatalogen i NTNU Læringsportalen her.

    En tilsvarende modul vil bli gitt 6. og 7. september 2022.

    Engage sitt utdanningsrammeverk:

    • Act – Engage with doing
    • Interact – Engage with others, partners or stakeholders
    • Challenge – Engage with the world outside the university
    • Embrace – Engage with and handle uncertainty
    • Reflect – Engage with internalising knowledge and skills

    Les mer her.

    Se video om vårt utdanningsrammeverk:

  • Join Engage and Element Logic for a design sprint May 3 2022!

    Join Engage and Element Logic for a design sprint May 3 2022!

    By Scott A. Bekke

  • NTNU Student Investor Day: 29. April 2022

    NTNU Student Investor Day: 29. April 2022

    By Scott A. Bekke

    Once again we are proud to invite the top 12 student-driven startups from NTNU to meet a selection of Norways foremost early phase investors.

    Together with Sparebank 1 SMN and 6AM Accelerator we are glad to be able to repeat last years success; the NTNU Student Investor Day! This year – however – it will be bigger, better, harder and even more fun!

    Every student-driven startup from NTNU are invited to apply for the event according to the application critereas are listed below. Of the applicants, 12 startups are selected to attend the event where they will get to pitch their business idea and be a part of an intense speed-dating round with a selection of Norways foremost early phase investors.

    When?

    29. April 2022

    12:30 – 14:00 Introductions and pitching
    14:15 – 15:30 Speed dating
    15:30 – 18:30 Prize ceremony, food and drinks

    What?

    5 minute pitching from startups
    5 minute speed dates between startups and investors
    Prize ceremony
    Mingling, food and drinks

    Where?

    Gruva, Oppredningen, NTNU Gløshaugen
    Sem Sælands vei 1, 7034 Trondheim

    Who?

    Student-driven startups from NTNU
    Norwegian early phase investors.

    Prizes?

    Total of 150.000 NOK!
    Participation in the Stage Two-competition in Berlin!
    Participation in the 6AM Accelerator program!

    NTNU Student Investor Day is intentionally set to the same date as “Tech, Hugs & Rock’n Roll”. We hope that as many as possible of you will join us continuing the evening there, celebrating the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Trondheim!

    More info about Tech Hugs & Rock’n Roll can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/events/904124110515459

    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.

    Read more about last years event here:

    https://engage-centre.no/student-investor-day-2021/

    Awards

    There are three award categories:

    • Best business concept
    • Best business plan
    • Sustainability award

    A total of 150.000 NOK will be awarded to the winners.

    Additionally, one lucky winner will be awarded with participation at the Stage Two competition in Berlin, fall 2022.

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

    Read more about last years winner of best business concept,
    Aviant’s, successfull trip to Stage Two here:

    Stage two: Succeeding in the entrepreneurial world


    How to apply

    Applications are sent as a simplified business plan where all elements listed below should be addressed. You choose yourself how the format and structure of the business plan are. The deliverable should be maximum 10 pages, and may be written in English or Norwegian.

    Executive summary
    A summary of your business plan

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

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

    Market analysis and plan
    Who is your customer, user and what market need 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?

    Action plan
    How do you plan to move forward?

    Profitability assessment
    How profitable is your business the next five years? How much capital and liquidity do you need to reach your goals, and how will you finance it?

    Risk assessment
    What risks does your business face, and how can you address them?

    Applications are sent to henning.p.patricksson@ntnu.no within the 7th of
    April 23:59.

    About Stage Two

    Stage Two 2021 will be hosted at Technische Universität Berlin fall 2022. Stage Two gathers early stage startups pre-selected by university-affiliated entrepreneurship centers during university rounds. The best two startups of each university will pitch live at Stage Two in front of European top investors & industry leaders.

    Facts:

    • 25+ top universities, 25+ VCs and industry leaders
    •  Best 50+ early stage startups from 15+ European countries
    • Date: TBA (fall 2022), Berlin 
    • Website: stagetwo.io

    Social Media: LinkedIn, Instagram