May 7, 2010
· Filed under Portfolio · Tagged Innovasjonspris, Kappa, OstomyCure, Promon, Protia, Setred
Springfondet’s portfolio company Protia won the Oslo final of the yearly “DnB NORs Innovasjonspris” yesterday. As a regional winner, Protia receives a prize of NOK 200 000 and a chance to compete for NOK 1 million in the national final. Read more about the criteria for the award here (Norwegian only).
A total of six finalists were chosen from more than one hundred nominations. Springfondet is pleased to see that five of the six finalists were portfolio companies. We congratulate Protia and all the other finalists!
Finalists from Springfondet’s portfolio (left to right): Christian Møller (Setred), Tom Lysemose (Promon), Egil Greve (Kappa Bioscience), Per Kristian Vestre (Protia) and Christer Jacobsson (OstomyCure)
April 23, 2010
· Filed under Portfolio · Tagged Kappa Bioscience, Syntavit
Syntavit recently changed its name to Kappa Bioscience AS. Kappa is the greek letter K, and the new name emphasizes the company’s focus on vitamin K and specifically vitamin K2 MK-7.
Kappa Bioscience has developed a new proprietary production process for vitamin K2 MK-7, which means Kappa Bioscience can deliver vitamin K2 at a competitive price, with higher purity and in higher concentrations than the vitamin K2 commercially available today.
There is an ever-growing body of science supporting the benefits of vitamin K2, most well established for bone and cardiovascular health. Emerging evidence also supports a potential role for reducing the risk of prostate cancer.
March 16, 2010
· Filed under Portfolio · Tagged Inger Reidun Aukrust, Syntavit
Syntavit-founder Inger Reidun Aukrust was one of six finalists to the award “Female Entrepreneur of the Year 2010″. Springfondet congratulates her on this recognition of her achievements in Syntavit.
Read more about the award here (in Norwegian):
http://www.tu.no/industri/article238633.ece
Inger Reidun Aukrust (Photo: Jo Michael)
February 11, 2010
· Filed under Portfolio
Computerworld today runs a story about Promon. Read the article here (in Norwegian): http://www.idg.no/computerworld/tema/sikkerhet/article158295.ece
KLAR FOR Å KLATRE: Fra å ha startet på nærmest null ønsker Promon, her ved daglig leder Tom Lysemose, nå å vokse seg langt utover landegrensene med sin sikkerhetsteknologi. (Foto: Leif Martin Kirknes)
February 8, 2010
· Filed under Portfolio · Tagged Alliance Venture Polaris, Encap, Knut Alnæs
Springfondet is happy to welcome Knut Alnæs as new CEO of Encap. Knut has previously held sales and management positions at Sun Microsystems, including Managing Director for Norway, Director for Central and North Europe, as well as Sales Director for Norway.
Encap has also completed another funding round, raising a total of NOK 5 million, with Alliance Venture Polaris as lead investor.
February 4, 2010
· Filed under Uncategorized
Portfolio company Promon has released the following in connection with the recent attacks on Google services:
Since mid of January a specific attack called, Operation Aurora, has been in the news exploiting a vulnerability in Microsoft’s Internet Explorer (979352). Targeted attacks towards Google used this vulnerability in order to get access to certain Gmail accounts. It turns out that this vulnerability can also be used to gain control over the victims PC, leading to the possible installation of Trojans or the danger of becoming part of a Bot Net.
Microsoft writes on their website: “The vulnerability exists as an invalid pointer reference within Internet Explorer. It is possible under certain conditions for the invalid pointer to be accessed after an object is deleted. In a specially-crafted attack, in attempting to access a freed object, Internet Explorer can be caused to allow remote code execution.” The Anti-virus industry (including Microsoft) is now working intensively on solutions for mitigating this vulnerability.
While security experts world-wide are working on effective protection against this vulnerability, Promon already has technology in place that proactively protects against unknown attacks in general and Aurora in particular. The Promon technology detects the Aurora attack immediately and dismantles it by shutting down the browser, leaving the system unaffected.
Here is a video that demos Promon’s technology blocking an ‘Aurora’ attack.
February 2, 2010
· Filed under Portfolio · Tagged Setred
Setred completed a new investment round in January 2010, raising a total of NOK 17 million from existing and new investors. The Setred 3D screen has now been certified for medical use, and the company expects first commercial sales in 2010. The new funding will be used to build sales and marketing, and for continued R&D.
November 19, 2009
· Filed under Portfolio
Portfolio company Setred won the prize “Reodorprisen” at Skaperkraft 2009. The prize is awarded by Innovation Norway and was given to Setred for having developed a novel 3D monitor, based on a technology deemed by independent experts to be leading internationally.
Christian Møller from Setred receiving the award
Springfondet congratulates the entire Setred-team with this significant achievement!
September 15, 2009
· Filed under Portfolio · Tagged Kimberly Lei, Kistefos, Syntavit
Syntavit recently raised 5,25 MNOK in new equity, bringing Kistefos onboard as a new lead investor in addition to Springfondet and Synthetica. The round also included investments from employees and board members.
Syntavit has also recently strengthened its board of directors by appointing Mrs. Kimberly Lei as a new board member. Kimberly is the General Manager of Lilly in Germany. Lilly is the 10th largest pharmaceutical company in the world.
Springfondet is proud to welcome Kistefos as a new investor in Syntavit, and Mrs. Kimberly Lei as a new board member in the company, in the strong belief that both these developments will significantly strengthen Syntavit going forward.
Kimberly Lei
September 1, 2009
· Filed under Portfolio
During the summer, iDTEQ completed its latest round of funding, leading to new investments of NOK 5 million. The proceeds will be used to grow the company through sales and marketing activities, with a focus on international distribution of iDTEQ’s patented intrusion detectors.
Springfondet is happy to welcome Norwegian investment company La Mani AS and Switzerland-based investor Lars B. Stigemar as co-investors in iDTEQ. Malin Hulsbergen from La Mani and Lars B. Stigemar will join iDTEQ’s board of directors, bringing valuable experience and insight.
