RunwayVC Research
Investment Thesis
RunwayVC is a Norwegian early-stage venture capital firm investing in founders building the next generation of industrial technology. The firm's core belief is that some of the next major global technology companies will be built in industrial technology, at the intersection of AI, software, robotics and physical industry. RunwayVC organizes its thesis around three connected areas: Connectivity and IoT (sensors, networks and connected systems that make industrial data available), Industrial Intelligence and Orchestration (AI and software that turn that data into decisions and coordinated action), and Robotics and Automation (bringing those decisions into the physical world). The firm differentiates itself through "industrial access" built directly into the investment process: it works closely with operators, customers and technical experts, from sourcing and validation through pilots and commercial deployment, rather than treating industry relationships as something added after an investment is made.
Stage Focus
RunwayVC invests from pre-seed through Series A, with selective follow-on participation into later rounds for its strongest portfolio companies (e.g., continued backing of Muybridge through its Series A, and AirHub's Series A). The firm describes its sweet spot as early-stage industrial technology companies moving from pilots to real industrial deployment.
Check Size
The firm's stated first investment range is roughly €0.5M-€2M. Dealroom reporting on the Fund II first close cites typical initial cheques of NOK 5-10 million (roughly €0.5M-€1M), with follow-on reserves for portfolio companies that scale.
Lead Tendency
Evidence is mixed. RunwayVC describes "leaning in early" and picking up the phone to help founders build commercial momentum, consistent with a lead investor in early rounds. However, several recent disclosed investments show RunwayVC participating alongside other leads: Minerva Humanoids' oversubscribed pre-seed was led by General Catalyst; AirHub's €4.4M Series A was joined alongside Keen Venture Partners, Lumaux and LUMO Labs; and Muybridge's $16M Series A was led by Investinor, Fairpoint Capital and Idékapital, with RunwayVC as a continuing investor. RunwayVC appears comfortable both leading pre-seed/seed rounds in its core industrial-access wheelhouse and following into larger syndicates for its strongest existing portfolio companies.
Recent Activity
RunwayVC announced the first close of Fund II in August 2026 at NOK 400M (€40M), with cornerstone investor Aker joined by Halliburton, Aker BP, Aker Solutions, KLP, Investinor, Norwegian industrial families and technology/finance investors. Fund II plans approximately 20 investments over three to five years, primarily in Norway and the Nordics with selective investments elsewhere in Europe and the US. The first two Fund II investments are Minerva Humanoids (teleoperated humanoid robots for hazardous industrial work) and Hive (a "silicon brain" platform that retrofits autonomy onto existing industrial machinery). Other recent activity includes participating in AirHub's €4.4M Series A (April 2026), continuing to back Muybridge through its $16M Series A (May 2026), and portfolio company Sonair achieving the world's first safety-certified 3D ultrasonic sensor (ADAR One, certified June 2026).
Portfolio Highlights
Fund I (launched 2022) has backed 24 companies, completed 23 follow-on investments, and achieved two exits: WSense (underwater connectivity, acquired by Fincantieri in July 2026 as part of a roughly €600M multi-company underwater-technology acquisition) and Celsia (Oslo-based sustainability reporting SaaS, acquired by ISS-Corporate in April 2024). Collectively, Fund I portfolio companies have raised more than NOK 2 billion in external capital. Active portfolio companies span industrial AI (Hive, Phantasma Labs, iPercept), robotics and sensing (Minerva Humanoids, Sonair, AirHub), industrial hardware/software interfaces (OTee, Shapemaker), imaging (Muybridge, CuttingRoom), and adjacent SaaS (Cardboard, Reggy, AdminKit, ComplAi, Just, Sparkel, Mion, Telgea, Plaace, PLAATO).
Team
- Tor Bækkelund, Managing Partner and Co-Founder — investor and operator since 2007, has led six funds; focuses on turning strong products into commercial momentum.
- Sagar Chandna, Senior Partner and CTO — early Opera employee, built Opera India, former CTO, 120+ startup investments at Katapult including multiple unicorns.
- Peder Hjermann, Associate Partner — previously M&A and strategy for large industrial clients at Bain & Co.
- Hanna Selvaag Wangsmo, Investment Director — previously McKinsey (strategy) and Dignio (business development/product).
- Anders W. Botten, CFO.
Decision Process
RunwayVC operates as a partnership with a defined investment team (Managing Partner, Senior Partner, Associate Partner, Investment Director) rather than a solo-GP structure. Investment decisions remain with the RunwayVC investment team even as the Fund II LP base has broadened to include industrial operators.
Founder Preferences
RunwayVC looks for founders with deep insight into a real industrial problem from the inside, technical depth combined with commercial instinct and speed, and the ambition to build at global scale. Team members repeatedly emphasize genuine founder-problem fit, naive-but-important questions, and evidence of a "first painful yes customer." The firm favors technical founders solving real industrial pain points over generalist teams chasing fashionable categories.
Geographic Focus
Primarily Norway and the broader Nordics, with selective investments elsewhere in Europe and the US. The firm's core thesis is that the Nordics' unusually sophisticated industrial base (energy, maritime, offshore, manufacturing, critical infrastructure) makes it an unusually strong place to validate industrial technology, even though the ambition for portfolio companies is explicitly global.
Additional Context
RunwayVC sits inside the wider RunwayFBU ecosystem, which runs an industrial Tech Hub with 60+ industrial tech companies, an incubator, Tech Hub memberships, and an AI and Robotics Lab. The firm is based in Fornebu, Norway, and legally operates as RunwayFBU Fund Management AS.