Sarsia Research
Investment Thesis
Sarsia is a Bergen, Norway-based early-stage venture capital firm, founded in 2006, that invests in technologies able to improve quality of life and society while reducing negative impact on nature. The firm frames itself as a bridge between scientific innovation and competent capital, applying detailed technical, market, and impact scrutiny before committing, then working hands-on with management teams (typically via a board seat) to map a realistic path to profitability. Sarsia describes itself as one of the best-performing early-stage VC firms in the Nordic countries.
Sector Focus
Sarsia invests across two core sectors:
- Life Sciences - unmet medical needs, translating laboratory innovation into clinical treatment (oncology, immunology, rare disease, medical devices, diagnostics)
- Technology, Energy and Sustainability - green transition technologies, grid and maritime technology, and sustainable industrial companies
Stage Focus
Sarsia is exclusively an early-stage investor, engaging entrepreneurs and scientists at the point where a technology needs its first institutional capital and structured commercialization plan.
Check Size
Initial checks typically run 2-5 million NOK (roughly $180K-$460K) for 10-40% ownership stakes. Sarsia commits to follow-on capital as companies progress, with total investment per company reaching 30-40 million NOK (roughly $2.7M-$3.7M) across successive rounds.
Lead Tendency
Sarsia behaves as an active, hands-on lead investor: it takes board seats in portfolio companies and stays engaged through successive financing rounds rather than writing a single check and stepping back.
Recent Activity
Sarsia's most recent public activity centers on its life sciences portfolio:
- May 2026: SonoClear AS completed clinical enrollment for its breakthrough-designated intracranial ultrasound system.
- April 2026: Calluna Pharma reached a key milestone in its IPF (idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis) development program, completing patient enrollment.
- February 2026: The US National PKU Alliance made an investment in portfolio company Pluvia Biotech, which develops oral therapies for phenylketonuria.
- September 2025: Calluna Pharma launched a Phase 2 trial for first-in-class antibodies targeting inflammatory conditions.
- June 2025: SonoClear closed an oversubscribed funding round.
Sarsia manages three funds totaling roughly 1.3 billion NOK (~$120M), with Fund III backed in part by EU Horizon 2020 financial instruments, and is actively deploying.
Portfolio Highlights
Sarsia's 24+ company portfolio spans both sector verticals. Notable names include BerGenBio ASA (publicly listed, Oslo Stock Exchange: BGBIO), Nykode Therapeutics (public, clinical-stage immunotherapy), Coegin Pharma, Calluna Pharma, Pluvia Biotech, SonoClear, Heimdall Power (grid sensor technology), and Flow Computing (CPU performance technology, Helsinki). Two of Norway's most valuable early-stage venture-backed companies have come through the Sarsia portfolio.
Team
Sarsia runs a large, deeply technical partner team split across Life Sciences and Technology/Energy/Sustainability verticals:
- Erlend Skagseth - Senior Partner, MBA; 20 years R&D-based IPR and project development
- Sveinung Hole - Managing Partner, MBA; business development, corporate finance, and investment management
- Marit Wick - Partner and CFO; 20 years financial and administrative management
- Oivind Enger - Partner, Life Science, PhD Microbiology; 13+ years research experience
- Jon Trygve Berg - Partner, Technology, Energy and Sustainability; 14 years VC experience
- Farzad Abdi-Dezfuli - Partner, Life Sciences, PhD Pharmacology; 17 years commercializing medical/biotech projects
- Hilde Holdhus - Partner, Technology, Energy and Sustainability, MSc Physical Oceanography
- Jon-Kare Hansen - Partner, Technology, Energy and Sustainability, Dr.Ing. Applied Physics; 20 years R&D experience
- Henrik Solberg-Johansen - Partner, Technology, Energy and Sustainability, MBA; 30 years commercialization and M&A experience
- Maija Slaidina - Investment Manager, Life Science, PhD; 15+ years research experience
- Olav Skjervheim - Compliance; 30+ years investment banking experience
- Hans Hekland - Associate Advisor; 30 years business development and corporate finance
Decision Process
Sarsia runs a partnership-style process: detailed technical and market scrutiny by the relevant sector partners, followed by close collaboration with founding teams to establish development milestones, before taking a board seat to guide execution.
Founder Preferences
Sarsia backs entrepreneurs and scientists, often spinning technology out of university or clinical research (e.g., Pluvia Biotech out of the University of Bergen), who need a technically fluent, hands-on investor able to underwrite deep science and stay engaged through multi-year development and regulatory pathways.
Geographic Focus
Sarsia is Nordic-focused and based in Bergen, Norway, with investments concentrated in Norway and the broader Nordic region; some capital comes from EU-level financial instruments (Horizon 2020) via Fund III.