From hot desk to hydrogen lab

“Photoncycle is solving the last major challenge in renewable energy, namely long-term energy storage,” says Bjørn Brandtzæg, CEO and founder of Photoncycle. “We’re developing a system that lets you store surplus energy, typically from rooftop solar in the summer, next to your house and become completely energy self-sufficient all year round.”

Brandtzæg founded Photoncycle at the end of 2020, and the following year he rented a desk at Oslo Science Park. The first employee came on board that same year. By 2022 there were seven of them, and today the company has around 25 employees, split between Oslo and an office in Denmark. At Oslo Science Park, the company has two labs.

“Oslo Science Park has made it so easy for us to scale up our technology here that we’ve been able to move around within the park instead of changing premises.”

“A world-class hydrogen lab”

Hydrogen is part of the technology Photoncycle is developing. While the company was still small, a dedicated hydrogen lab was the first thing they built at Oslo Science Park. The goal was to be able to test hydrogen on a much larger scale.

“Everyone knows that hydrogen is inherently explosive. So we went through a very thorough process with Oslo Science Park to set up what I’d call a world-class hydrogen lab down here in the basement. It was quite expensive, and we were very meticulous about putting the safety procedures in place.”

The lab has been in operation for four years, and this is where much of the core technology is tested.

“It’s worked incredibly well, both the collaboration with Oslo Science Park and the fact that we’ve run for four years without any safety issues whatsoever.”

“Because Oslo Science Park has accommodated technology development here, we’ve been able to keep the team together, which has been important for pushing the technology forward.”

A place to grow

With lab facilities and flexible lease agreements, Photoncycle has been able to grow, both in technology and headcount, in one and the same place.

“The alternative for a company like ours, once you’ve grown bigger, is to move out of the city center because you need testing facilities. The fact that Oslo Science Park has made it so easy for us to scale up our technology here has meant we could move around within the park instead of changing premises. That’s been a great part of our scale-up journey,” says the founder.

“Most of the offices we’ve rented have had three-month leases. As you scale up, it’s quite easy to move around and expand without tying yourself to very long lease agreements. We’re still in an R&D phase, but we’re increasingly confident that we can stay here for a while longer, since they’ve been so good at accommodating what we’re doing.”

Capital and expertise

It was the proximity to both the university community and Startuplab that led Photoncycle to choose Oslo Science Park. Startuplab eventually also became one of the company’s investors.

“Research and development can sometimes be a bit slow, and things take an incredibly long time. But when you have capital pushing at the same time, you get a somewhat different dynamic. It’s not just Startuplab that’s here, but all the venture firms hanging around Startuplab to see what the next big thing is.”

Brandtzæg recommends Oslo Science Park to companies similar to his own.

“Typically companies doing somewhat more deep tech development, who want a landlord that can accommodate them as they grow. And ideally ones that also want a foot in the door of the investment community,” he concludes.