Oslo Science Park's history

1984

• Innovation Center A/S is founded. Owners included the University of Oslo, the Municipality of Oslo, 11 major industrial companies, and research institutes in Oslo. This marked the beginning of Forskningsparken.

1985

• Svenning Torp is hired as the managing director and CEO of the Innovation Center.

1988

• Property Director Kjell Haugen overlooks the construction site of Forskningsparken's first buildings, D and E.

1988

• H.R.H. Crown Prince Harald lays the first cornerstone in Forskningsparken on October 25, 1988.

1989

• Prime Minister Jan P. Syse opens Forskningsparken on November 15, 1989, with a well-aimed blow.

1990

• The Biotechnology Center (now NCMM) moves into Forskningsparken.

1990

• The newly established Forskningsparken Montessori kindergarten opens its doors to the first children, in the same barracks where Innovation Center AS was initially located.

1993

• The Internet company Oslonett moves into Forskningsparken and publishes Norway's first commercial web server the same year. The company was later acquired by Schibsted and renamed Schibstednett. It merged with Telenor Online on February 1, 1997, resulting in the establishment of the company SOL.

1994

• Mogul Media is established by Øivind Gunnufsen, and the company moves into Forskningsparken.

1995

• The FORNY program is established by the Research Council of Norway and the State Industrial and Regional Development Fund. Forskningsparken takes on the role of operator for FORNY Oslo, a key instrument in the effort to commercialize research results.

1996

• Ole Jørgen Marvik and Ragnhild Paulsen establish Affitech in Forskningsparken. Inger Sandlie serves on the board as a scientific advisor. Morten Isaksen is the business development leader.

• Chipcon Group is established in Forskningsparken by the three SINTEF researchers Geir Førre, Sverre Dale Moen, and Svein Anders Tunheim. The company was sold to Texas Instruments for 1.3 billion in 2006.

1997

• Mogul Media launches Netvertiser, a solution for displaying advertisements and news on the screensaver.

• The price comparison service Mascot Interactive is established in Forskningsparken, later renamed Zoomit AS. The company merged with the French company Kelkoo during the IT boom in 2000.

1998

• UiO's media center moves in and is called InterMedia. UiO: Department of Media and Communication.

1999

• Polypure is established and moves into Forskningsparken. The company develops polyethylene glycol (PEG), a polymer used in a wide range of chemical, biological, medical, industrial, and commercial applications.

• The Gründerdagen (Entrepreneur Day) is held for the last time in 2012, replaced by the Cutting Edge festival.

• Minister of Trade and Industry Lars Sponheim lays the foundation stone for Forskningsparken's buildings C and B.

• Forskningsparken's incubator program is established in collaboration with SIVA, providing a development environment for entrepreneurs and startups.

2001

• VentureLab AS is established in Forskningsparken to assist growth companies with advice and business development, aiming for an effective connection between entrepreneurs and private/institutional investors.

2003

• Bio-Medical Innovation (BMI), an incubator for biomedical startups, is established by Medinnova (now Inven2) and Forskningsparken.

• The VentureLab Investment Forum is held in Forskningsparken for the fifth time.

2004

• The Minister of Education and Research Kristin Clemet opens the Center for Material Science and Nanoscience in Forskningsparken.

• Birkeland Innovation is opened by Minister of Trade and Industry Børge Brende. Birkeland Innovation (now Inven2) was intended to facilitate better collaboration between UiO and the business sector.

2005

• Minister of the Environment Helen Bjørnøy lays the foundation stone for buildings F, G, and H, the Environmental Research Center.

• Springfondet is established. Forskningsparken establishes a seed fund in a 50/50 collaboration with Kistefos AS to strengthen innovation work.

2006

• The façade on the east side is clad in recycled glass. On the south side, the building is clad in Siberian larch, a material that is completely maintenance-free. Forskningsparken also installs a solar-powered power plant on the roof, which was the largest in Norway at the time.

• The kindergarten moves into a new building designed and adapted specifically for Montessori pedagogy.

• Syntavit (now Kappa Bioscience) is established and moves into Forskningsparken. Researcher Inger Reidun Fjeldskaar Aukrust and her team discover, as the first in the world, a way to produce vitamin K2, MK-7, and applied for a patent in 2008. Inger was nominated for Female Entrepreneur of the Year in 2010.

2010

• The competence development program Build2Grow is established by Oslotech AS, as part of the EU's Interreg program Kask Incubator.

• Otivio is established based on patents, prototypes, and clinical documentation developed at the University of Oslo. The company moves into Forskningsparken and develops products to improve blood circulation in patients' arms and legs.

• Karl-Christian Agerup takes over as director of Forskningsparken AS (now Oslotech AS), succeeding Svenning Torp.

• Forskningsparken acquires parts of IT Fornebu Vision AS, and the network and incubator activities are transferred to Forskningsparken.

• Oslo Medtech (now Norway Health Tech) moves into Forskningsparken.

• The University of Oslo, Oslo University Hospital/South-Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority merge their innovation units Birkeland Innovation and Medinnova, and Inven2 is formed. Former director of Birkeland Innovation, Jostein Dalland, is hired as the director of Inven2. Here with Svenning Torp.

2011

• The new computer science building at the University of Oslo opens.

2012

• Entrepreneur Simon Souyris Strumse establishes the company Flikly AS (now Filmgrail), and the company becomes a member of StartupLab.

• The vaccine company Vaccibody AS moves out of the BMI incubator and into its own offices in Forskningsparken, with co-founder and CSO Agnete B. Fredriksen at the helm. Fredriksen completed her doctorate in immunology at the University of Oslo in 2007. That same year, she started Vaccibody with her advisors, Professors Bjarne Bogen and Inger Sandlie.

• Oslo Medtech (now Norway Health Tech) and Oslotech open Medtech Growth House. Ostomycure, Otivio, UroLogical, Optinose, Skannex, RemovAid, and Cardiaccs are some of the ventures that were part of this startup growth hub.

• Math teacher Jean-Baptise Huynh and game developer Patrick Marchal team up with former Opera directors Rolf Assev and Christen Krogh to establish the company WeWantToKnow AS. The company launches the math game DragonBox, which quickly rises to the top of the App Store. Later, Opera founder Jon von Tetzchner joins as an investor.

• StartupLab is established by Oslotech AS. Minister of Trade and Industry Trond Giske opens StartupLab simultaneously with the inauguration of Forskningsparken's building A.

• Educational game-based learning company Attensi moves into StartupLab with only 2 employees. By 2017, they had grown to 33 employees and moved into their own office space in Forskningsparken.

• The Environmental Sample Bank opens in Forskningsparken.

2013

• Parken Bakeri opens in Forskningsparken.

• Director of CICERO Kristin Halvorsen opens the CIENS Top Center, now part of the Forskningsparken Conference Center.

• Founders Fund is established by StartupLab, an early-stage fund where former IT entrepreneurs invest. The fund amounts to about 30 million NOK. Investments are made in companies located in StartupLab. The initiator of the fund was Tor Bækkelund, who was involved in starting the information company Hugin.

• The NORTEM microscope Titan is installed in Forskningsparken. NORTEM stands for The Norwegian Centre for Transmission Electron Microscopy, a collaboration between Sintef, NTNU, and UiO.

• The 15th annual Norwegian Investment Forum is held in Forskningsparken. The event series was organized by Oslotech AS and Venturelab AS. NIF later merged with DNB to organize DNB next and 100 Pitches.

• Cutting Edge is held for the first time. The festival was established by Inven2, UiO, and Oslotech. The keynote speaker this year was Ayesha Khanna with her lecture on Emerging technology trends: Welcome to the Hybrid-Age.

2014

• By:Larm Interactive is held in collaboration with Nordic Technology Entrepreneurship, StartupLab, and Oslotech.

• The BioVerdi report is launched. The initiator of the report was Marius Øgaard, Oslotech, and the project manager was Øystein Lie, NMBU, and MarLife.

• StartUiO moves into Forskningsparken. StartUiO serves as a link between the startup environment in Norway and the students at the University of Oslo.

• IKT Norge and StartupLab initiate the establishment of the Oslo Edtech Cluster. The cluster moves into the premises of StartupLab, and in the summer of 2015, they are awarded Arena status from the business cluster program of Innovation Norway, SIVA, and the Research Council.

2015

• IKT Norge and StartupLab initiate the establishment of the Oslo Edtech Cluster. The cluster moves into the premises of StartupLab, and in the summer of 2015, they are awarded Arena status from the business cluster program of Innovation Norway, SIVA, and the Research Council.

• 2016 The Oslo Lifetech network (now The Life Science Cluster) is established with support from the University of Oslo, Inven2, and Oslotech.

• StartupLab establishes Founders Fund II, a new fund of 70 million NOK. Among the investors in this fund are Kjell Inge Røkke, Johan H. Andresen Jr, Are Traasdahl, and Jon von Tetzchner.

• Mayor of Oslo Raymond Johansen opens StartupLab's new Hardware & IoT Lab.

• Crown Prince Haakon opens the health incubator Aleap, an initiative of Oslo Medtech (now Norway Health Tech), Inven2, and Oslotech.

• The Corporate Innovation Day is held in Forskningsparken for the first time, a meeting place for leaders, innovators, entrepreneurs, and researchers who want to contribute to creating the winners of the future!

2017

• Minister of Transport Ketil Solvik-Olsen opens Mobility Lab in Forskningsparken, a collaboration between the Møller group and StartupLab.

• Official reopening of Gaustadbekken.

2018

• Prime Minister Erna Solberg opens ShareLab.

2019

• StartupLab launches its third investment fund, StartupLab Founders, with a fund of 100 million NOK.

• StartupLab opens a new branch in Solheimsviken, Bergen.

• Oslo Science City is established, a collaboration to develop the area from Gaustad, Blindern, Marienlyst to Majorstuen as Oslo Science City, Norway's first Innovation District.

• The Life Science Cluster celebrates becoming an Arena Cluster.

• Aleap launches the Norwegian Health Consortium together with the TTOs Norinnova, NTNU Technology Transfer, SINTEF, Validé, and VIS. The goal of the program is to map, make available, and develop expertise in the Norwegian health industry. Ove Solesvik in Aleap is responsible for the program, which has continuous support from Siva.

2020

• Official launch of Oslo Science City, Norway's first Innovation District. The launch was marked by Prime Minister Erna Solberg and several key stakeholders from the area.

2021

• Official launch of the StartupLab Energy industrial program with Minister of Petroleum and Energy Tina Bru present. The program aligns with one of StartupLab's four focus areas: Mobility, Data Science, Hardware, and now Energy.

• Two new floors in Building F were ready for occupancy in December.

2022

• During the spring of 2022, the additions to Building D were ready for occupancy.

• Our new meeting center, Gaustadtoppen, opened to the public with two new meeting rooms, a lounge, and a lush rooftop garden.

• Official opening of Health2B, a meeting place for collaboration and innovation between the public and private sectors established by Norway Health Tech, Forskningsparken, and Oslo University Hospital.

2023

• Minister of Trade and Industry Jan Christian Vestre laid the foundation for the StartupLab Construction industrial program, led by Ronny Liverød.

• UiO: Life Science, Growth House for Value Creation, dScience - Center for Data and Computational Science, and UiO: Energy and Environment are co-located in Forskningsparken.