Venture Capital Policy Review

The Norwegian venture capital market is oriented towards expansion investments in traditional sectors and suffers from a lack of private risk capital as well as of entrepreneurial demand. Norway needs to increase the entry of innovative start-ups in order to diversify the economy beyond its resource-based sectors. In addition to reducing its dominant role in providing venture capital through privatisation of SND Invest, the government should further privatise industrial holdings, reduce quantitative restrictions on institutional investors, and remove the wealth tax which deters venture investing. This paper analyses trends in Norwegian venture capital markets and makes policy recommendations which have been developed through an OECD peer review process.