About Scaling Lab

A centre for scaling industrial B2B technology companies

Scaling Lab spun out of BI Norwegian Business School in 2023, building on more than a decade of action research into how industrial B2B technology companies actually scale. The methodology has been tested in the field with 100+ technology companies.

Our origin

Ten years of learning, condensed into a methodology.

2015

MIT REAP begins

Professor Torger Reve, backed by Norway's then Minister of Trade and Industry, launches Norway's participation in MIT's Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Program — an objective, data-driven assessment of the Norwegian innovation system.

2016

A sobering finding

Norway topped the OECD for new business formation — but ranked last for scaling. Fewer than 1% of the companies studied grew beyond 50 employees.

2016–23

100Scaleups

Professor Per Ingvar Olsen forms a working group at BI Norwegian Business School to study industrial scaling in practice, working directly with 100 scale-up-ready companies through a six-month programme.

2017

MIT & GCE Ocean Technology partnerships

A scaling accelerator for industrial B2B technology companies is built together with MIT's Martin Trust Center for Entrepreneurship. In parallel, a regional partnership begins with GCE Ocean Technology in Bergen.

2017–21

Learning from China and Israel

A second accelerator is built with Tsinghua University and the Beijing Tsinghua Industrial R&D Institute, working closely with 20+ Chinese industrial companies. In parallel, the team studies Israel's Yozma programme and demand-driven innovation model in depth.

2023

Scaling Lab spins out

The accumulated methodology becomes Scaling Lab — a dedicated centre for scaling industrial technology companies, spun out of BI Norwegian Business School.

2024–25

Nine programmes, one white paper

Nine accelerator programmes and 100+ companies later, Scaling Lab publishes its research on Norwegian industrial policy and presents a new innovation model for the defence and dual-use sector to Norway's financial and public sectors.

What we do

Four ways we help Norway scale.

01

Scaling accelerator

We accentuate and accelerate industrial technology companies through structured programs, case development and investment support — while strengthening the Norwegian ecosystem with practical scaling knowledge and capabilities.

02

Industrial orchestration

From equity story to industrial partnership: we orchestrate the setup, identify partners, structure the deal and build the agreements that take a technology company from pilot to scale.

03

Innovation eco-systems

Designing innovation systems in defined industrial value chains to accelerate developments according to the demand-driven principles set out in our policy research. Developed to date in healthcare, digital grid, the energy transition and the defense industry.

04

Policy research

A decade of comparative action research across the US, China, Israel and Sweden — examining how different innovation systems build industrial technology companies that scale, and what Norway can learn from each.

Global network

Who we learn from.

Our methodology is built by studying — and partnering with — the world's most effective innovation ecosystems, then testing what we learn with Norwegian companies.

MIT
Stanford University
UC Berkeley
Technion Israel Institute of Technology
Tsinghua University
Technische Universität München
GCE Ocean Technology
Institutt for energiteknikk
Forskningsparken Oslo Science Park
BI Norwegian
Business School
Programme partner

Sponsored scaling for Norwegian SMBs.

For the past two years, Scaling Lab has partnered with Stiftelsen Teknologiformidling to sponsor a 3–4 month scaling process for Norwegian industrial technology companies, built on ten years of accumulated learning. Twelve Norwegian industrial companies have completed the programme to date.

Are you a Norwegian SMB technology company looking for help preparing for — or executing — a scaling process? Get in touch, and we can assess together whether you qualify for sponsored support through the foundation.

Get in touch →
Stiftelsen Teknologiformidling

Stiftelsen Teknologiformidling reinvests in Norwegian SMBs to strengthen productivity, value creation and competitiveness.

Visit teknologiformidling.no →
Founders

Who we are — in our own words.

Tom Lindtein

Tom Lindtein

Founding Partner
"We started Scaling Lab to create a platform accentuating scaling of industrial technology companies in the Norwegian innovation eco-system: strategic value development of cases, international syndication of capital, technology, market access, and competence."
Harald Hvidsten

Harald Hvidsten

Founding Partner
"Accelerated development in strategic structures to align interests and to maximize the value development potential of cases is at the core of all our activities."
Team

Led by industry builders and researchers.

Tom Lindtein

Tom Lindtein

Founding Partner

Works directly with portfolio companies on industrial orchestration, equity story design, and partnership strategy.

Harald Hvidsten

Harald Hvidsten

Founding Partner

Leads programme delivery and works directly with portfolio companies to accelerate value creation and structure industrial partnerships.

Per Ingvar Olsen

Per Ingvar Olsen

Professor of Strategy & Entrepreneurship, BI

Founded the 100Scaleups working group at BI Norwegian Business School and leads Scaling Lab's research into industrial scaling and Norwegian innovation policy.

Svein O. Sæther

Senior Advisor

Former Norwegian ambassador to Turkey, Azerbaijan, Israel and China, and former Director General at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Advisory board

Politics · Regulation · Industry · Capital · Academia

Scaling Lab's Industrial Advisory Board brings together senior figures across Norwegian politics, regulation, industry, capital and academia.

Ready to scale?

Building an industrial technology company? Exploring international growth, strategic partnerships, or looking to unlock new capital or market opportunities? Let's talk about how we can accelerate your next stage of growth.

Get in touch