Closing Date - end of Q1 2021

Learn More About Organisation behind TFNFI

TheFactory's Experience, History and background for TFNFI

TheFactory spends countless hours analyzing and evaluating hundreds of companies each year, and we meet everyone who wants to meet us. TheFactory Angels companies invest in the best of them and have so far invested in 33 startups, had 2 exits and a great value development for the portfolio as a whole.

Below you will find TheFactory Angels investor reports for the spring and fall semester of 2018 and 2019, as well as spring 2020. The reports give a substansial background of the companies we have already invested in and who have participated in our previous programs.

Who are TheFactory Angels? TheFactory Angels, formerly known as FintechAngels, are a group of private investors with an appetite for fintech and proptech startups. By joining forces with an investment company to invest in the best fintech and proptech companies that come through TheFactory's accelerator programs.

For each accelerator program, a new investment company (ie TheFactory Angels I - VII) will be set up to which external investors are invited to participate. The investment companies are managed by TheFactory AS - the company behind TheFactory Accelerator & Incubator. TheFactory AS has a 22.5% ownership interest in the respective investment companies.

Investors in TheFactory Angels are angel and early-stage investors who share a common goal of helping entrepreneurs and startups accelerate forward, while making good, value-adding investments. So far, 60+ investors have invested in TheFactory Angels companies!

TheFactory prepares reports every six months showing the development of the portfolio companies. Below you will find the overview of the last 4 reports

2022-TheFactory Angels Investor Report Q1 & Q2

2020-TheFactory Angels Investor Report Q3 & Q4

2020 - TheFactory Angels Investor Report Q1 & Q2

2019 - TheFactory Angels Investor Report Q3 & Q4

2019 - TheFactory Angels Investor Report Q1 & Q2

2018 - TheFactory Angels Investor Report Q3 & Q4

2018 - TheFactory Angels Investor Report Q1 & Q2

Partnerships as the Way to Decrease the Risks and Improve the Returns

The opportunities are great, however risks are high when investing in startups.

Our goal is to reduce this risk as much as possible by organizing and working with the founders by connecting them with our partners KPMG, DLA Piper, Nordea, S'banken, Santander, Nordea Liv, NETS, SparNord, Carnegie to name a few - teaching and practicing pitching, working on business development, product development and much more.

Now that we also focus on proptech, we have connected with the real estate industry. We have brought with us a number of exciting players as partners. This includes the following actors; Malling & Co, NCC, Neptune Properties, Coor, Storebrand, and Linstow.

What are We Doing?

We invest in startups and entrepreneurs who are in different phases, but a common characteristic is that they are in the early phase. Some have not established their companies yet, others have had operational operations and revenue over a period of time, as well as launched products and solutions.

TheFactory is therefore gathering a bundle of forward-looking and interested investors, who virtually all share a common interest in innovation and helping to create exciting companies..

We establish an investment company per cohort. In the fall of 2019 it was TheFactory Angels VII AS, which invested exclusively in companies that participated in TheFactory Fall'19 Accelerator Program.

Selection Process

Historically, ten selected companies are accepted into Phase 1 by the accelerator program. TheFactory has then screened 200+ potential companies and found approximately ten companies of opportunity. Investors will have the option to come in and get to know the candidates during Phase 1. After four weeks, TheFactory will host Pitch & Selection Night with Q&A where the investors behind TheFactory Angels get a vote each, and thus help to decide which companies move on to Phase 2 and receive a predetermined investment.

Investments

TheFactory Angels has historically invested NOK 100,000 - 500,000 for 5 - 12% of the company. For example, TheFactory Angels VI entered into agreements that gave 4 - 10% for NOK. 150,000 - 375,000, valuation of the companies was from NOK. 1.6 MNOK - 8 MNOK. The startups that continue after 4 weeks and receive an investment through TheFactory Angels receive an invoice from TheFactory AS of 30% of received investment for program participation that goes to running the accelerator program.

TheFactory Angels and the startups in the portfolio

In total, 83 startups have been selected to participate in the accelerator programs conducted in the fall of 2016, spring and fall 2017, spring and fall 2018, spring, fall 2019 and spring 2020. TheFactory's special proprietary accelerator model allows us to get to know the entrepreneurs through the first four weeks before we saw with the investors selected about half of what we invest in through TheFactory Angels.

In total, 33 startups received investments through TheFactory Angels, three of which were from TheFactory Angels I, five from TheFactory Angels II, five from TheFactory Angels III, five from FintechAngels IV, five from TheFactory Angels V, six from TheFactory Angels VI and four from TheFactory Angels VII.

The companies are in different stages, and we can proudly say that the companies are constantly working hard, experiencing growth, and most have either been invented with additional capital or are in the process of doing so.

TheFactory Angels I

TheFactory Angels I was established in the fall of 2016 by Qapital AS, the company behind TheFactory. We brought in NOK. 900,000 distributed to 16 angel investors during the summer and early fall of 2016, and ready to invest in the companies that then proceeded from Phase 1 of TheFactory Fall'16.

TheFactory Angels I invested in three of the startup companies that participated in the program; Enin AS, Zeipt AS and BillKill AS. The companies have all had a very positive development in their areas, one has already completed a share issue at an exciting price, one is in the process of raising money and the last is much possible to make it fall.

The board of TheFactory Angels I AS sits Espen Einn, Eivind Jåsund, Øyvind Grøndalen and Anders Gregersen, with Ingar S. Bentsen as Chair.

TheFactory Angels II

TheFactory Angels II was established in winter 2017 by TheFactory. We brought in NOK. 900,000 distributed to 15 angel investors last winter, and ready to invest in the companies that then proceeded from Phase 1 of TheFactory Spring'17.

TheFactory Angels II invested in five of the startup companies that participated in the program; Luca, Digipig, Bizbot, Tilitt Insurance and Bolink. The companies in TFAII have also all had a very positive development in their areas, 1 company has been sold, and several are closing issues these days.

The board of TheFactory Angels II AS sits Siri Lande, Petter W. Borg, Nils Erik Høver and Steffen Olsen, with Ingar S. Bentsen as Chair.

TheFactory Angels III

TheFactory Angels III was established in winter 2017 by TheFactory. We brought in NOK. 1,330,000 distributed to 22 investors during the summer, and ready to invest in the companies that then proceeded from Phase 1 of TheFactory Fall'17.

TheFactory Angels III invested in five of the startup companies that participated in the program; Diwala, Funde.no, Redux Enterprise, Pangea Funds and Monetor. The companies in TFAIII have also all had a very positive development in their areas, one company is closing a rights issue these days, three are in the planning phase for capitalization, and the latter is in a very exciting process that we are looking forward to tell more about as soon as it is published.

The board of TheFactory Angels III AS sits Sabine Ameln, Christian Wig, Davide de Picciotto and Øyvind Pedersen Jr., with Ingar S. Bentsen as Chair.

TheFactory Angels IV

TheFactory Angels IV was established in the winter of 2018 by TheFactory. We brought in NOK. 900,000 distributed to 14 investors last winter, ready to invest in the companies that then moved on from Phase 1 of TheFactory Spring'18.

TheFactory Angels IV invested in five of the startup companies that participated in the program; Hoili, Intrava, Lendonomy, Capassa and FintechDB. The companies in TFAIV have all had a very positive development in their areas, 1 company is in the process of issuing a share issue these days, while the others are in the planning phase for capitalization.

The board of TheFactory Angels IV AS sits Borghild Holen, Stine Rolstad Brenna, Ketil Wig and Trygve Skibeli, with Ingar S. Bentsen as Chair.

TheFactory Angels V

TheFactory Angels V was established in the fall of 2018 by TheFactory. We brought in NOK. 1,415,000 distributed to 22 investors last winter, ready to invest in the companies that then proceeded from Phase 1 of TheFactory Fall'18.

TheFactory Angels V invested in five of the startup companies that participated in the program; Mecu, Mahoom, Empower, BackedByCFO and Norquant. The companies in TFAIV have all had a very positive development in their areas, one company is in the process of issuing a share issue these days, while the others are in the planning phase for capitalization.

The board of TheFactory Angels IV AS sits Anita Olsrud, Krister Koen, Philip Røer and Stine Rolstad Brenna, with Ingar S. Bentsen as Chair.

TheFactory Angels VI

TheFactory Angels VI was established in the spring of 2019 by TheFactory. We brought in NOK. 1,350,000 distributed to twelve investors last spring, ready to invest in the companies that then moved on from Phase 1 of TheFactory Spring'19.

TheFactory Angels VI invested in the six startup companies that participated in the program: Romly, SafeDesign, Tag Insight, ShineUp, House of Living and Office Matcher.

The board of TheFactory Angels VI AS sits Øyvind Grøndalen, Knut Ola Evensen, Håkon Kalbakk and Fredrik Roen Annweiler, with Ingar S. Bentsen as Chair.

TheFactory Angels VII TheFactory Angels VII was established in the fall of 2019 by TheFactory. We brought in NOK. 850,000 distributed to 14 investors last spring, and ready to invest in the companies that then proceeded from Phase 1 of TheFactory Fall'19.

TheFactory Angels VI invested in the four start-up companies that participated in the program: Sound Sensing, the Property App, Test Hub and MiraiEx.

The board of TheFactory Angels VII AS sits Morten Kroslid, Sigurd Mathiesen and Sindre Skogland, with Ingar S. Bentsen as Chair.

4 Divisions of TheFactory Under One Roof:

1. Investment operations via TheFactory Capital AS

2. Accelerator operations via TheFactory Accelerator AS

3. Incubator and events via TheFactory Oslo AS 

4. Services for startups and scaleups TheFactory Startup Services

Our Ownership Structure

The company Qapital AS, the parent company of TheFactory AS, was established by Ingar S. Bentsen and two other investors through an investment of NOK 600,000 back in 2015. At that time, neither fintech nor accelerator programs were well established in Norway, consequently we took a calculated risk by focusing on just this.

The first year also meant additional investment from the owners, as well as work without pay. Furthermore, Daytona Invest AS by Ingar S. Bentsen bought out one of the owners, and got Hans Christian Bjørne by Bear Invest AS and Ida Th. Bentsen via Designerina AS as new shareholders. Operations during the first years were run through what is now regarded as the parent company in the structure - Qapital AS, and it is through this company that the leading employees now have a majority shareholding in TheFactory AS.

In the fall of 2017, we saw the need to invest further and within a short time received a share issue of 1.5 MNOK directed at the companies AS Bemacs, TomorrowToday, Garibaldi Invest AS / Nor-Marine Trading AS and Nettuno Capital AS. This amount helped us in our efforts through 2018, together with support from the City of Oslo and the County of Akershus via the Regional Innovation Program (RIP).

TheFactory wanted to invest further in the spring of 2019, and then made a private placement to existing shareholders where we raised NOK 750,000. We have used this amount to establish 3 new positions that made our focus on the fintech and proptech sectors visible, as well as follow-up of our alumni companies, through the hiring of Raja Skogland as CEO of TheFactory Academy and Marinette Hexeberg as Business Development Manager in charge of alumni.

As a startup, and with past experience as a serial entrepreneur, we are used to rapid changes. During the fall of 2019, the owner of Nedre Vollgate 3 where TheFactory is located, sold the building to another professional player. As a result, our partly-owned subsidiary TheFactory Oslo AS, which is located with the leases in Nedre Vollgate 3, was exposed to a vulnerable situation when the new owners indicated a desire to move in a different direction than the previous owner.

In short, we quickly submitted a new plan in which we acquired former building owner Auris AS at Odd Rune Austgulen as a shareholder in TheFactory AS through a conversion of debt (from TheFactory Oslo AS) and completed a private placement, which totaled NOK 1.75 million. We have had a clear idea of ​​the ownership structure of the company throughout our 4-year history, and it is aimed at wanting the entrepreneurs to retain as much of the ownership of the company as possible. As of today, Ingar S. Bentsen, Hans Christian Bjørne and Simon Ruud (Program Director) control more than 58.4% of the shares in TheFactory AS, and through ownership in Qapital AS, Hans Christian Bjørne and Ingar S. Bentsen have almost 75 % of the ownership in Qapital AS, which in turn controls 73.16% of the shares in TheFactory.

We want to continue this policy, which means that the company is controlled and managed by the company's founders. By doing this, we ensure a stable, good ownership of TheFactory in the years to come, while at the same time investing hard in the areas we believe will provide the greatest value creation. In total, revenues for TheFactory and the parent company ended up at around NOK 4 million in 2018, around NOK 6,2 million in 2019 and we expect to increase revenues to NOK 7.5 - 8 in 2020.

As of 01. 12. 2019, the shareholder structure looks as follows:

• Qapital AS with 73,16%

• Auris AS by Odd Rune Austgulen with 8,11%

• AS Bemacs by Preben Steen with 4,96%

• Nettuno Capital AS by Davide de Picciotto with 4,96%

• Scale Invest AS by Simon Ruud with 3,85%

• Nor-Marine Trading AS / Garibaldi Invest AS by Nils-Erik Høver with 3,13%

• TomorrowToday AS (2m2d) by Bjarne Melbye and Fredrik Winther with 1,83%

Qapital AS has the following ownership structure:

• Daytona Invest AS by Ingar S. Bentsen with 50,11%

• Bear Invest AS by Hans Christian Bjørne with 24,5%

• Designerina AS by Ida Th. Bentsen with 16,15%

• Jubalong Invest AS by Steinar Sæther with 7,24%

• Remis AS by Ketil Wig with 2%