Ferd
Strandveien 50, Lysaker, Akershus, 1324, Norway
Overview
Ferd Capital has three investment mandates: Private Companies, Listed Companies, and Special Investments. These mandates give the business area significant flexibility in terms of the type of investments it can make. Ferd Capital can invest in various different situations, from mature companies in need of a turnaround through to venture companies that need professionalising and additional capital. The majority of our investments are, however, in high-quality companies that we can make even stronger by acting as a good owner. We are not structured as an investment fund, and this gives us flexibility with regard to our investment horizon. In both the privately owned and listed companies in which we have a significant ownership interest, we are a long-term and active investor that acts on the basis of Ferd’s value platform and competitive advantages.
- Total investments
- 4
- Lead investments
- 1
- Investments · 12mo
- 1
- Active investors
- 9
Sector focus
- Financial Services
- Semiconductor
- Venture Capital
Investment portfolio
- Nofence
Participated · Series B · Sep 2025
Founded in Norway in 2011, Nofence pioneered the world’s first commercial virtual fencing system for cattle, sheep and goats. Its solar-powered collars use GPS and mobile networks to define digital boundaries and deliver escalating audio warnings followed by a mild electric pulse if an animal crosses the line, all managed through an easy-to-use app. The technology supports rotational grazing, lowers labor and production costs, and improves land stewardship, making it attractive to climate-conscious farmers. Adoption has grown from pilot projects in 2016 to more than 150,000 collars sold, and the company now employs about 90 people across Norway, the UK, Ireland, Spain and the United States. Recent hiring of a U.S. managing director and national sales director underscores a push into the American market, where producers in 48 states are already using the product. With fresh capital, Nofence plans to accelerate expansion in North America and Europe, advance product development, and deepen customer support. Investor enthusiasm highlights the firm’s momentum and positions it to make virtual fencing a global standard in livestock management.
- Ludenso
Led · Seed · Oct 2022
Ludenso provides an augmented-reality app that enables students to scan textbook pages and watch learning resources come to life. Launched in 2021 by Eirik Wahlstrøm, Harald Manheim and Ingrid Skrede, the company is based in Oslo, Norway. It has partnered with the University of Oslo and publisher Aschehoug to reach every 6–16-year-old studying the science curriculum in Norway. Ludenso also works with SAGE to enrich nursing content and with PG Online on AR-enabled revision guides in the UK. The company intends to use its recent seed funding to scale throughout Europe and the UK and further establish its position as an AR platform for educational publishers.
- The Future Group
Participated · Series C · Nov 2016
The Future Group, co-founded in 2013 by Jens Petter Høili and Bård-Anders Kasin, develops the Frontier™ Interactive Mixed Reality (IMR) technology platform. The platform provides 3D visual effects for broadcast, industrial, and entertainment customers to create IMR, VR, and AR content, enabling live photo-realistic effects and virtual sets integrated with real-world elements. The company intends to use the Series C proceeds to market-introduce two initiatives: the Frontier™ IMR platform and a worldwide IMR primetime game show to be pitched to television networks in early 2017. The round raised $20M, bringing total funding to $42M to date. The Future Group employs approximately 100 people. Major Norwegian investors participated in the round, including Ferd ASA and holding company Aker ASA. The Future Group is an Oslo-based social entertainment platform for television, mobile and desktop that it calls 'The Future Universe', which fuses television, gaming and e-commerce into a single interactive ecosystem. The product promises real-time Hollywood-quality effects, moving both studio participants and at-home audiences into a shared virtual environment for weekly primetime live shows. Viewers sign up to a click-and-pay solution that captures user interests, enabling personalized prizes and integrated e-commerce tied to the live experience. The company says contestants physically enter the virtual world while remote viewers participate as digital selves and can play with or against each other. Founders Bård-Anders (formerly a Technical Director at Warner Bros who worked on the Matrix trilogy and other major productions) and Jens Petter (serial entrepreneur with retail exits and startups like EasyPark) have developed the underlying technology over many years. The group has secured partnerships with unnamed global household names and has raised capital to prepare for a planned global launch in 2016.
- Nanoradio
Participated · Equity · Jul 2010
Nanoradio designs low-power WiFi chipsets for the cellular and handheld market. Its existing product includes the “Always On WiFi” NRX700/2 chipset offering 802.11b/g functionality and low power consumption. The company is launching the “Eco‑Fi” family — the NRX600 and NRX605 — which support 802.11 b/g/n standards. The recent financing will be used to fund plans to launch this new line of products. Nanoradio was founded in March 2004 and maintains sales offices in Korea, Taiwan, Japan and the USA. The company received additional capital from its existing investor base to support product roll-out.