Vinn

What Vinn does

VINN (legal name: Stiftelsen VINN) is a commercial foundation (næringsdrivende stiftelse) headquartered in Narvik, Northern Norway, that operates as a hybrid business development consultancy and regulated training provider. The organization traces its roots to Statens teknologiske institutt (STI) founded on June 23, 1956, transitioned to an independent state institute in 1981, and was re-established as a foundation in July 1988 after approximately 90% of Northern Norwegian municipalities intervened to prevent its closure. From 2009 it has operated as a commercial foundation, with governance provided by a Board and Council whose members are appointed by UiT Norges arktiske universitet, SINTEF, Norges forskningsråd, and VINN employees.

The company's revenue is generated through three distinct streams. First, Forretningsutvikling (business development consulting) delivers strategy, project and process management, entrepreneur guidance, and training to private and public sector clients in Northern Norway. Second, Innsikt og analyse (insight and analysis) provides surveys, municipal plans, social accounting, and impact studies to both private and public sector clients. Third, the company operates an e-commerce store (Nettbutikk) selling approved preparatory materials for the Etablererprøven (restaurant establishment exam) and Kunnskapsprøven (alcohol serving and sales license exams) at unit prices ranging from kr 400 to kr 1,550, distributed as digital courses (Nettkurs), curriculum booklets (Pensumhefte), and self-assessment tests (Test deg selv), with discounted Pakketilbund package deals. Additionally, VINN owns and operates VINNbygget, a multi-tenant office building in Narvik that houses organizations including Norconsult, Brønnøysundregistrene, and Bane NOR, generating rental income.

VINN's go-to-market is sales-led, relying on direct consulting engagements, its website (vinn.no), an RSS feed, LinkedIn, and Facebook for outreach, and regional partnership programs such as Styreutvikling Nord (board competence program co-developed with Kupa and regional banks), Driv Hålogaland (talent retention pilot connecting UiT students with businesses), and the 2025-launched AI-senter Nord (AI competence center with UiT Narvik). The foundation has 51-100 employees and explicitly states that revenue figures are not publicly disclosed. Its geographic focus is exclusively on Norway, with primary concentration in the Nord-Norge region. The organization recently underwent a leadership transition with Andreas Hanssen succeeding Trude Løvås Husjord as CEO.

Name

Vinn

Legal name

Stiftelsen VINN

Website

https://vinn.no

Company type

Private

Founded year

1988

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

VINN is a commercial foundation in Narvik, Northern Norway, providing business development consulting, insight and analysis services, and approved preparatory materials for Norwegian alcohol and restaurant licensing exams to private and public sector clients regionally and hospitality operators nationwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Narvik

HQ country

Norway

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Consulting and advisory services: Professional consulting services including business development, project management, strategy, and training delivered to private and public sector clients in Northern Norway.
2. Online course and exam materials: Sale of digital courses, textbooks, and practice tests for Norwegian alcohol licensing exams (Etablererprøven, Kunnskapsprøven) through the VINN online store.
3. Office rental (VINNbygget): Operation and rental of office premises in the VINNbygget building in Narvik, housing multiple tenants including Norconsult, Brønnøysundregistrene, and other businesses.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

VINN is a Northern Norwegian foundation that delivers business development consulting, strategy and advisory services, and insight/analysis services to private and public sector organizations. It also sells approved training materials and online courses for Norwegian licensing exams (Etablererprøven and Kunnskapsprøven) through its online store, and rents office space in its VINNbygget building in Narvik.

Product overview

VINN is a business development foundation in Northern Norway offering a portfolio of examination preparation products for alcohol licensing and restaurant operations, as well as professional consulting services. The core products center on the Etablererprøven (Restaurant Business Examination), Kunnskapsprøven for skjenkebevilling (Alcohol Serving License Test), and Kunnskapsprøven for salgsbevilling (Alcohol Sales License Test). Each examination product is supported by modular add-ons including Nettkurs (online video courses), Pensumhefte (curriculum booklets), and Test deg selv (self-assessment tests), available individually or as discounted Pakketilbud (package bundles). Beyond the examination products, VINN offers Forretningsutvikling (business development consulting) and Innsikt og analyse (insight and analysis) services. The company also operates a coworking facility called VINNbygget in Narvik.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Etablererprøven for serveringsvirksomhet (Restaurant Business Examination) Mandatory Norwegian examination preparation for daily managers of restaurant businesses seeking a food service license. Includes approved study materials, online courses, and self-assessment tests available through the VINN online store.
• Kunnskapsprøven for skjenkebevilling (Knowledge Test for Alcohol Serving License) Mandatory Norwegian knowledge test preparation in alcohol law for managers and deputies of establishments serving alcohol, required to obtain an alcohol serving license. Sold through the VINN online store as courses, booklets, and self-assessment tests.
• Kunnskapsprøven for salgsbevilling (Knowledge Test for Alcohol Sales License) Mandatory Norwegian knowledge test preparation in alcohol law for managers and deputies of retail alcohol outlets, required to obtain an alcohol sales license. Sold through the VINN online store as courses, booklets, and self-assessment tests.
• Forretningsutvikling (Business Development Services) Consulting services including project and process management, entrepreneur and business guidance, training and competence development, and strategy and advisory services for businesses and organizations in Northern Norway.
• Innsikt og analyse (Insight and Analysis Services) Professional analysis services including surveys and mappings, social accounting and impact analyses, investigations and studies, and knowledge foundations and municipal plans for both private and public sector clients.
• VINNbygget office rental Rental of office premises in the VINNbygget building in Narvik to multiple tenants including Norconsult, Brønnøysundregistrene, Bane NOR, and other businesses across floors 1-4.

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• UiT Norges arktiske universitet (UiT Narvik)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 6 January 2025UiT Narvik and VINN are establishing AI-senter Nord (AI Center North), a competence center to assist businesses in Northern Norway. Coordinated by Jørn Eldby at UiT in collaboration with Marit Collin, Vice Chair of VINN Foundation's board. The center aims to be a crucible for projects and new establishments where students, researchers, and faculty meet with local and regional businesses in a creative IT environment.
• Kupa AScoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 April 2022VINN's board decided to establish a close partnership with Kupa AS. Kupa is a growing consulting firm with operations in Narvik, Harstad, Finnsnes, and Tromsø. The purpose is to develop a stronger consulting environment in Northern Norway. Three VINN consultants will start at Kupa, and the Narvik environment will be co-located and reinforced. VINN will also invest in Kupa's ownership side.
• Styreutvikling Nord consortiumminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 14 September 2021Unique collaboration where competitors joined forces to elevate board competence in Northern Norway. Initiators KUPA and VINN partnered with banks DnB, Sparebank 68° Nord, Sparebanken Narvik, and UiT Norges arktiske universitet to launch the 'Styreutvikling Nord' program. First time these parties collaborated on joint efforts to strengthen regional business development.
• Driv Hålogaland project consortiumminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 February 2021Pilot project led by VINN connecting UiT students with businesses in Southern Troms and Northern Nordland. Partners include UiT Handelshøgskolen in Harstad, UiT in Narvik, Andøya Spacecenter, VISINOR, Grovfjord Mekaniske Verksted (GMV), Sparebank 68° Nord, Sparebank 1 Nord-Norge Harstad, and Harstad Skipsindustri. Project aims to retain talent in Northern Norway.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Kupa AS: Kupa is the other leading management consulting firm in Northern Norway, with offices in Narvik, Harstad, Finnsnes, and Tromsø. It is a directly comparable peer to VINN since both target the same regional business-development and public-sector advisory market and are now strategic partners with overlapping leadership.
• Implement Consulting Group: Implement is a Nordic management consulting firm offering strategy and business transformation services to private and public sector clients. It directly mirrors VINN's Forretningsutvikling and Innsikt og analyse service lines, though at substantially greater scale.
• Menon Economics: Menon Economics is a Norwegian research and consulting firm providing economic analysis, strategy, and insight services. It is comparable to VINN's Innsikt og analyse offering and shares VINN's public-sector and regional development orientation in Norway.

Broad incumbents

• PwC Norway: PwC Norway is a Big Four advisory firm serving private and public sector clients across Norway, including Northern Norway, with strategy and consulting capabilities that overlap VINN's broader advisory practice at a much larger scale.
• KPMG Norway: KPMG Norway is a Big Four advisory firm with a consulting practice that competes for the same private and public sector transformation engagements as VINN, particularly in regional municipalities and mid-market companies.
• Deloitte Norway: Deloitte Norway is a Big Four firm offering strategy, technology, and operations consulting to public sector and enterprise clients in Norway, providing a much larger but overlapping alternative to VINN's regional consulting services.
• EY Norway: EY Norway is a Big Four advisory practice that competes in the same business consulting, strategy, and public sector advisory markets as VINN, though operating at national and international scale.
• Baringa Partners: Baringa Partners is an international consulting firm serving energy and financial services clients with strategy and transformation services. It is comparable to VINN as a strategy and business transformation consultant, particularly to project-based Northern Norway engagements.
• McKinsey & Company: McKinsey is a global strategy and management consulting firm that competes for the highest-end public-sector and transformation engagements in Norway, comparable to VINN's strategy and Innsikt og analyse work at the very largest end of the consulting spectrum.

Others

• Brønnøysundregistrene (Brønnøysund Register Centre): Brønnøysundregistrene is a Norwegian government agency that provides business registration and startup guidance; VINN transferred Narviktelefonen and Bedin services to them in 2008 and currently hosts them in VINNbygget. It is an adjacent public-sector ecosystem participant rather than a direct competitor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/etablerer
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/86730

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Vinn