BI Norwegian Business School

What BI Norwegian Business School does

BI Norwegian Business School (legal name: Handelshøyskolen BI) is a Norwegian private business school organized as a self-governing foundation (selveiende stiftelse) whose stated sole purpose is education and research. Founded in 1943 and headquartered in Oslo, it operates four campuses across Norway — Oslo, Bergen, Trondheim, and Stavanger — and positions itself as one of Europe's largest academic environments in administration, strategy, economics, marketing, and energy. It serves multiple customer segments including undergraduate students, graduate students, working professionals in continuing education (videreutdanning), corporate clients purchasing training programs, and research consortium partners.

The institution delivers a portfolio of educational programs structured by degree level (Bachelor, Master, Ph.D.) and delivery format (campus-based, online/nettstudier, and customized corporate courses), supplemented by applied research output, a research library, the BI Business Review publication, and the BI Startup Village incubator. Revenue mechanics are not publicly disclosed but appear diversified across tuition, continuing education fees, corporate training contracts, and grant-funded research (notably NordForsk). Its go-to-market combines organic inbound channels (website, newsletter, BI Business Review content) with mid-funnel events (campus-specific webinars, industry seminars) and direct enterprise sales for corporate training. Research collaboration is concentrated in Nordic and Baltic academic partnerships covering responsible AI, security, applied machine learning (notably a co-developed credit-risk model with NHH), and conference impact measurement (ICCA).

Name

BI Norwegian Business School

Legal name

Handelshøyskolen BI

Website

https://bi.no

Company type

Private

Founded year

1943

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

BI Norwegian Business School is a self-governing Norwegian foundation (founded 1943) operating four campuses that delivers bachelor, master, PhD, continuing education, and corporate training programs in business and economics to students, professionals, and employers across Norway.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Higher Education / Business School

NAICS

Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (6113), Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (61131), Professional and Management Development Training (611430), Business Schools and Computer and Management Training (6114), Business and Secretarial Schools (611410)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Business & Management Research Universities (EDAHABAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Undergraduate Business Schools (BBA/BSBA Programs) (EDAHAHAA), Online Professional Schools (MBA/MPA/MPH/Etc.) (EDAHALAE), Executive Education & Corporate Programs (Non-degree) (EDAHAHAN)

Keywords

• Higher education
• Business school
• Graduate programs
• Executive education
• Academic research

Headquarters

HQ city

Oslo

HQ country

Norway

HQ region

Europe

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

BI Norwegian Business School delivers higher education programs at the bachelor, master, PhD, and continuing education levels across four Norwegian campuses (Oslo, Bergen, Trondheim, Stavanger), supplemented by online/distance studies and customized corporate training courses for businesses and organizations. Its sole institutional purpose as a self-governing foundation is education and research, supported by a modern research library, applied business research, and an alumni and corporate engagement network.

Product overview

BI Norwegian Business School (Handelshøyskolen BI) is a private business school offering a comprehensive portfolio of educational programs and academic services. The institution operates as a unified educational platform providing bachelor studies, master studies, continuing education, PhD programs, and online studies across multiple campuses in Norway (Oslo, Bergen, Trondheim, and Stavanger). Additional offerings include specialized courses for businesses and organizations, a research publication (BI Business Review), a startup incubator (BI Startup Village), and a modern research library. The school functions as a foundation dedicated to education and research, with various programs structured by degree level and delivery format rather than as modular software products.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• BI Business Review: Research publication featuring articles on leadership, artificial intelligence, political power, and absence from work.
• BI Startup Village

Products and services

• Bachelor programs (Bachelorstudier) Three-year undergraduate degree programs in business disciplines (administration, strategy, economics, marketing, energy), designed for prospective students who have completed secondary education and want to launch a business career. Delivered on campus (Oslo, Bergen, Trondheim, Stavanger) or online.
• Master programs (Masterstudier) Specialized graduate degree programs for students who have completed an undergraduate degree and want advanced expertise in business, economics, marketing, strategy, energy, or related fields. Delivered on campus or online depending on program.
• PhD programs (Ph.d.) Doctoral research training in business and economics for candidates pursuing academic or research-intensive careers, conducted at BI's research departments and centers.
• Continuing education (Videreutdanning) Part-time courses and study programs designed for working professionals who want to strengthen competence and create new career opportunities while remaining employed.
• Online/distance studies (Nettstudier) Online-delivered BI courses and programs for students who cannot attend the physical campuses, covering the same business disciplines as on-campus offerings.
• Corporate training (Kurs for bedrifter og virksomheter) Customized courses, executive programs, and training engagements designed for businesses and organizations that want to develop or upskill their employees, delivered via BI's faculty and corporate relations team.

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Norwegian Business Schools (consortium)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAs part of ICCA's Global Impact Measurement Tool initiative, BI Norwegian Business School is one of the Norwegian business schools collaborating with academic researchers from University of Technology Sydney and other international partners to develop standardized impact measurement for association conferences.
• NordForsk Research ConsortiumcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBI Norwegian Business School is a member of the NordForsk research consortium focused on responsible AI and security research across Nordic and Baltic regions. The partnership involves multiple universities including Aalborg University, NTNU, Stockholm University, and University of Gothenburg, with funding awarded to collaborative research projects.
• Aalborg UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerConsortium partner in NordForsk-funded research on responsible AI and security in the Nordic and Baltic regions.
• NTNUminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerConsortium partner in NordForsk-funded research on responsible AI and security spanning multiple Nordic universities.
• Stockholm UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerConsortium partner in NordForsk-funded research on responsible AI and security covering military threats, maritime sabotage, and disinformation.
• University of GothenburgminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerConsortium partner in NordForsk-funded research on responsible AI and security across Nordic and Baltic regions.
• University of Technology SydneyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic research partner collaborating on the ICCA Global Impact Measurement Tool for association conferences alongside Norwegian business schools.
• NHH Norwegian School of EconomicscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBI Norwegian Business School researchers collaborated with NHH Norwegian School of Economics to develop a behavioral credit-risk model that integrates credit and debit transactions, outperforming existing machine learning methods in predicting credit card delinquency.
• Convention Bureaus (Barcelona, Copenhagen, Flanders, Sydney, Tokyo)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational convention bureaus collaborating with ICCA, academic researchers, and Norwegian business schools to develop the first Global Impact Measurement Tool for association conferences.

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Lund University School of Economics and Management: Swedish business school within Lund University delivering undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs in economics and management. Overlaps with BI on program structure, target students, and Nordic corporate client base.
• NHH Norwegian School of Economics: Norway's other major private business school, directly competing with BI for Norwegian students, faculty, and corporate clients in economics, strategy, and business research. The two institutions already collaborate on research (e.g., the joint credit-risk model), underscoring their product/market overlap.
• University of St. Gallen (HSG): Switzerland's leading private-style business university offering bachelor, master, PhD, and executive education. Comparable to BI as a European business-focused university with strong research output and corporate training programs.
• Copenhagen Business School: Large Nordic business school offering bachelor, master, PhD, and executive programs across multiple campuses in Denmark. Closely comparable to BI in scale, program mix, and Nordic target market, with similar emphasis on research output and corporate engagement.
• Aalto University School of Business: Finland's leading business school within Aalto University, offering bachelor, master, PhD, and executive programs. Comparable to BI as a Nordic business school competing for the same regional student and corporate markets.
• Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU): Norway's largest university, offering business and economics programs alongside engineering. Direct competitor for Norwegian undergraduate students and a research consortium partner with BI in the NordForsk AI/security project.
• Stockholm School of Economics: Private Swedish business school offering undergraduate, graduate, PhD, and executive education. Directly comparable to BI as a foundation-structured Nordic business school with a strong corporate network and international research footprint.

Broad incumbents

• INSEAD: Global business school with campuses in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East offering MBA, executive education, and PhD programs. Overlaps with BI in executive education and corporate training but competes at a higher price tier and broader geographic scope.
• ESCP Business School: Pan-European business school with multi-country campuses delivering bachelor, master, MBA, and executive programs. Comparable to BI on European executive-education footprint and program breadth, but with materially larger international reach.

Others

• BI Norwegian Business School alumni network: BI's own alumni and corporate-relations platform, included as an ecosystem participant that links BI graduates to Norwegian employers and reinforces the school's value proposition — a structural asset that competes with comparable alumni networks at NHH, CBS, and SSE.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/bi_bizschool
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/BIdotno
• Facebookfacebook.com/HandelshoyskolenBI
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/165223
• Instagraminstagram.com/bi_school

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 BI Norwegian Business School