Ard Innovation
Ard Innovation is a Norwegian technology transfer office (TTO), 50% owned by NMBU and 50% by NIBIO, that helps researchers at these two institutions commercialize innovations across food technology, agriculture, aquaculture, and life sciences through IP protection, licensing, and spin-off formation.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2016
- HeadquartersÅs, Norway
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Ard Innovation does
Ard Innovation AS is a Norwegian technology transfer office (TTO) founded in 2016 and headquartered at the BIT Innovasjonssenter in Ås, Norway. The company is 100% owned by two state research institutions — NIBIO (Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research) and NMBU (Norwegian University of Life Sciences) — each holding a 50% stake. Ard's mandate is to commercialize research results from these two institutions across sustainability, food technology, aquaculture, forestry, agriculture, and life sciences, providing end-to-end support from idea intake and IP protection through financing, prototyping, and either licensing or spin-off formation. Services are provided free of charge to researchers at NMBU and NIBIO, with Ard's operating budget funded by annual service purchase agreements with the two owner institutions.
The company operates a four-phase innovation framework (Idea → Assessment → Project → Realization) and manages a portfolio of 11 active innovation projects plus two spin-off companies. Project technologies span active food packaging (BacPress, HighPress), meat quality measurement (MeatInspector), opioid overdose treatment (AntiFent), water quality testing (GoFec), drone-based tree planting (SkyPlanter), eco-friendly fiberboard (PhosBoard), tractor-mounted crop sensors (REQUEST), whey-to-epilactose processing (EpiWhey), aquaculture feed mixing (IsDeCa), and a digital plant database (Plantevalg). Two spin-offs — CIOL AS (sustainable wood preservation, 2022) and AgriBiotix AS (agricultural soil bacteria, 2022) — have been established from NIBIO/NMBU research. Patents/registrations are held on IsDeCa and CIOL technologies, with four further filings pending.
Ard's business model is fundamentally institutional: revenue derives from service purchase agreements with NIBIO and NMBU rather than direct user payments, supplemented by project grants from Norges Forskningsråd (the Research Council of Norway) and the EU (notably the NOBALIS EIT HEI Initiative). With 1–10 employees, the organization functions as a small, specialized commercialization team. Early moves toward revenue diversification are visible: the 2024 exclusive IsDeCa licensing deal with Turkish company FeedTech and the 2024–2025 commercial launch of the Plantevalg digital plant database represent the first attempts to generate royalty and product revenue outside the institutional funding model. The company is also expanding internationally through the NOBALIS consortium (Norway, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia) and is embedded in the broader Campus Ås innovation ecosystem alongside the Aggrator Incubator Ås and the 1,230 m² Ås Innovation Center opened in 2022.
Ard Innovation firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Ard Innovation
- Legal name
- Ard Innovation AS
- Website
- https://ardinnovation.no
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2016
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Ard Innovation is a Norwegian technology transfer office (TTO), 50% owned by NMBU and 50% by NIBIO, that helps researchers at these two institutions commercialize innovations across food technology, agriculture, aquaculture, and life sciences through IP protection, licensing, and spin-off formation.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Ard Innovation industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Technology Transfer Services
- akta.pro primary industry
- Enterprise Architecture & IT Operating Model (BPAHAEAB)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Change Management & Organizational Development (OD) Training (EDABAIAJ)
Keywords
Where Ard Innovation is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Ås
- HQ country
- Norway
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Ard Innovation business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Technology Transfer Services: Ard Innovation provides free services to researchers at NMBU and NIBIO, funded through service purchase agreements with the parent institutions. Revenue comes from annual agreements with NIBIO and NMBU rather than direct customer payments.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Annual | Free services for affiliated researchers |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels5 records
Ard Innovation product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Ard Innovation is a technology transfer office (TTO) that helps researchers at NMBU and NMBU-affiliated institutions commercialize their research results. Services include innovation assessment, IPR strategy and patent filing, project financing applications, prototype development, partner acquisition, and commercialization through licensing or startup formation. The TTO operates a four-phase innovation process (Idea, Assessment, Project, Realization) and manages a portfolio of innovation projects across food technology, agriculture, aquaculture, environmental monitoring, and life sciences.
Product overview
Ard Innovation is a Technology Transfer Office (TTO) that offers services to help researchers at NMBU and NIBIO develop research results into sustainable products and services. The organization manages a portfolio of innovation projects spanning multiple sectors including food technology, environmental monitoring, healthcare, wood technology, and agriculture. Key products include PhosBoard (eco-friendly fiberboard from wood industry sidestreams), REQUEST (tractor-mounted sensor for crop optimization), HighPress (active packaging technology), MeatInspector (meat quality measurement), AntiFent (opioid overdose treatment), GoFec (water quality testing), Plantevalg (digital plant database), SkyPlanter (drone-based tree planting), BacPress (food packaging technology), EpiWhey (whey processing), and two spin-off companies: CIOL (sustainable wood preservation) and AgriBiotix (agricultural biotechnology).
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Technology Transfer Services End-to-end technology transfer service for researchers at NMBU and NIBIO, covering innovation assessment, IPR strategy and patent filing, project financing applications, prototype development, market analysis, partner acquisition, and commercialization through licensing or startup formation. Services are provided free of charge to affiliated researchers and funded through annual service purchase agreements with the parent institutions.
- Plantevalg A research-based digital plant database developed at NMBU in collaboration with FAGUS and Det norske hageselskap, making 70 years of plant research available as a modern digital tool for students and professional users in the green sector.
Quantifiable outcome
- Established two portfolio companies (CIOL and AgriBiotix) since 2016
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Ard Innovation
Customer profileNamed customers3 records
Segments2 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Ard Innovation technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature1 record
Ard Innovation partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
15 partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.
- NIBIOcoreNIBIO (Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research) is a 50% owner of Ard Innovation. The institution contributes research results from forestry, agriculture, and environmental sciences for commercialization.
- NMBUcoreNMBU (Norwegian University of Life Sciences) is a 50% owner of Ard Innovation. The university provides research results across environmental, food, and life sciences for commercialization support.
- Aggrator Inkubator ÅsmajorCollaborates with Aggrator Incubator which further develops startup companies established from research at NIBIO and NMBU. Part of the innovation ecosystem at Campus Ås.
- BIT InnovasjonssentermajorArd Innovation is part of BIT Innovation Centre, a national competence center for sustainability aiming to assist the green shift through cooperation between education, technology development, and business.
- Akvaplan-NIVAminorAquaculture research institute that tested the InSacco system against aquaculture industry standards.
- Inventas ASminorContributed to design and production of InSacco project prototypes.
- Stim ASminorSparring partner in the InSacco project for environmental monitoring.
- Aqua Kompetanse ASminorSparring partner in the InSacco project for aquaculture expertise.
- NOBALIS ConsortiummajorEU EIT HEI Initiative project with 7 partners from Norway, Sweden, Estonia, and Latvia focusing on innovation capacity building at universities. Budget over 12 million NOK over two years.
- CIOL ASmajorSpin-off company established by Ard Innovation to commercialize sustainable wood preservation technology from NIBIO research.
- AgriBiotix ASmajorSpin-off company specializing in isolating and fermenting beneficial soil bacteria for eco-friendly agriculture, established from NMBU research.
- AnimaliaminorNorwegian meat research institute supporting Meat Inspector project with industry expertise and testing.
- TINEminorNorwegian dairy company cooperating on EpiWhey project as quality assurance partner and raw material supplier.
- Kirkens NødhjelpminorNorwegian Church Aid working with Ard on GoFec water quality testing technology field testing.
- FeedTechmajorTurkish company, exclusive licensee for IsDeCa mixing technology for aquaculture feed production.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves9 records
Expansion highlights7 records
Ard Innovation competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Chalmers Ventures: Chalmers University of Technology's venture arm combining TTO functions with incubator and early-stage investment. Comparable as a Nordic university-affiliated TTO that creates and invests in spin-offs.
- KTH Innovation: Royal Institute of Technology's innovation office in Stockholm, supporting researchers to commercialize IP through spin-offs and licensing. Direct peer as a Nordic university TTO with similar methodology and service mandate.
- Inven2: Technology transfer office for the University of Oslo (UiO) and Oslo University Hospital. Norway's largest TTO by volume, sharing the same institutional ownership/operating model as Ard Innovation.
- NTNU Technology Transfer: Technology transfer office for the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Norway's largest technical university. Directly comparable to Ard as a Norwegian university-affiliated TTO with similar commercialization, IP, and spin-out mandate.
Regional players
- ETH transfer: ETH Zurich's technology transfer office, supporting commercialization of research including life sciences and biotech. Comparable as a leading European university TTO with a strong spin-out track record, though operating in Switzerland rather than Norway.
- TUM ForTe: Technology transfer office for the Technical University of Munich, one of Germany's leading TTOs. Comparable as a European technical university TTO with similar IP, licensing, and spin-out functions, though serving a larger institution and market.
Broad incumbents
- Danish Technological Institute: Major Danish applied research organization providing innovation, IP, and commercialization services to companies and researchers. Comparable as a Nordic applied-research commercialization body, though broader than Ard's university-specific mandate.
- VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland: Finland's largest applied research organization, with significant commercialization, licensing, and spin-out activity across life sciences and industrial biotech. Comparable as a Nordic state-funded applied research commercialization body.
- SINTEF: Norway's largest independent research institute, with embedded commercialization, IP, and spin-out functions serving multiple sectors. Comparable as a large Norwegian applied-research commercialization engine, though broader in scope than Ard's life-sciences focus.
Others
- Innovayt: Norwegian innovation and R&D consulting firm that helps companies access public funding programs (e.g., Research Council of Norway, EU). Comparable in the Norwegian innovation ecosystem but serving corporate clients rather than researchers, and focused on grant funding rather than full TTO services.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Ard Innovation social profiles
Digital presenceArd Innovation financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Ard Innovation leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles10 records
Ard Innovation funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Ard Innovation M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Ard Innovation
What does Ard Innovation do?
Ard Innovation is a technology transfer office (TTO) that helps researchers at NMBU and NMBU-affiliated institutions commercialize their research results. Services include innovation assessment, IPR strategy and patent filing, project financing applications, prototype development, partner acquisition, and commercialization through licensing or startup formation. The TTO operates a four-phase innovation process (Idea, Assessment, Project, Realization) and manages a portfolio of innovation projects across food technology, agriculture, aquaculture, environmental monitoring, and life sciences.
Is Ard Innovation a public or private company?
Ard Innovation is a private company. It is classified as state government owned and is currently operating.
When was Ard Innovation founded?
Ard Innovation was founded in 2016. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Ard Innovation based?
Ard Innovation is headquartered in Ås, Norway, in the Europe region.
How does Ard Innovation make money?
One revenue line is on record: technology Transfer Services.
Who are Ard Innovation's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Chalmers Ventures, KTH Innovation, Inven2 and NTNU Technology Transfer. Regional players are ETH transfer and TUM ForTe. Broad incumbents are Danish Technological Institute, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and SINTEF. Innovayt is listed as an others.
Does Ard Innovation have an API?
No public API is recorded for Ard Innovation.
What industry is Ard Innovation in?
Ard Innovation's product category is Technology Transfer Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAHAEAB, Enterprise Architecture & IT Operating Model, with a secondary code of EDABAIAJ, Change Management & Organizational Development (OD) Training.