Midtbyen

What Midtbyen does

Midtbyen is the managed shopping, dining, and cultural district of Trondheim city center, operated by Trondheim Management AS (organization number NO 995 860 465, founded June 2010). The organization is a Business Improvement District (BID) jointly governed with Trondheim Gårdeierforening, which owns 25% of the operating company on behalf of city-center property owners. Midtbyen serves three interlocking customer sets: (i) consumers and tourists who shop, dine, and visit cultural venues across roughly 200 shops and 100+ restaurants/cafes; (ii) corporate buyers purchasing Midtbykortet gift cards as tax-free employee or client gifts under Norwegian Skatteloven §5-15-1; and (iii) approximately 250 partner businesses that accept the closed-loop Midtbykortet gift card and participate in coordinated marketing.

The core product surface is the Midtbykortet closed-loop gift card (value NOK 100-10,000, three-year validity, physical and digital variants via the iGive platform) and the Midtbyen.no content hub. There is no proprietary technology stack; instead, Midtbyen orchestrates third-party tools for analytics (Plaace, Telia Crowd Insights, Google Analytics), payments and gift card issuance (iGive), email distribution (Make), and event registration (CimEvent, Standplasser.no). The district's own identity rests on registered trademarks such as Toilldag and Toillpris (restricted to partner use) and recurring flagship events including Martnan (100,000 visitors), Julemarkedet, Kulturnatt, and a 945-day outdoor-event calendar in 2025.

Revenue mechanics combine two streams. The first is recurring membership/assessment fees on city-center property owners, levied by square meterage (2026 tiers NOK 6,237-1,309,788 plus NOK 1,872 base, index-adjusted annually) under Trondheim Gårdeierforening. The second is Midtbykortet gift card sales to consumers and corporate buyers, distributed through own-e-commerce, six physical retail points (Byhaven automat, Elite Photo, Falkanger Sko, Jernia Eggen, Reimers, Service Point at Nordre gate 10) and direct B2B sales. Reported member-merchant outcomes (5% revenue growth in 2025; ~30% incremental sales on gift card value at accepting merchants) function as proof-of-value, sustaining recruitment into the partner network.

Name

Midtbyen

Legal name

Trondheim Management AS

Website

https://midtbyen.no

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Midtbyen is Trondheim's city center management organization (Trondheim Management AS), operating a closed-loop Midtbykortet gift card across roughly 250 partner shops, restaurants, and cultural venues, funded by property-owner assessments and gift card sales.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

City Center Management and District Marketing Services

NAICS

Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813), Convention and Visitors Bureaus (561591)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Full-Service Destination Management (Ground Handling & Onsite Operations) (THAHADAA)

Keywords

• City center management
• Shopping district marketing
• Gift card program
• Business improvement district
• Destination events management

Headquarters

HQ city

Trondheim

HQ country

Norway

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Midtbykortet Gift Card: Sale of the Midtbykortet gift card, a closed-loop gift card usable at ~250 partner locations in Trondheim city center. The card has 3-year validity and can be loaded with values from 100kr to 10,000kr. Revenue comes from gift card sales to both consumers and businesses (B2B corporate gift market). A 20kr card fee applies for physical cards with packaging.
2. Partner Membership Fees: Trondheim Gårdeierforening charges membership fees to property owners based on square meterage (category 1-15, from 6,237 NOK to 1,309,788 NOK as of 2026), plus a base membership fee of 1,872 NOK. These fees fund the organization's activities promoting Trondheim city center.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels12 records

Core offering

Midtbyen manages and promotes Trondheim city center as a unified shopping, dining, and cultural destination on behalf of approximately 250 partner businesses and member property owners. It operates the Midtbykortet physical and digital gift card program (valid at partner locations across shopping, food, culture, accommodation, and wellness), coordinates major destination events such as Martnan, Toilldag, Julemarkedet, and Kulturnatt, and runs cross-partner marketing campaigns that drive foot traffic to the district. The organization is funded through partner membership fees (Trondheim Gårdeierforening) and gift card sales, and serves both individual consumers and corporate gift buyers.

Product overview

Midtbyen is the city center management organization for Trondheim, Norway, operating a shopping district that promotes retail, dining, and cultural experiences. Its primary product is the Midtbykortet gift card system, which includes both physical and digital gift cards accepted at approximately 250 partner locations across shopping, food, culture, accommodation, and wellness sectors. The digital platform midtbyen.no serves as the central hub, providing partner directories, event information, and access to gift card services. The organization also coordinates events including Martnan market, Toilldag sales events, Julemarkedet Christmas market, and Kulturnatt cultural festival, while offering partner membership programs for local businesses.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Midtbykortet: Trondheim's best gift card - a gift card usable at 250 different places within shopping, food, culture, accommodation and wellness in Trondheim city center. Has 3 years validity and values between 100kr to 10,000kr.

Products and services

• Midtbykortet Physical Gift Card

Quantifiable outcome

• Merchants receiving Midtbykortet experience ~30% additional sales beyond the gift card value (mersalg)
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers14 records

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

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Trondheim GårdeierforeningcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 June 2010Property owners' association founded in June 2010. Owns 1/4 (25%) of Trondheim Management AS, the company operating Midtbyen. Represents property owners in Trondheim city center (Midtbyen, Bakklandet, Brattøra, Solsiden) and collaborates on urban development, maintenance, and promotion of the city center.
• Visit TrondheimcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerOfficial tourism organization for Trondheim. Cross-promotional partnership for marketing Trondheim as a destination. Midtbyen content appears on visittrondheim.no and Visit Trondheim branding appears on midtbyen.no.
• Næringsforeningen i TrondheimsregionenminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBusiness association for the Trondheim region. Member of Trondheim Gårdeierforening and collaborator on Midtbyregnskapet (annual status report for Midtbyen).
• Trondheim HavnminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPort of Trondheim. Member of Trondheim Gårdeierforening. Collaboration on cruise tourism that brings visitors to Midtbyen.
• MiljøpakkenminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEnvironmental package/sustainable transport initiative in Trondheim. Collaborates on data collection for Midtbyregnskapet (travel habits, parking, environmental metrics) and promotes sustainable transport to Midtbyen.
• Trondheim KommunecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTrondheim municipality. Collaborates through Byplankontoret (urban planning office) on Bylivsundersøkelsen (city life survey), Kulturenheten on event coordination, and broader city development. Trondheim Management has coordination responsibility for outdoor events and market stands in Trondheim.

Scale indicators15 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Regional players

• Stockholm Business Region: Stockholm's publicly-backed destination and business promotion agency combining city-center marketing, partner activation and event coordination. Comparable Nordic urban DMO operating at city-region scale with overlapping capabilities.
• Næringsforeningen i Trondheimsregionen: Regional business association for the Trondheim area and a member of Trondheim Gårdeierforening. Operates a parallel member-funded engagement model focused on business conditions rather than retail traffic, but is structurally and geographically adjacent.

Direct peers

• Visit Bergen: Regional Norwegian DMO marketing Bergen's city center for shopping, dining, culture and events. Operates with a comparable mix of partner directory, events calendar and digital content that maps directly onto Midtbyen's structure.
• Times Square Alliance: NYC BID that funds district operations through a special assessment on commercial properties, runs major public events, manages public space, and executes coordinated marketing for thousands of partner tenants. Structurally identical to Midtbyen's BID model.
• Visit Trondheim: Official destination marketing organization for Trondheim, with which Midtbyen already has a mutual cross-promotional partnership. Both promote Trondheim as a destination to visitors and residents, overlap heavily in events/attractions content, and split the promotional surface for the same geography.
• New West End Company: London BID representing 600+ Bond Street/Oxford Street/Regent Street businesses via a property-owner-funded levy. Closest international analog to Midtbyen's BID governance, district marketing and partner services model.
• Heart of London Business Alliance: West End London BID delivering marketing, events, public realm and security services funded by a levy on commercial property. Closely matches Midtbyen's combination of property-tiered funding, coordinated events, and partner-facing services.
• Visit Oslo: Larger Norwegian DMO performing destination promotion, event coordination and partner directory functions for Oslo city center. Closely comparable operating model (district marketing, partner network, event calendar) scaled to a larger city.
• Downtown Alliance (NYC): Lower Manhattan BID providing supplemental services (cleaning, security, marketing, events) funded by commercial property assessments. Mirrors Midtbyen's property-owner-funded approach to district management and partner coordination.

Broad incumbents

• Innovation Norway: Norway's national tourism and business promotion agency. Operates at much larger scale across the country, but its destination-marketing toolkit, partner engagement model and event-coordination functions overlap materially with Midtbyen's local remit.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/trdevents
• Facebookfacebook.com/Midtbyn
• Instagraminstagram.com/midtbyen
• TikToktiktok.com/@midtbyen_trondheim
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/midtbyen

Compliance1 record

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 Midtbyen