NTNU School of Entrepreneurship

What NTNU School of Entrepreneurship does

NTNU School of Entrepreneurship (NSE, also branded as NTNUs Entreprenørskole) is a two-year Master of Science in Entrepreneurship program embedded within NTNU (Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet), Norway's largest university, headquartered at Sem Sælands Vei 1, 7034 Trondheim. Founded in 2003, the program admits approximately 40 Norwegian-speaking students annually from a pool of hundreds of bachelor's-degree-holding applicants, selecting candidates on motivation and entrepreneurial potential rather than solely on academic record. Its core methodology is experiential rather than theoretical: students develop real, registrable companies during the program instead of working on fictional case studies, supported by faculty with prior startup experience and a network of external mentors, industry experts, and alumni.

The curriculum combines academic coursework in entrepreneurship, innovation, and strategy with international exposure through a first-semester study trip to CERN (Switzerland), a summer program in Boston, and a dual-degree option with TU Berlin for the final year. Technology or engineering graduates are eligible for the Sivilingeniør (Master of Science in Engineering) title. The program generates student-founded startup outputs (e.g., Cortex Robotics, Bifrozt, Bedrock, Juvo, Dogu/SalesScreen, Tendro) that operate as independent commercial entities rather than as NTNU revenue streams. Over 20 years, NSE alumni have established 160+ companies with combined revenue exceeding 1 billion NOK, and the ESAF alumni association functions as one of Norway's most active entrepreneurial communities, anchoring an ongoing pipeline of mentorship, talent, and deal flow.

NSE is not a commercial enterprise; it operates as a public educational program funded by the Norwegian state. Tuition is covered by the state for eligible students, and there are no tuition prices or commercial pricing tiers. The go-to-market is therefore "direct-to-consumer" in the academic sense: recruitment occurs through NTNU's Søknadsweb application system, information meetings (digital and physical), Facebook events, and word-of-mouth referrals through the ESAF network. Its single customer segment — Norwegian-speaking bachelor's-degree holders aspiring to build companies — is narrow by design, and the program's value proposition rests on the practical, real-company creation model, the credibility of NTNU's degree, and the international study components.

Name

NTNU School of Entrepreneurship

Legal name

NTNU School of Entrepreneurship

Website

https://entreprenorskolen.no

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

NTNU School of Entrepreneurship is a two-year master's program at Norway's NTNU university in Trondheim that admits roughly 40 students annually and trains them to build real, registrable startups through experiential learning, international study trips, and mentorship.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Higher Education / Entrepreneurship Master's Program

NAICS

Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (6113)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Technical Universities with Entrepreneurship & Incubation Focus (EDAHAEAH)

Keywords

• Entrepreneurship education
• Master's degree program
• Startup incubation
• Innovation training
• Experiential business learning

Headquarters

HQ city

Trondheim

HQ country

Norway

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Tuition-based Education: As a master's program at NTNU (Norwegian University of Science and Technology), the program operates as a public educational institution. Revenue is generated through government-funded education with student tuition covered by the Norwegian state for eligible students. The program also generates value through the creation of startup companies and alumni ventures that contribute to the Norwegian economy.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

NTNU School of Entrepreneurship delivers a two-year full-time Master's program (Master of Science in Entrepreneurship, with a Master of Technology option for engineering graduates) where students transform their own ideas into viable companies while completing coursework in entrepreneurship, innovation, and strategy. The program admits approximately 40 Norwegian-speaking students annually, combines academic teaching with mentorship from entrepreneurs and industry experts, and includes international study trips to CERN, Boston, and Berlin. An optional dual degree with TU Berlin is offered in the final year, and graduates receive their degree from NTNU.

Product overview

NTNU School of Entrepreneurship is a two-year master's program at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) focused on business development and startup creation. Rather than a traditional product company, the institution produces student-founded startups as its primary output. The program offers a structured curriculum combining theoretical knowledge with practical experience in entrepreneurship, innovation, and strategy. Notable startup products include Juvo (AI-native writing environment), Cortex Robotics (intelligent inspection robots), Bifrozt (incident preparation platform), Bedrock (data management platform), Tendro (procurement software), FLOKE (business travel service), Dogu/SalesScreen (gamification platform), and Auge Technologies (virtual workplace solutions).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ESAF (Entreprenørskolens Alumniforening): The alumni association of NTNU School of Entrepreneurship, one of Norway's most active entrepreneurial communities supporting current and former students.

Products and services

• Master of Science in Entrepreneurship (two-year program) Two-year full-time master's program offered by NTNU in which students develop their own startup companies while taking courses in entrepreneurship, innovation, and strategy. Open to applicants with a bachelor's degree or equivalent; admits about 40 students per year; taught in Norwegian. Results in a Master of Science in Entrepreneurship from NTNU.
• Master of Technology (Sivilingeniør) track for engineering graduates

Named customers8 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• CERNcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStudents visit CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) in Geneva, Switzerland as part of the first semester curriculum. This study trip provides exposure to cutting-edge research and technology innovation, contributing to the program's emphasis on combining scientific knowledge with entrepreneurial application.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Hult International Business School: Global business school with a dedicated entrepreneurship focus and campuses in Boston, London, and Dubai. Comparable in offering a practical, founder-oriented curriculum and in marketing heavily to global applicants with international exposure baked into the program.
• Stanford Graduate School of Business (STVP/MSx): Top-tier business school with a dedicated entrepreneurship focus (STVP) and Stanford's startup ecosystem. Operates a much broader portfolio than NSE but competes for the same pool of ambitious aspiring founders and is the global benchmark NSE-style programs are measured against.
• MIT Sloan (Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship): Hosts one of the world's most established entrepreneurship centers integrated with a major research university. Comparable in being a technical-university-anchored entrepreneurship program but with materially more resources and a global applicant base.

Regional players

• Aalto University (Aalto Entrepreneurship Society): Finland's leading entrepreneurship-focused university with a deeply embedded startup culture. Comparable in mission and experiential model to NSE, and one of the strongest Nordic competitors for entrepreneurial student talent.
• BI Norwegian Business School: Norway's largest business school with entrepreneurship offerings at the graduate level. Domestic competitor for the same Norwegian-speaking applicant pool, with broader MBA/MSc programs but less of a startup-builder emphasis than NSE.
• Technical University of Denmark (DTU Skylab): Denmark's leading technical university with Skylab, its innovation and entrepreneurship hub. Comparable in being a technical-university-anchored entrepreneurship offering, with stronger engineering/STEM ties and a more international applicant pool than NSE.
• Chalmers University of Technology (Chalmers Ventures): Swedish technical university with a dedicated entrepreneurship program and Chalmers Ventures incubator. Comparable to NSE in being a Nordic technical-university-based entrepreneurship offering, though integrated into a broader industrial ecosystem.
• KTH Royal Institute of Technology (KTH Innovation): Sweden's leading technical university with a structured entrepreneurship program and innovation office. The closest regional peer to NSE, sharing the technical-university-anchored model but operating in a different national ecosystem.
• Copenhagen Business School (CBS Entrepreneurship): Denmark's leading business school with significant entrepreneurship programming. A Nordic peer competing for similar talent and known industry-exposure elements, though in a different national ecosystem.

Direct peers

• Babson College (MBA in Entrepreneurship): Globally the leading graduate program in entrepreneurship with experiential startup-building pedagogy. Directly comparable to NSE in target audience (aspiring founders) and experiential learning model, though at much larger scale and in a US context.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ntnuse

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 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 NTNU School of Entrepreneurship