RunwayVC is a Norwegian early-stage venture capital firm investing from pre-seed to Series A in industrial AI, software, robotics, automation, and autonomous systems. Founded in Oslo in 2021 by Tor Bækkelund and Kjell Inge Røkke, the billionaire chairman of Aker, the firm operates from Aker Tech House in Fornebu and is part of the wider RunwayFBU ecosystem, which includes more than 60 industrial tech companies, an Industrial AI and Robotics Lab, and an incubator. Since 2022 the firm has invested in 24 companies and made 23 follow-on investments through Fund I, with two exits. In August 2026, RunwayVC reached a $47M first close on Fund II, backed by a broader group of industrial and institutional investors.
RunwayVC invests from pre-seed to Series A across three areas: connectivity and IoT (connecting machines, sensors and industrial systems so operational data becomes usable); industrial intelligence and orchestration (AI and software that turn that data into decisions and coordinated action); and robotics and automation (bringing that intelligence into the physical world).
The firm builds industrial access directly into its investment process, working with operators, customers and real industrial environments from sourcing through commercialization, and looks for founders with deep domain expertise who have lived through the problems they are solving rather than outsiders to the industry.
RunwayVC reached a $47M first close for Fund II in August 2026, on the way to a larger final close.
Aker, the sole limited partner in Fund I, remains the cornerstone investor in Fund II, joined by new LPs including Halliburton, Aker BP, Aker Solutions, pension fund KLP, state-owned Investinor, and a number of Norwegian industrial families.
Several of RunwayVC's LPs are themselves industrial operators and potential customers of the startups the fund backs.
Fund I launched in 2021 with about $32M from Aker as its sole backer; the firm has since grown total assets under management to $87M across both funds.
Fund II is targeting around 20 new investments over the next three to five years, with the first two already made: Minerva Humanoids and HIVE Autonomy.
Leadership
Kjell Inge Røkke, the billionaire chairman of Aker, co-founded the firm and remains its anchor backer through Aker.
Investment Strategy
RunwayVC's investment team sources and leads first rounds directly, typically checks of $500K to $2M, with follow-on funding arranged separately as companies scale. About 70% of investments are in Norway and the Nordics, with the remainder spread across Europe. Senior Partner Sagar Chandna compares the firm's structure to Germany's HV Capital, an early investor in Neura Robotics, and frames the model around three layers: connectivity through sensors and IoT, an intelligence layer to manage systems, and robotics and autonomy to take action.
Notable Investments
Notable Exits
Tor Bækkelund — Managing Partner and Co-Founder
tor@runwayfbu.com
Sagar Chandna — Senior Partner and CTO
Peder Hjermann — Associate Partner
peder@runwayfbu.com
Hanna Selvaag Wangsmo — Investment Director
hanna@runwayfbu.com
Norway
