Ramfjord serves as mentor for start-up

As part of a program designed to help start-ups grow, Ramfjord, former Managing Director of National Oilwell Varco Norway, serves as mentor for Castor Drilling Solution and its founder and CEO, Øyvind Reiten.

 Opens doors

- Being able to tap into Tor Henning’s expertise is a huge advantage. Together, we have discussed ideas, concepts, business models and how to grow Castor. Tor Henning also offers a network that is of great value for us. He opens doors that we might not have been able to open ourselves, says Reiten.

- I can contribute with strategies for how to standardize and simplify and build robust scale-up company structures from day one. I will also make use of my network within the oil and gas industry to help Castor meet key players, says Ramfjord.

Coupled with experienced mentors 

Ramfjord and Reiten have met several times over the last months, after Castor Drilling Solution was accepted into – and Ramfjord signed up for – the scale-up program. Nine selected companies participate in the program aimed to help local start-ups expand their business.

- The companies have been coupled with some of the top industrial leaders and entrepreneurs that our region has to offer. It has turned out to be a very useful and rewarding mixture of people, start-ups and demanding customers, says Magne Dåstøl, Project Manager for GCE NODE.

Seeking global growth

Norway has a good track record for establishing new businesses, but seldom succeeds in developing new global growth companies. This collaborative project from GCE NODE and Eyde Cluster, supported by Innovation Norway, aims to change this.

Inspiration for the business accelerator came from MIT’s Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Program (REAP).

- We want to test and develop growth strategies inspired by MIT REAP, where focus has shifted from ‘number of startups’ to ‘businesses with growth potential’, so-called scale-ups, says Gunnar Kulia, Project Manager at Eyde Cluster.

Companies participating in the program are:

• Trilobite
• Effera
• Urdal Services
• Panterra
• GSG Offshore
• Castor Drilling Solution
• Red Rock
• Diinef
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