Invited to the embassy - again!

I guess I’ll be in Oslo June 24th. Received this invitation from the US Ambassador Barry White and his wife today to celebrate the Independence day. Of course I have accepted!

I met Mr. and Mrs. White for the first time earlier this year at a lunch at their house where the topic was social entrepreneurship. Something very close to my heart and a way of running business that I do my very best to run Bipper by. I hope to be able to spend the rest of my life supporting social entrepreneurship initiatives. Combining business with idealistic and passionate initiatives is the future - I believe. It is possible to both build a sustainable business and to run it in a socially minded way.

I was deeply impressed by both White’s. During my life I have met quite a few high profile personalities. Those who stick with me are those who are still passionate about issues. Those who are eager to speak WITH you, to LISTEN and to SHARE ideas. So many people seem to lose interest in common people once they have fame or high positions. The White’s don’t. I have seldom met people as concerned as them. We are so lucky to have them in Norway!

Hiking with the kids - and Nils

It was one of those beautiful sunny Sundays that Bergen is NOT known for, so we decided to take the family on a hike to Ulriken. One of the many mountains peaks surrounding Bergen. 

We had also met up with some of our friends and their kids so it was quite the group that headed up the mountain early afternoon.

Unfortunately my big plans to finally “conquer” Ulriken faded after we spent too much time having lunch by a quaint mountain lake. However, the kids loved hanging out there playing and even swimming in the cool water. The grown-ups too had a nice time relaxing, hanging out in the sun and drinking freshly brewed coffee prepared over open flame…. 

At some point Nils realized that he had been watching enough people ascend  up to the peak and that he would get nowhere with us so he took off by himself with my camera to prove he made it to the top…

I’m just hoping the sun is shining next weekend as well so I too can climb my way to the top!

Nils posing for his American friends and family.

 Bergen is great guys!

Me and Alvin. Not even 4, and a great hiker!

Marius making espresso for all us grown ups. 

Can life be better?

August (my middle one) after a swim. Coooold 

water, but he loved it!  The only adult swimming was 

Viking Marius (our old neighbor). Can you see him?

Nils on his way to Ulriken. The tower marks the top.

A great view of the city from the restaurant on Ulriken.

And a comfy way up and down for those who 

are too lazy to walk!

I love Innovation Norway!

While I was attending a "secret" meeting at the EU Commission in Brussels, I received the great news that Innovation Norway had decided to support us with an additional $1,2 million!  Wow!!!!

Innovation Norway has from the early days of Bipper been very supportive of us and is a big reason why we have progressed so nicely. Still, these levels of funding are rare and I'm so happy that they believe so much in us. I feel sooo lucky having them involved. This is an IRD (Industrial Research and Development) contract which is awarded to small or midsize companies that have partnerships agreements with leading international companies. In Bipper’s case this was granted based on our partnership with Motorola and a still not to be named European operator. 

The good news was celebrated on the SAS flight back to Norway where Nils and I toasted with a small bottle of free champagne in plastic cups, courtesy of SAS :-)