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 :-)

Strategy meeting - a must!

With both Nils, Are and Roy in Bergen together with the rest of the team, it was time for a strategy meeting. And a bit of fun!

We’ve always held a yearly strategy meeting. This year it was more important than ever as 2010 and 2011 are really important years for us as we prepare for the launch of Bipper both here in Norway and internationally.

I would love to tell you all about what is happening, but I can’t. It’s still too early... What I can say though is that since we won the Mobile Premier Award and since Motorola announced our partnership, the interest in Bipper all over the world has just exploded. We are contacted by huge operators, retail chains, sales people etc. etc. Amazing! 

The only issue though is that we were not prepared for the massive interest this early. With the money in place we need to hire more people quickly. I have some good candidates on my list.... 

Olav demonstrating Bipper on a Samsung Corby.

 Kids love this phone!

Looking serious Nils...

Entrepreneurship champagne (Cava) for 

all to celebrate the share issue!

Line (our administration and media assistant) enjoying 

sun, food and drinks outside the pool in the office.

Ann Elida - our amazing Financial manager

Roy - consultant and member of our board. 

A very experienced telecom man!

Welcome to Bergen Nils!

A few months ago Nils and I agreed that he would be based in Bergen for most of the summer so we could have all our resources in one place as we prepared for our big launch.  It’s nice to have the whole team together especially when there is so much that has to be coordinated. The first 3 weeks will be spent here without his family so I’m especially thankful to his wife Linda who is back in the US and has to act as a “single-parent” to their 3 year old twins. THANK YOU!

I managed to find Nils an apartment just down the street so we can work 24/7 if needed….  As is needed! Since I don’t have a license I always take the bus to work. However, I had big plans for us biking to the office together, but so far that has not happened as it turns out I’m very comfortable being driven to work by Nils while my husband has taken the bus….!! 

Normally I could blame the lack of biking on the rain, but it’s been sunny in Bergen.  Bergen is known for its rain, but the weather has been quite nice here and Nils has been pointing out how much he has been enjoying the crisp, sunny weather. I don’t know if I should tell him this is not the norm and that it actually rained for 90 days in a row a few years ago…!!

The view from our office

We are funded!

Today we raised about $ 2 millions! Wow! If you have ever been an entrepreneur yourself you know that it is not a luxurious lifestyle. Now I can finally sleep at night! Both new and old investors and we celebrated with waffles!

I’m so happy that we quickly closed our last round of funding. In total we raised about $ 2 millions.  

I’m especially excited that the great people at Holberg Fondsforvaltning, one of Norway’s leading fund management companies decided to invest about $1.1 million and to be part of our venture. They evaluate a bunch of unlisted companies every year, but typically invest in no more than ten of these so I’m thrilled that they believe so much in Bipper.  

So all the funding for expansion is in place, now we just need to add some more people to our team. Thankfully we have many interesting and qualified people that want to be part of our journey….

Hogne Tyssøy from Holdberg is happily signing the 

share issue papers. Welcome to Team Bipper!

National Day!

Ja vi elsker dette landet . . . (yes we love this country) states the first few words of our national anthem. The 17th of May is our national day, and in Norway celebrated with the children in focus. It’s like Christmas to them!

We got up early in the morning to put on our national costumes and head for the first (of three) parades for the day. At 08:00 the flag is hoisted while the band of my neighborhood is playing. My daughter is playing the flute and this was her first year participating in the 17th of May celebration as a flutist. All the marching bands play a central role this day, so she was kept on her toes from early morning til late evening.

Being the parents of a young flutist we are also kept on our toes. This day is a very important day to raise money for the band, so while I enjoyed breakfast with the kids, Alf headed for the school to sell hotdogs, sodas, coffees and ice-cream. Most Norwegian kids will be allowed to eat as many hotdogs and ice-creams as they want this day, so the sales are high when families are waiting for the main parade to start.

After the parade we headed home for lunch and games in the neighborhood before we again headed back to school for more games, more ice-creams and hotdogs and more fun. As Oda is in 4th grade it is our responsibility to organize the school events this year, so while I was watching the kids, Alf was running the show!

My three beautiful kids in their national costumes. 

Oda, Alvin and August

Alf is selling hotdogs, soda, ice-creams and coffee 

to happy parents and kids early in the morning.

8 AM - and time for the first of three parades

 this day. Oda is playing the flute.

Look at the crowd waiting for the parade to start!

The various sports clubs participated in the 

parade in their own outfits. Meet the skiers!

Monther and son!

Oda taking part in her second parade of the day. 

Ready to go home! Daddy only have to disassemble the 

stage at school first. Note the tie under the orange workman suit!