10

Companies built

5 yrs

Building time

27M

Funds raised, NOK

314M

Value created, NOK

BUILDING A BETTER FUTURE,
One Pinecone at a Time

How we’re building

Incubation

Ideating, validating & building companies from within our studio.

Co-creation

Co-founding great companies with great people who have great ideas.

Acquisition

Investing in people & tech that
help our studio companies grow.  

OUR COMPANIES

Who are the builders?

Jesper is an experienced business leader, entrepreneur, investor, sales person and board representative. He has a background from both listed and unlisted environments. During the last decade Jesper has founded, built, scaled and also advised several companies.

Jesper Vendel

Partner, CEO Pinecone Sweden

Michael Eeg is a Danish investor and entrepreneur who, along with his business partner Jesper Brandt, played a pivotal role in establishing and expanding the retail chain Normal in Norway, which under his leadership grew to 100 stores, 1,500 staff and 1 billion NOK in revenues.

Michael Eeg

Partner

Stewart Stanbra is a serial entrepreneur and co-founder of College Scholarships USA (CSUSA) in 2017, which became Scandinavia’s leading sports placement agency before getting acquired by Keystone Sports in 2021 where he served as VP Commercial & Finance.

Stewart Stanbra

PARTNER

Anders Storeng is a prominent Norwegian business lawyer. Anders studied law at University of Oslo and Harvard Law School, and has a background from McKinsey, Schjødt and DLP Piper. His legal expertise encompasses a wide range of corporate and contractual issues.

Anders Storeng

PARTNER, LAWYER

Alvin Dammann Leer is the founder of Pinecone and grandson of Sir Erik Dammann, founder of global non-profit Future In Our Hands. Alvin studied journalism and social entrepreneurship in London and Boston and worked at WWF and Innovation Norway before starting 10+ companies.

Alvin Dammann Leer

Founder and Director, Pinecone / CEO, Bell AI

Michael Eeg is a Danish investor and entrepreneur who, along with his business partner Jesper Brandt, played a pivotal role in establishing and expanding the retail chain Normal in Norway, which under his leadership grew to 100 stores, 1,500 staff and 1 billion NOK in revenues.

Michael Eeg

Partner

Stewart Stanbra is a serial entrepreneur and co-founder of College Scholarships USA (CSUSA) in 2017, which became Scandinavia’s leading sports placement agency before getting acquired by Keystone Sports in 2021 where he served as VP Commercial & Finance.

Stewart Stanbra

PARTNER

Anders Storeng is a prominent Norwegian business lawyer. Anders studied law at University of Oslo and Harvard Law School, and has a background from McKinsey, Schjødt and DLP Piper. His legal expertise encompasses a wide range of corporate and contractual issues.

Anders Storeng

PARTNER, LAWYER

Alvin Dammann Leer is the founder of Pinecone and grandson of Sir Erik Dammann, founder of global non-profit Future In Our Hands. Alvin studied journalism and social entrepreneurship in London and Boston and worked at WWF and Innovation Norway before starting 10+ companies.

Alvin Dammann Leer

Founder and Director, Pinecone / CEO, Bell AI

Jesper is an experienced business leader, entrepreneur, investor, sales person and board representative. He has a background from both listed and unlisted environments. During the last decade Jesper has founded, built, scaled and also advised several companies.

Jesper Vendel

Partner, CEO Pinecone Sweden

With a background in the health and recruitment industries, Natasha boasts an incredible track record in sales, both from private and public companies. She has founded three companies and is known for her networking abilities.

Natasha Abbas

Co-Founder, CSO at Pitch40

With nearly two decades in finance, working for companies such as DNB, Eika to Garantum, Frode has managed billions of NOK for some of the highest net-worth individuals in Norway. He is also an investor and proven entrepreneur.

Frode Øvrevik

Co-Founder, CEO at Pitch40

Alvin Dammann Leer is the founder of Pinecone and grandson of Sir Erik Dammann, founder of global non-profit Future In Our Hands. Alvin studied journalism and social entrepreneurship in London and Boston and worked at WWF and Innovation Norway before starting 10+ companies.

Alvin Dammann Leer

Founder and Director, Pinecone / CEO, Bell AI

With a background in the health and recruitment industries, Natasha boasts an incredible track record in sales, both from private and public companies. She has founded three companies and is known for her networking abilities.

Natasha Abbas

Co-Founder, CSO at Pitch40

With nearly two decades in finance, working for companies such as DNB, Eika to Garantum, Frode has managed billions of NOK for some of the highest net-worth individuals in Norway. He is also an investor and proven entrepreneur.

Frode Øvrevik

Co-Founder, CEO at Pitch40

Alvin Dammann Leer is the founder of Pinecone and grandson of Sir Erik Dammann, founder of global non-profit Future In Our Hands. Alvin studied journalism and social entrepreneurship in London and Boston and worked at WWF and Innovation Norway before starting 10+ companies.

Alvin Dammann Leer

Founder and Director, Pinecone / CEO, Bell AI

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All People

Questions?

What is Pinecone?

Pinecone is a "venture studio" – a company dedicated to building impactful businesses by collaborating with driven founders. We focus on turning ambitious ideas into successful and meaningful ventures.

STUDIO VS. INCUBATOR/ACCELERATOR – WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE?

Unlike incubators and accelerators, venture studios generate their own ideas, create startups from scratch, provide funding, recruit founders, and actively participate in operations without a fixed timeline. Studios also assume a significant portion of the responsibilities and risks associated with ideation, validation, and launch, making them more deeply involved in the long-term success of their startups compared to other startup support models.

WHY CO-FOUND WITH PINECONE?

Co-founding with Pinecone is akin to getting 10+ co-founders on your team, for the "price" of one. Through mentorship, network and access to capital, we greatly increase your chances – and speed – of success.  

WHO CAN CO-FOUND WITH PINECONE?

We partner with people who are determined to create something big, something meaningful. You should possess an unfair advantage, whether industry insights, skills or network/distribution. We mainly base our decision on trust, a shared vision and ambition are must-haves. We also look for traits like: resilience, adaptability, resourcefulness, curiosity, humility, passion, and drive. Last, but not least, we consider the ability to rally people behind a vision, a rare, yet decisive, skill.

Can Pinecone invest in my startup?

While our main focus is to build companies from scratch, with or without a co-founder from the start, we occasionally will look at investment opportunities that align with our portfolio. Such strategic investments should bring value to our existing portfolio companies or vice versa.

Where is Pinecone located?

Pinecone is based in Oslo, Norway. However, we operate globally with partners of several nationalities and locations, and we invest and build companies globally, too.  

LET's BUILD A BETTER FUTURE

GET IN TOUCH