While some investment companies focus solely on the bottom line, there are some with a much brighter goal in mind. And while money is still important to TD Veen, it is not the mission. Instead, TD Veen is a family-centered investment company with one goal in mind: to invest only in which also invests in society. We at Streetwise Reports were intrigued by TD Veen's premise, so we sat down with its chief investment officer Øyvind Schanke to learn more about the company's background and where it is headed in the future.
Located in Stavanger, Norway, TD Veen was founded by Tor Dagfinn Veen in 1986. According to the company, "Today, Tor Dagfinn and Tone Veen own 28% of the shares, while daughters Camilla and Silje Veen own 36% each
Main Investment Positions
Pexip ASA and P53 Invest AS are TD Veen's main investments. Others in the private sector are listed in the chart below.
Private Companies |
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| Country | Company | Website | Board Seat | Sector |
| NO | P53 Invest | www.p53invest.no | X | Biotech |
| UK | Next DLP | www.nextdlp.com | X | Cyber Security |
| NO | Nyby | https://nyby.com/fr=GB | X | Health: Connecting healthcare workers with organizations and volunteers. |
| UK | Ocean Bottle | https://oceanbottle.co | X | Environmental: Reusable bottles that save the ocean. |
| DE | Made of Air | https://www.madeofair.com/ | X | Carbon-negative building materials. |
| NO | Onna Greens | https://www.weareonna.no/ | Vertical Farming | |
| NO | Resani | https://www.resani.com/ | X | Data drive hand hygiene |
| UK | Isize | https://www.isize.co/ | X | Deep learning for video delivery |
| NO | Huma | https://www.hu.ma/ | X | HR System |
| NO | Disruptive Technologies | https://www.disruptive-technologies.com/ | X | Sensors & IOT Infrastructure |
| UK | Arctoris | https://www.arctoris.com/ | Drug Discovery | |
| NO | Sharefox | https://sharefox.no/en/ | X | Software solution for rental services |
| NO | NoMy | https://www.nomy.no/ | X | Fermented Sciences |
| NO | Aqua Robotics | https://aquarobotics.no/ | X | Automated fish net cleaning |
| NO | Blåfjell | https://blafjell.no/ | X | Atlantic Char Farming |
| NO | Siglar Carbon | https://www.siglarcarbon.com/ | X | Emission Insight for Shipping |
| NO | Beaufort Solutions | https://www.beaufort.io/ | X | AML & KYC Software |
| NO | Ducky | https://www.ducky.eco/ | X | Climate Tech |
Then we have TD Veen's publically listed companies which are shown below.
Public Companies |
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| Country | Company | Website | Board Seat | Sector |
| NO | Pexip | https://www.pexip.com/ | X | Video technology / Video conferencing |
| NO | Statt Torsk | https://statt.no/en/ | X | Cod Farming |
| NO | Nordic Halibut | https://www.nordichalibut.com/ | X | Halibut farming |
| NO | Nycode | https://nykode.com/ | Therapeutics Platform | |
| US | Atai Life Science | https://atai.life/ | Mental Health Biopharma | |
| CA | Awakn | https://awaknlifesciences.com/ | Life Sciences | |
| NO | Klaveness Combination Carriers | https://www.combinationcarriers.com/ | Carbon Efficient NO Shopping | |
| NO | CO2 Capsol | https://www.co2capsol.com/home | Carbon Capture | |
| US/AUS | Bionomics ADS | https://www.bionomics.com.au/ | Biopharma | |
| NO | Quantafuel | https://www.quantafuel.com/ | Wast handling technology | |
The company was founded under the premise that people needed to invest in social entrepreneurship, so TD Veen keeps a boutique list of companies under its list, with a special focus on the health and life science sectors, especially mental health.
Why Mental Health?
While Schanke spoke positively about emergency care within Norway's public health system, he pointed out an incredible need to increase the quality of preventative care in his country. In his own words, he said, "there is no cure, just a bandaid," especially regarding addiction and other mental health disorders.
Norway has an incredibly high suicide rate per capita, with 10.9 suicides per 100,000. In fact, according to The Borgen Project, "about half of all people in Norway experience a mental health disorder at some point in their life," and this has only been exacerbated by the isolation impacted during Covid-19.
Not only are Norwegians experiencing higher rates of mental illness due to Covid-19, but the lack of light during the winter months can make things a lot worse by adding seasonal affective disorder on top of general issues. Linda Geddes from The Atlantic gave an overview of this issue and spoke with those in Northern European countries to get their personal take on how the lack of light in winter months affects them here.
The team at TD Veen saw an overarching need for more comprehensive mental health care within Norway and the world, so they put their money where their heart is and began investing in it — literally.
TD Veen first built a relationship with Atai Life Sciences NV (ATAI:NASDAQ), a mental-health-focused bio-pharmaceutical company headquartered in Berlin, Germany. This began in 2018, as Øyvind Schanke had a call with the company and decided he needed to learn more about the medicinal use of psychedelics in treating mental health disorders. He then met with the company in Oslo, where he was introduced to
