The short answer
The five largest software and IT companies headquartered in Norway, ranked by reported number of employees, are Visma, Atea, Opera, Kahoot! and Cognite. Visma is the largest, with about 17,500 employees (2025). We could verify five companies meeting our criteria, so this list is shorter than ten rather than padded with unverified names.
The five companies at a glance
| # | Company | Headquarters | Founded | Employees |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Visma | Oslo | 1996 | 17,500 (2025) |
| 2 | Atea | Oslo | 1968 | about 6,666 (2013) |
| 3 | Opera | Oslo | 1995 | 599 (2024) |
| 4 | Kahoot! | Oslo | 2006 | Not stated |
| 5 | Cognite | Oslo | 2016 | Not stated |
Ranked by the most recent employee count stated on each company’s Wikipedia article or official website, checked 24 October 2026. Years in brackets show when that figure applies; companies without a stated figure are listed last.
The companies in detail
1Visma
OsloBuilds cloud software for accounting, ERP, payroll, invoicing and HR for small and mid-sized businesses and public-sector organisations across Europe and Latin America.
- Headquarters
- Oslo
- Founded
- 1996
- Employees
- 17,500 (2025)
- Ownership
- Private (majority-owned by Hg)
2Atea
OsloA Nordic IT infrastructure company that sells, deploys and maintains hardware and software from vendors such as Microsoft, Cisco and HP in seven countries.
- Headquarters
- Oslo
- Founded
- 1968
- Employees
- about 6,666 (2013)
- Ownership
- Public company (Oslo Stock Exchange: ATEA)
3Opera
OsloMakes the Opera family of web browsers, the GameMaker game engine and advertising and content platforms.
- Headquarters
- Oslo
- Founded
- 1995
- Employees
- 599 (2024)
- Ownership
- Public company (Nasdaq: OPRA), controlled by Kunlun Tech
4Kahoot!
OsloA game-based learning platform whose user-made quizzes are played in schools, workplaces and homes worldwide.
- Headquarters
- Oslo
- Founded
- 2006
- Employees
- Not stated
- Ownership
- Private (delisted from Oslo Børs in 2024)
5Cognite
OsloMakes Cognite Data Fusion, an industrial data platform used by oil and gas, power and manufacturing companies.
- Headquarters
- Oslo
- Founded
- 2016
- Employees
- Not stated
- Ownership
- Private
What this list tells us about Norway’s software industry
- Oslo is the main hub. 5 of the five companies on this list are headquartered there.
- A long track record. The oldest company here, Atea, was founded in 1968; the youngest, Cognite, in 2016.
- Founding wave. More companies on this list were founded in the 1990s (2) than in any other decade.
- Ownership mix. 3 of the five are publicly listed and 1 are subsidiaries of, or majority-owned by, other groups; the rest are independent private companies, cooperatives or state-linked organisations.
Norway at a glance
- Capital
- Oslo
- Official languages
- Norwegian and Sámi
- Currency
- Norwegian krone (NOK)
- Population
- 5.6 million (2026 est.)
- GDP per capita (nominal)
- $115,188 (2026 est.)
Economy. The petroleum industry accounts for around a quarter of GDP.
Country figures from Wikipedia’s article on Norway, checked 24 October 2026. Estimates are rounded and dated as stated there.
Working with software companies in Norway
- Time zone. Norway uses UTC+01:00 in winter and UTC+02:00 in summer (daylight saving time). Agree overlap hours in writing before a project starts.
- Data protection. The country is part of the European Union or the European Economic Area, so the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) applies and personal data is handled under the same rules as across the EU and EEA.
- Due diligence. Large companies on this list mostly sell their own products or enterprise services. If you need a development partner for a specific project, ask for case studies, interview the engineers and start with a short paid trial. Our guide on how to choose an IT staff augmentation company includes a free vendor scorecard.
- Budget. Typical 2026 hourly rates by region are in our IT staff augmentation cost and rates guide.
- Extra capacity. If you want developers to join your own team rather than outsource a whole project, our IT Staff Augmentation Services provide dedicated engineers who work in your time zone, tools and processes.
How we built this list
- Candidates. We started from Wikipedia’s list of companies of Norway, the country’s best-known technology firms and companies regularly named in the local and international business press.
- Scope. We kept companies whose main business is software, IT services or a software-based platform, and that are headquartered in Norway. Telecom operators, banks and hardware makers were left out, as were local offices of foreign groups. Companies founded in Norway but now headquartered abroad are listed separately when relevant.
- Verification. For every company we checked headquarters, founding year, ownership, size and whether it is still active against its Wikipedia article or, where none exists, its own official website, on 24 October 2026. Each entry links to the page we checked.
- Ranking. Companies are ranked by their most recently stated number of employees, the most comparable size measure available for public and private firms alike.
- No payments. No company paid or was asked to appear. iCreativez Technologies is itself a software and IT services company, so we do not include or rank ourselves on country lists.
Employee figures come from different years, are sometimes self-reported on company websites and sometimes count a whole group rather than one company, so treat the ranking as a guide to scale rather than an exact league table.
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Software companies in nearby countries
Frequently asked questions
What is the largest software company in Norway?
By reported number of employees, Visma is the largest software and IT company headquartered in Norway, with about 17,500 employees (2025). It builds cloud software for accounting, ERP, payroll, invoicing and HR for small and mid-sized businesses and public-sector organisations across Europe and Latin America.
Which city is the main software hub in Norway?
Among the companies on this list, Oslo is home to the most: 5 of the five are headquartered there.
What is the oldest software company in Norway on this list?
Atea, founded in 1968 and headquartered in Oslo.
How did you choose the software companies in Norway?
We considered the best-known companies headquartered in Norway whose main business is software or IT services. We verified each one against its Wikipedia article or official website and ranked them by reported number of employees. No company paid to be included.
Why are there fewer than 10 companies for Norway?
We only list companies we could verify. Rather than pad the list with names we cannot confirm, we show five verified companies and suggest nearby markets.
What is the economy of Norway based on?
The petroleum industry accounts for around a quarter of GDP.
What languages and currency are used for business in Norway?
The official languages are Norwegian and Sámi, and the currency is the Norwegian krone (NOK).
Can I hire software developers to work with a team in Norway?
Yes. Many businesses combine local partners with remote developers. iCreativez Technologies provides dedicated developers and offshore teams that can work your hours; see our dedicated developers page or contact us.
Sources
All company details were checked on 24 October 2026 against these pages:
- Wikipedia: List of companies of Norway
- Visma: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visma
- Atea: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atea_(company)
- Opera: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opera_(company)
- Kahoot!: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kahoot!
- Cognite: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognite
- Wikipedia: Norway (country profile)
If you represent a company on this page and a detail has changed, contact us and we will review it. Related guides: top IT staff augmentation companies 2026 · staff augmentation vs outsourcing vs managed services.