Tellef Thorleifsson

Tellef is one of the co-founders of Northzone, and he has been instrumental in the fund raising and building of Northzone into a leading Nordic technology investment firm.Tellef co-ordinates the activities in Northzone's offices, as well as being active with Northzone's new investments and portfolio companies. Tellef was instrumental in the foundation of the Norwegian Venture Capital Association and acted as its first Chairman. He has also served as Director of both EVCA and the Swedish Venture Capital Associations. Prior to Northzone, Tellef took part in the founding of Western Bulk Shipping, a truly global company, which he then took public as a CFO. Before this, he held the position as company secretary of another shipping and investment company - I.M. Skaugen. He has also worked as a political advisor, a background that might come in very handy in the task of coordinating his strong-willed and inventive colleagues within Northzone. Outside Northzone, Tellef is your everyday Norwegian open airs man, enjoying skiing, trekking and sailing. He is also a great singer. Tellef holds a M.Sc. in Business Administration from the Norwegian School of Economics and a M.Sc. (Econ) from London School of Economics (1988). Tellef serves as Chairman of the board of Innotech Solar AS, and as a Director of Online Backup Company AS, Chapdrive AS, and Silex AB.Some of Tellef’s exited investments include Lastminute.com, Mamut, Resfeber, Skiinfo.com, and Trolltech.Tellef is also a co-founder and active board member of The Voxtra Foundation which is making targeted investments and grants in developing countries.