proptech
Forte Digital has become the owner of FRIIO, a new app for booth owners. The goal is to become the largest holiday home service in the Nordic countries.
– We offer services that reduce and eliminate friction for anyone who owns a vacation home. General Manager and Founder Bård Windingstad says in a press release from the company that the app helps cabin owners with their cabin-related daily chores.
Windingstad is the serial entrepreneur behind companies like ELIXIA, Retriever, EVO, and SNØ. The idea for the service came to him when he himself was building a cottage in Betostolen and witnessed how hard it was to find different suppliers.
– The cottage market and the market for technology-based services is growing strongly and there is a huge demand for vacation home services. It could be anything from cleaning cabins, selling firewood, plowing roads, shoveling snow, and cutting lawn roofs. The goal is to connect the local business community to the needs of booth owners through a digital platform created by Forte Digital, Windingstad says.
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DC sweat
Today the consulting company Forte Digital has such large companies as NorgesGruppen and OBOS in its client list, but has also created its own incubator. Here they accept a low hourly rate for their services, in return for 5-10 percent ownership in the companies they work with. FRIIO, EVI, and Looping are some of the startups that are part of Forte Incubator.
– We are always looking for exciting companies to work with, especially those working with new technology and digitalization. The market in which FRIIO operates is large, but it is not yet digitized. In other words, there is great potential for new digital services, says John Karikstad, general manager of Forte Digital.
Building resilient data platforms is smart, regardless of whether you’re a NorgesGruppen or a smaller startup like FRIIO. Karikstad says more startups can and should build data platforms because they facilitate growth, scaling, and innovation for the products and services of the future.
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1.8 million cabins in the Nordic countries
The company has big ambitions in the Nordic countries, but also outside the Nordic market, according to Windingstad. The goal is to be the preferred and most innovative provider of technology-enabled vacation home services.
– There are 1.8 million cabins in the Nordic countries, and the goal during 2026 and 2027 is to provide services for about 6 percent of these cabins. Not all cabin destinations are suitable for our service. We only go to destinations with a relatively high density of holiday homes, says Windingstad.
The goal is to sell services to 25 percent of customers in focus areas. at the experimental destination; In Beitostølen, they’ve achieved nearly 40 percent market share in less than six months, says Windingstad.
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