Torleif Ahlsand

The VC skier

People who have tried to keep up with Torleif's energy and pace should know his multi-skilled drive and talent. Several people have described him as an energetic Jack of all Trades; a business person, a research scientist and an extremely competitive sportsman. "But hey, I still want to be really, really good at what I do, and that requires attitude, passion and hard work", says Torleif Ahlsand reflectively. "In Northzone I'm free to play on everything in my background and personality; I'm loving it."

Prior to Northzone, Torleif was VP of Corporate Finance in Handelsbanken Capital Markets and a corporate development executive - which is companese for "the M&A Business Strategy-guy" - in Orkla ASA. Torleif also has a professional technical background as a research scientist at CERN outside Geneva ("that", he remarks, "was rocket-science stuff") and as a telecommunications engineer in Nera Satcom.

What about the sportsman side? Outside the office, you're most likely to find Torleif exploring new limits in hard-core activities such as mountaineering, kiting, MTB, kayaking, or - as one would suspect from a Norwegian - skiing. The former Nordic champion in Skiathlon and Norwegian national team basket ball player still pushes hard for andrenaline, "good vibrations" and top results in endurance sports. Torleif won "Birkebeinertrippelen" in 2006, and continues to place among the top 1% in cross-country races like Vasaloppet and Birkebeiner'n. That he is a world class performer in his age group goes without saying. Probably the best VC skier out there!

Torleif holds a M.Sc. degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from NTNU (1991) and an MBA with Honours from IMD in Switzerland (1997).

Torleif currently serves as Chairman in Funcom, Energy Micro and X5 Music, and as Board Member in Imagini.

Former board positions in the Northzone portfolio: Colibria, Intility, Nimsoft, Photonyx, Playdo, Tinde, and Orecon.