In 2024, the Norwegian government set out a national digitisation strategy with the aim of making the country the most digitised in the world by 2030.This intent is nothing new and has both ignited, and been ignited by, a tech startup ecosystem that has taken Norway away from its industrial and maritime roots and into a new era of innovation. Chief among the countrys startup impact has been a globally significant fightback against financial crime.Fintech as an all-encompassing term has proved to be something of a double-edged sword. Greater accessibility and democratisation of finance, more seamless financial management for the general public and whole new industries such as blockchain point to progress. In opposition lies a new catalogue of opportunities for criminals to commit fraud, attack personal and business finances, and to obtain sensitive data.Finding solutions to these problems, fighting tech with tech, was always likely to be a lucrative pursuit, and three Norwegian-born companies are finding just that.One cyber security company, Promon, is a driving force behind the global cyber security agenda, with more than three decades of influence. Promon, known as the godfather of app-shielding, has more than two billion users globally, and protects more than $2.5trn in market capitalisation.Norways forward-thinking approach has created fertile ground for a thriving tech ecosystem, with startups across sectors like fintech, cyber security and AI all flourishing, says Promon founder, Tom Lysemose. Widespread digital infrastructure, a tech-savvy population and government support for innovation foster an environment where Norwegian startups can rapidly prototype, scale and connect with global markets.Lysemose notes that cyber crime in general continues to escalate globally, fuelled by the rise in digital transactions, making banking apps prime targets. Malware, phishing and ransomware remain the most common forms of attacks, with Promon uncovering several sophisticated strains of these vectors in recent years. One, he notes, defrauded just one victim out of $280,000, adding: It highlights the urgent need for robust, proactive security solutions.Promons journey manifested from Lysemoses Masters thesis and doctoral work, realising the vulnerability of applications while networks, devices and operating systems were getting so much attention.It seemed natural that the only way to protect an application is to understand how the application should behave, he says. This way, you can detect when someone tries to make the application do something it should not.These core ideas were present in the very first Promon product, and today they are also some of the core tenets of the entire industry known either as Runtime Application Self-Protection (RASP), app shielding, or in-app protection.Lysemose recalls: We had two disruptive ideas. The first was that the application needed to have security embedded directly in it to proactively prevent attacks. The second was that the security tools needed to understand the intended behaviour of applications and when an attacker might try to change that behaviour.Many other companies emphasise threat detection, but thats like identifying a criminal after theyve already entered your house. Helpful, but youd rather prevent them from getting in at all.The result of this ethos and service, still ongoing, is a two billion user portfolio across the world, all the while still being headquartered in Oslo.Weve seen some amazing cases in e-commerce and banking, especially. In many of the cases weve seen, the fraud entirely ends, full stop. Adding app shielding isnt about reducing or minimising, but stopping malicious activity from happening entirely.Being proactive is also the name of the game for Strise, a company founded in 2016 by Marit Rdevand, Patrick Skjennum and Sigve Srsen while they were studying together in Oslo.What started as a university project, has since grown into a leading innovator in anti-money laundering (AML) technology, after noticing that traditional AML compliance methods often struggle with fragmented customer data and manual processes both leading to potential vulnerabilities.Strise developed software that unifies disparate data sources and automates compliance workflows, empowering institutions to proactively detect and prevent financial crimes, Rdevand says. This approach not only enhances security but also reduces operational costs and ensures adherence to complex regulatory AML landscapes.Initially, Strise focused on creating a platform that organised vast amounts of public and external data into customer-centric workflows, supporting AML, know your customer (KYC) and know your business (KYB) processes.Over time, we integrated advanced AI models and expanded our data sources to enhance the platforms capabilities, Rdevand adds. Our geographic footprint has grown from serving Nordic clients to partnering with international clients, and since first launching commercially in 2020, we are now leading the AML automation revolution.Strise is already planning to enhance the AML Automation Cloud to cover a broader spectrum of crimes in the future. One of its core areas, KYC, is a focus shared by Convier, a Norwegian tech startup that enables financial institutions to identify and report on customer risk regardless of where data is stored.Only founded in 2022, the company is not as far along in its journey, but like all ambitious Norwegian startups is already targeting international traction very soon.CEO, Andreas Engstrand co-founded Convier after having a very similar realisation to Strises founders. He recalls: I had noticed in my former role as head of financial crime at KPMG Norway that customer data in a bank was often fragmented, scattered across multiple systems, and was difficult to access, which meant that customer due diligence took hours to perform.Vitally, it also meant that they didnt see the full customer risk picture. We started building a platform that would unify banking data.A key issue that many financial institutions around the world have is a pressure to keep up with the rapidly changing landscape and associated technologies. This often equates to a race to comply, forgetting that there is an extremely important security and business purpose behind safeguarding data.Regulated entities spend up to $280bn a year to comply with regulations, says Engstrand. But the focus needed to shift away from just avoiding penalties, to directly addressing underlying criminal activities and vulnerabilities.We built our platform to run within the banks infrastructure without its own data store. This meant that instead of the bank spending months or even years trying to clean up its data, our platform would do that job for them so they could start identifying risk immediately.Not building a SaaS from the start was something completely different to what others were doing, but it has been a real accelerator for us because it enables us to deliver value from day one.Engstrand sees a clear correlation between Conviers own positive experience in Norway, the global success of companies such as Strise and Promon, and the role of Oslo as a hub for all three.Its such a good place to start building and testing technology because a lot of the data you need is openly available. It enables any startup to demonstrate quite early on what you can do with the technology you build, he summarises.While the citys impact on global finance and on the financial crime landscape now seems inevitable, it wasnt so long ago that oil and maritime occupied the minds of the citys innovators.Now, these three examples among many more serve as role models and mentors for the entire tech ecosystem, often sharing their insights with academic institutions and at industry events. Oslo is set to remain a thorn in financial crimes side for many years to come.Rdevand concludes: Oslo has rapidly transformed into a hub for digital innovation, fostering a vibrant tech startup scene characterised by collaboration and a forward-thinking mindset. The citys emphasis on education, coupled with government support for technology initiatives, has cultivated a talent pool adept in digital solutions.While Norways economy has traditionally been rooted in industries like maritime and oil, there has been a strategic shift towards technology and finance. This transition has opened avenues for startups to develop solutions addressing financial sector challenges that are being felt all over the world.Read more about Nordic tech innovationNordic innovators look to revive the zombie subscriber population.Virtual wards to digital feedback: the Nordic approach to post-pandemic healthcare.Channelling Nordic startup innovation towards global survival.