Norway's Cognite shifts HQ to U.S., co-founder says at Davos

By Divya Chowdhury, Jesus Calero and Mateusz Rabiega

DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - Norwegian industrial software firm Cognite plans to shift its headquarters to the U.S. this year to access faster-growing markets in North America, Asia, and the Middle East, its co-founder John Markus Lervik told Reuters on Tuesday.

Lervik told the Reuters Global Markets Forum that Europe's regulatory environment was hampering growth.

"We are doubling down in the U.S., and with the new president's focus on investment, we're growing extra aggressively, with over 100 open positions," he said.

Donald Trump's second presidency, marked by trade threats and sweeping executive actions, poses fresh risks for European players as tariffs and regulatory changes loom large.

Lervik said he had had concerns about Europe's growth for a decade, and hoped tailwinds in the U.S. would prompt European regulators to take action as well.

"I think Ursula (von der Leyen) just said earlier today that she wants to reduce regulations," he said.

Cognite is majority-owned by Norwegian industrial investment conglomerate Aker ASA, which also controls the oil and gas firm AkerBP. Accel, TCV and Saudi Aramco are among investors since its inception in 2016.

The company sells software that aggregates and analyses industrial data to clients including AkerBP.

Speaking alongside Lervik, AkerBP's chief digital officer Paula Doyle said "smarter regulation" or "deregulation" would be necessary for Europe's players to move forward in commercializing technology and software.

"We know that Europe hasn't been able to make the strides into technology and software compared to... the U.S.," Doyle said.

Following Saudi Aramco's purchase of a 7.4% stake in the firm, Cognite's valuation has been estimated at $1.6 billion.

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(Reporting by Divya Chowdhury in Davos, Jesus Calero and Mateusz Rabiega in Gdansk; Editing by Jan Harvey)