Case Study: Ørn Software’s 11.5-Fold ARR Growth Over 4.5 Years

At the time of Viking Growth’s 2017 investment in Ørn Software, the company was a small Norwegian software provider with a strong niche position. Under Viking Growth’s ownership, the company executed a focused value-creation strategy centered on professionalizing the organization, accelerating product development, and completing targeted add-on acquisitions.

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Over the subsequent four and a half years, Ørn Software was transformed into a leading Nordic software platform, culminating in a strategic acquisition by EG.

This case demonstrates how a disciplined value-creation agenda repositioned the company for sustained growth and a successful exit.

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The Starting Point

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Ørn Software was operating in complex, low-visibility industries characterized by:

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• Fragmented product offerings
• Legacy customer contracts
• Lengthy enterprise sales cycles

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Although growth was essential, achieving it required patient execution, with no expectation of immediate results.

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The Growth Strategy

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From the outset, the strategy focused on disciplined organic growth to strengthen the core business, complemented by a proactive, increasingly selective Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) approach to accelerate scale and market leadership.

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1. Pricing and Contract Migration as Growth Levers

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A significant portion of Ørn’s organic growth was driven by existing customers:

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• Legacy contracts were migrated to recurring SaaS agreements
• Prices were increased steadily, in some cases by more than 100%
• Customer churn remained low

This approach was effective because Ørn Software delivered mission-critical solutions and demonstrated tangible customer value.

Key insight: Pricing remains an underutilized growth lever in vertical SaaS when customer value is clearly defined and measured.

2. Customer Success as the Growth Engine

Customer success was positioned as a core growth function rather than a support role:

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• Proactive interaction with customers to ensure outcomes
• Clear focus on realizing and demonstrating measurable value
• Upsell and expansion embedded directly into customer success processes

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Consequently, a significant portion of Ørn Software’s organic growth resulted from existing customers expanding their usage over time, rather than from acquiring new clients.

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Key insight: A strong customer success function reinforces pricing power and drives sustainable, recurring growth.

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3. M&A: From Opportunistic to Disciplined

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Mergers and acquisitions were key drivers of scale and market leadership. The company pursued three acquisition tracks:

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1. Consolidation within existing segments
2. Expansion through complementary products
3. Geographic growth into new markets

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In the early phase, speed and cultural fit were the main considerations. Over time, the approach became more disciplined:

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• Strict requirements for technology stack compatibility
• Clear limits on technical debt
• Structured due diligence and integration planning

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During Viking Growth’s ownership, Ørn completed nine acquisitions, significantly accelerating its growth.

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Key insight: Aggressive M&A can rapidly create scale, but unmanaged technical debt and product overlap introduce long-term complexity that requires active management.

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The challenges

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Growth was not linear, and achieving it required persistent discipline:

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• Scaling new sales took longer than anticipated
• Product portfolio complexity increased with each acquisition
• Early restructuring and cost optimization were necessary
• Difficult people decisions had to be made

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These challenges reinforced operational discipline and contributed to the development of a more resilient, scalable organization, establishing the basis for sustained value creation.

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The Role of Viking Growth

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Viking Growth exercised active ownership throughout Ørn’s transformation:

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• Served as an engaged chairman throughout the entire ownership period
• Close board involvement through critical phases
• Support during a CEO transition
• Operational sparring during restructuring initiatives
• Active leadership in all M&A activities, including sourcing, diligence, and integration
• Raised both debt and equity to fund acquisitions
• Led the company’s IPO on the Oslo Stock Exchange in 2021
• Oversaw the public-to-private process culminating in Ørn’s sale to EG
• Strong focus on execution discipline, not just growth targets

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Support was most valuable during periods that required difficult decisions.

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“As Viking practices active ownership, you feel like you are dealing with colleagues rather than owners.”
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— Sten-Roger Karlsen, former CEO, Ørn Software

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The Outcome

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Under Viking Growth’s ownership and value-creation strategy:

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• Annual recurring revenue (ARR) grew 11.5x‍
• Enterprise value expanded 15x‍
• Ørn evolved into a leading Nordic software platform‍
• Successfully acquired by EG in 2022, delivering a highly attractive exit

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These results reflect the combined impact of disciplined organic growth, strategic mergers and acquisitions, operational rigor, and active ownership.

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CEO and Founder Takeaway

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Ørn Software’s success was not entirely attributable to effective sales execution. It was achieved by:

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• Treating pricing as a strategic growth lever
• Making customer success measurable and proactive
• Becoming increasingly disciplined in M&A
• Building a culture that embraced continuous change
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These principles supported long-term growth and established a platform attractive to potential acquirers.