Interning at Augmentum: Sivert’s Experience

Last month we hosted Sivert Rossnes Foss, a student from world-renowned Oslo-based BI Norwegian Business School, for a week-long internship. Learn about the projects and events Sivert got involved in below:

This Summer I was given the opportunity to intern at fintech-focused VC Augmentum for a week. When I arrived Monday morning after meeting everybody at the office, I sat down with Akash, a member of the investment team who I worked with most closely during my internship. He gave me an overview of venture capital, the fintech industry and Augmentum. Afterwards, I joined the wider investment team in their weekly investment committee meeting, discussing what was going on with the portfolio companies and potential new investment opportunities. This was a perfect way to start the week because I got to know the team better and was more up to speed with the team’s priorities, which set me up for more success for the rest of the week.

Throughout the week, I had several research projects. My two favourite projects were researching the cryptocurrency space and how this might affect the wider fintech industry in the future and mapping key companies in a specific geography of interest to Augmentum. I also got to join a meeting with Crisis Venture Studio, a charitable organisation working to end homelessness through entrepreneurship that Augmentum supports, which was very inspiring.

I learnt a lot from my research. The main takeaway is how fast the fintech industry is moving. Founders utilising new technology or finding ways to do things faster, cheaper and simpler than before, leading to companies growing from just ideas to multimillion pound companies in a short time. This not only confirmed but surpassed my expectations about the industry in a significant way.

Augmentum also hosted a social event inviting investors from other VC firms, founders of fintechs and various other people from the industry, that I was also able to attend. I met so many compelling people at this event; speaking with founders of fintech start-ups, learning about their companies’ growth, and seeing how motivated and excited they were truly inspiring.

If I could give one piece of advice to people on getting the most out of an internship, it would be to ask questions about everything you don’t understand or want to learn more about. My knowledge about fintech going into this internship was very limited, but I feel like I learned a lot in a short time by asking many questions.

This leads me to write about my favourite part of the internship: the people I worked with at Augmentum. Everybody was so friendly and when I had any questions, took the time to explain and discuss them with me. This resulted in me learning a lot there and made my week an overall great experience. I want to end this by saying thank you to Augmentum for the opportunity and everybody I worked with for making my week an excellent experience. It was exciting to learn about the fintech industry, and I wish them all the best in the future.

We wish Sivert every success in his final year of his studies and for what comes next.