About us
Investing in the future
DSD AS is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Folke Hermansen AS. Folke Hermansen AS is owned by the Hermansen family. Yuhong Jin Hermansen is chair of DSD AS.
We have 14 members of staff working at our head office in Stavanger. In 2019 we established a representative office in Shanghai in China, and on 15 January 2020 we changed name from Det Stavangerske Dampskibsselskab AS to DSD AS (“DSD”). Our investment team is composed of a mix of younger and more experienced staff. Thanks to their strong combined expertise, we are able to focus both on the here and now and on the future.
Right since we launched our first paddle steamer in 1855, we have been creating, managing and developing assets. Developing assets and companies, and a willingness to take on difficult challenges, are strong features of our national industrial and cultural history.
We have primarily operated businesses in the transport and maritime sectors. The group is now undergoing a period of change, and it has high ambitions. Our focus is now on high-tech sustainable companies in the mobility sector, ocean, tourism and health care. Sustainability, active ownership and value creation shall be the foundations for the DSD Group’s future development.
As a family-owned group, we believe in creating value by taking a long-term perspective and through innovation. We are constantly on the lookout for sustainable opportunities, and we give people and technology the time and space they need to flourish. That is at the core of what we do. That is what DSD is about.
Our investment team
At DSD, our business culture and history are all about looking to the future and engaging with the world around us. We invest in people who want to develop groundbreaking ideas, create world-leading technology and contribute to the society that we belong to. We have no desire to follow in the footsteps of others; we want to lead the way. We have been doing that for over 160 years. And we intend to continue doing so for another 160 years.
Anita Krohn took up her position as CEO of DSD in May 2024. She has significant expertise in strategy, sustainability and innovation, and has experience from board positions in a number of companies, including being a member of DSD's board for three years until May 2024. Anita is also an advisor and board member to the European Commission with the establishment of the European Innovation Council (EIC). She has previously been CEO of Hewlett-Packard Norway and Innovation Norway, and has led the government's advisory committee for innovation and growth in the green sector towards 2035.
Martin Økland is Deputy Group CEO and is a vital part of the investment team where DSD seeks to find opportunities within our various business areas.
Kjartan Melberg is an investment director with a long and varied background from several different industries.
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Awards and milestones
At DSD, we transform ambitious ideas into groundbreaking results. That’s how we are creating world-leading, green, sustainable technology.
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Year: 2013Award:
- Green Ship Award
- Norwegian Logistics and Freight Association's environmental award
- The Rogaland county reserach and innovation prize
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Year: 2014Award:
- Ship of the Year
- The Thor Heyerdahl Award
- Næringslivets Klimapris, an annual award given to Norwegian business for climate-friendly innovation
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Year: 2015Award:
- The world’s greenest cargo ships, the LNG-powered Kvitbjørn and Kvitnos, are christened and enter service.
- The world’s first battery-powered zero-emission ferry, Ampere, enters service.
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Year: 2017Award:
- The hybrid ferry MS Folgefonn becomes the first ferry in the world to use wireless charging.
Management
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Portrait image of Anita Krohn
Anita Krohn
Konsernleder
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Portrait image of Kjartan Melberg
Kjartan Melberg
Chief Investment Officer
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Portrait image of Martin Økland
Martin Økland
Chief Business Development Officer
Board of directors
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Portrait image of Yuhong J. Hermansen
Yuhong J. Hermansen
Yuhong Jin Hermansen is the chairman of the board and majority owner of DSD. Hermansen has over 25 years of combined work experience in shipping, finance, investment, and management. Hermansen is, among other positions, a board member of the Stavanger Chamber of Commerce, and has previously served as chairman of the board at Tide, as well as a board member of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise's central board and of Skagen Fondene.
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Portrait image of Bjørn A. Dahle
Bjørn A. Dahle
Bjørn Anders Dahle is deputy chairman of the board of DSD, and has been part of the board of the group since 2013. Dahle has over 20 years of experience in the oil and gas sector as owner and managing director of Mento AS. He also holds various board positions and leads a unit in the Stavanger Chamber of Commerce responsible for Sola municipality. Additionally, he has experience in the tourism and event industry.
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Portrait image of Eirik Børve Monsen
Eirik Børve Monsen
Eirik Børve Monsen has been a board member of DSD since 2020. Børve Monsen is the group director for the telecommunications business at the Lyse Group and the CEO of Lyse Tele AS. Previously, Børve Monsen served as the group director for finance and economics at Lyse. He also has extensive experience as CFO at Akva Group, various positions at Telenor, and as an auditor and advisor at KPMG. He serves as chairman of the board for Lyse Fiberinvest, Viken Fiber, Altibox Bedrift, and Altibox Danmark. Additionally, he has board experience in numerous other companies in Norway and abroad.
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Portrait image of Lena Nymo Helli
Lena Nymo Helli
Lena Nymo Helli has been a board member of DSD since 2021. Nymo Helli is the managing director at Norway Health Tech, where she focuses on health-related startup companies. She has extensive experience in both national and international pharmaceutical industries. She serves as the chairman of the board for Norway's northernmost healthcare institution and has previously worked as a Venture Partner at the acquisition fund Hadean Ventures. Nymo Helli is also a board member and co-founder of the health data company NordicRWE.
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Portrait image of Rune Jensen
Rune Jensen
Rune Jensen has been a board member of DSD since the spring of 2024. He has extensive experience from senior management and board positions in Norway and abroad, including in energy, finance, information technology and the publishing industry. In 1999 he was responsible for business development at DSD, and in the period 2000 – 2006 he led DSD's investment in information technology, including the IPO of Allianse in 2005 and the sale to Ergo Group in 2006. For the past 18 years, Jensen has worked within Private Equity where he has contributed to acquisitions, value developments and sales of a number of portfolio companies.
Contact us
Do you have any questions about potential investments, or do you have a company or an idea that you would like us to have a look at? Regardless of whether it’s a fund, company, project or something else interesting, we’re happy to have a chat.
DSD AS
Børehaugen 1
4006 Stavanger
Phone: +47 51 84 56 00
Email: mail@dsd.no