By: Torger Mogan Bjørnstad, TechTorget
— Norway was lying there waiting for us as a ripe fruit. We know each other well and geographically it is perfect. We have been in the market before, but retracted from Norway 20 years ago. Ever since, we have actually wanted to be back between the fiords and mountains. Now we are realising this in collaboration with Lovdata, says Flemming Breinholt, CEO of the company and based in Copenhagen
The two companies made their plans public in March 2020.
Karnov Group is active in various indutries. Towards the legal business it is specifically the extensive publications on the application of laws as well as EU regulations that it will be interesting to access. 1500 specialists are already engaged in writing for Karnov and now even more contacts are established in Norway.
— It is a demanding task, but we hope to have everything in place for a launch this autumn. Right now our focus is on recruiting authors. We are specifically reaching out to academics, universities and lawyers. We are already well established with 10-12 employees in Norway. This includes editorial staff, technology competences and of course sales and marketing, says Breinholt.
The department of Justice and the law faculty
As the market knows, Lovdata is a company that already supplies similar services that are much used in the legal industry.
— So Lovdata will now see competition from a new player in the market?
The question goes to Odd Storm-Paulsen. He is managing director in the private foundation, created in 1981 by the Department of Justice and the Faculty of Law in Oslo
— Yes and no. Mainly this will result in strengthening the solutions we offer in legal information. Many of our users have been missing the annotations to the extensive legal information Lovdata already has in its databases. The aim therefore is to provide the users with annotations and additional valua adding editorial content, says Odd Storm-Paulsen.
The Karnov solutions is to be integrated with and presented on Lovdatas advanced platform through Lovdata Pro. Karnov’s customers will therefore not have to learn a new tool
— At Lovdata we wish to collaborate with companies that can complete our offerings and with who we can offer even better solutions to our customers. The companies that we work with must have great data, usefull solutions or a good business plan. Karnov has all of that, says Storm-Paulsen.
Took the initiative to collaborate
We are told that it was Karnov Group who first knocked on the door at Lovdata. They wanted back in the Norwegian market, and suggested a collaboration.
— We were contacted by skilled people with insights into the market and an idea for collaboration. Through the journey I have experienced the process as good and inspiring. Now we are really looking forward to the launch, confirms Odd Storm-Paulsen
A joint future goal is to offer the best possible user experience where the customers obtain access to all information fro one location. A one-stop-shop is a ggreat time saver. The width and depth of the content and the advanced possibilities of finding relevant information will give added certainty for the users.
The two companies will continue to be ‘competitors’ and the collaboration is commercial. For some, the current Lovdata offering will be sufficient, but most will probably be tempted by the new collaboration. Several subscription alternatives are being developed, but the pricing plan has not yet been determined.
— We are working hard to be ready for a launch this autumn, there are a lot of things that need to fall into place. Internally, the aim is for Norway to be an equally important market to us, as Denmark and Sweden are today.
— It might seem like a dream! But it can be a reality and the collaboration with Lovdata is essential for us to reach our goal, says Flemming Breinholt, CEO of Karnov Group.