Maria Syse Nybraaten

Maria Syse-Nybraaten is a Norwegian investment executive who built her career in M&A and active ownership in the Nordic market. She began as an analyst at SEB (Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken) before joining Ferd Capital in 2013, the private-investment arm of the family-owned Ferd group founded by Johan H. Andresen. Over roughly nine years there she rose to Investment Professional and took responsibility for Ferd Capital's health-sector investments across the Nordics, combining deal execution with hands-on portfolio-company ownership.

During her Ferd tenure she accumulated extensive board experience, holding directorships at Dr. Fürst Medisinsk Laboratorium AS, Brav AS, Aidian OY (Nordic in-vitro diagnostics), and Fjord Line AS — reflecting the active, governance-heavy ownership model Ferd practices, where it pushes portfolio companies on strategy, growth, and profitability despite a long-term horizon.

On 1 October 2022 she left Ferd to join Orkla ASA, the Oslo-listed branded-consumer-goods and investment company, as Executive Vice President and CEO of the newly formed Orkla Consumer & Financial Investments business area, succeeding Thomas Ljungqvist (who had been acting in the role). Her remit has since been described as EVP for Investments, overseeing Orkla's portfolio and financial-investment activities. Orkla CEO Nils Selte cited her "solid experience from M&A and the financial market" together with her active-ownership background as the rationale for the appointment.

She holds a Master of Science in Economics and Business Administration (siviløkonom) from the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH) in Bergen, with finance exchange studies at UC San Diego and the University of Melbourne.

• Active, long-term ownership over passive minority bets — at Ferd Capital she operated in a model that "combines the best methodologies from private equity with the advantages of being a family-owned investment company with a long-term perspective," typically taking 34–100% ownership to influence strategy, operations, and finance.
• Large equity tickets (NOK 500M–3B) into established Nordic companies — this is growth/buyout-scale capital, not early-stage angel funding.
• Healthcare / health-sector specialization — her named responsibility at Ferd Capital was health investments in the Nordics (e.g., Dr. Fürst, Aidian).
• Says yes when she can add value as an owner — Ferd's stated stance is being an "impatient owner" that demands rapid strategic development, growth initiatives, and profitability improvements while staying invested for the long term.
• At Orkla, her focus shifts to portfolio-company development and financial investments within a listed industrial group rather than originating new venture deals.