Source: Frode Nordseth

“Finn.no and other real estate marketplaces have not evolved much in terms of thinking about customer value and how they communicate the value they bring, since we copied the business model from the newspapers,” according to classifieds industry veteran Frode Nordseth.

A former Norwegian Navy officer, Nordseth joined Schibsted in 1999 and was part of a team of four that ran marketplace horizontal Finn.no in its earliest days. Later, he was CEO of Schibsted’s marketplace business in Spain for a number of years.

Now based in Dubai, he describes himself on LinkedIn as a “strategic advisor for classified and marketplaces… expert on digital business models and profitable scaling.”

Frode Nordseth

“The problem seems to be a lack of focus on the value they [marketplaces] provide to customers. I have spent time on ‘value-based monetization,’ and it seems that Finn has not evolved a lot in terms of thinking about customer value, since we copied the business model from the newspapers. When you do not focus on the value the customer receives, it very easily turns into discussions about price, especially price increases, which has created an opening for Hjem.no, the new rival to Finn in Norway,” Nordseth told the AIM Group.

“It is very difficult to believe that the brokers behind Hjem started it to provide sellers with a better service: It is obvious that this is a fight for who will ‘earn’ more money on a home sale. Hemnet in Sweden is in a similar situation. I think both Finn and Hemnet need to focus more on documenting the effect (i.e. value) for both the home seller and the real estate agent.”

“When they have to document value, product development and business, models will also change towards driving more value. They have lived in a ‘monopoly bubble’ for too long. In markets where there is real competition, the players have started to focus more on ROI — but still not enough in my opinion. Finn and Hemnet are behind the curve, based on the signals I have received from the industry.”

Nordseth has developed a methodology he describes as “Value creation — value communication — value extraction.” “Those who win the market combine these three, he argues.

“Because first, it is the seller who pays, which means that the real estate agency does not have the same need to document value (value for the agent can differ from value for the seller). In Norway, people show up for open house viewings, but there is little willingness to document the correlation between the ad and who shows up for viewings and who ends up buying a home and the price the seller gets.”

“This means that you cannot show the impact of an ad at Finn? Yes! I recently saw that there was a broker who complained a lot that a marketplace had increased the price of the ‘ad of the week,’ thinking only of the price percentage increase. But I have seen documentation from other portals that this kind of ad of the week drove 5,700% more leads compared to an ordinary ad for the same kind of object. So, the price might not be high enough to reflect the real value of the ad. In fact, the ad was very undervalued: It should have been 5,700% higher than an ordinary ad.”

For many marketplaces, it’s still just a question of selling visibility (rank and size), the number of pictures, maps, and some area information, Nordseth said, arguing that it remains largely the same concept that the newspaper industry created in the 20th century.

“Very few marketplaces have developed models where pricing reflects the actual value they provide through their products,” he said, adding that “The ultimate model would be to move toward a commission-based structure, but that is not easy to implement on a real estate portal — and probably not the right approach for now.”

“It is very important to have different models for different verticals: Real estate for sale is different than rentals; new housing needs a completely different business model than housing for sale,” according to Nordseth.

“You can probably increase prices much more if you document the effects of the ad”

“During the print age, there was no information on who read what. On a digital marketplace, it is different. Even if it has extremely good data, that data is not used to create new business models. You can probably increase prices much more if you document the effects of the ad. That is my point.”

“Our product is leads, but we are selling visibility. So, we have a great mismatch between what we try to sell to what customers expect to get. The customer wants quality leads that can lead to a sale, but the number of marketplaces that have products where you can follow the leads to a final sale is very few. Which is, of course, scary, as quality leads is what the customer really wants to buy.”

“But many marketplaces do not even think of leads as a product. We even send leads to advertisers without following up on what happens with them. If you develop systems where you can follow the journey of leads, you can start to track the quality of the person or company that is receiving that lead and avoid sending high-quality leads to agents/agencies that deliver a poor service to the end user.”

“This is a huge problem outside the Nordics, where companies spend millions to get leads but never respond to them. When you start to work on value creation, you have to be able to communicate that to the customer.”

“We as an industry have completely underestimated the need to communicate the value we give to our customers. We have sold them visibility, and that is what the customer gets. But then every time you want to increase the price, you get a massive uproar from the customers.”

Besides being a consultant, Nordseth is also the co-founder and strategy lead for Your Bazaar, a general goods marketplace in the UAE. He will be appearing on a panel at the Property Portal Watch conference in Madrid later this month.

The AIM Group contacted Christian Printzell Halvorsen, CEO of Vend Marketplaces (formerly Schibsted Marketplaces) — which operates Finn.no — but he replied that he had no comment on the matter.

The company said it expected “continued solid ARPA [average revenue per account] momentum across its verticals in the second half of 2025, driven by product innovation, pricing initiatives and platform consolidation.”

However, it added that “Volume trends remain difficult to predict, and Vend currently sees no clear signs of improvement.” Furthermore, “Advertising revenues are expected to remain under pressure in the medium-term following the separation from Schibsted Media.”

Vend said its cost base was expected to continue declining year-on-year (y-o-y) for the rest of 2025 but at a slower pace than in the first half of the year, with no significant changes in headcount expected for the remainder of this year. However, it added that “Further reductions are anticipated in 2026 and beyond, driven by divestments and platform consolidation, which will have full effect in 2027.”

It stated that “believes the consensus, as observed at the time of the Q2 2025 presentation, for full-year 2025 Group EBITDA, which stands at NOK1.8–2.0 billion [$183–203 million], is reasonable.”

With regard to pricing, Vend noted that it had reintroduced a freemium mode for Denmark-based auto marketplace DBA for cars priced at less than DKK50,000 ($7,904), noting that “The aim is to boost listing volumes and strengthen network effects by attracting more inventory, which enhances buyer appeal and drives engagement across the marketplace.”

Also in Denmark, Vend implemented price increases for professional customers on Bilbasen in August, stating that “The adjustments are in line with our medium-term financial targets for the Mobility vertical.”

In Norway, the company said it had announced pricing changes for Finn effective 2026 that were “aligned with our medium-term financial targets for the Real Estate vertical.”

In June this year, Vend was fined NOK10 million by Finanstilsynet, the Norwegian Financial Supervisory Authority, for disclosing sensitive information to select analysts ahead of its first-quarter earnings report.

The deal was announced on Friday (Sept. 19), the day after Vend issued its pre-silent newsletter for Q3 2025, which had been poorly received on the Oslo Stock Exchange. Vend’s share price has fallen almost 7% over the past month, though it remains up nearly 8% year to date.

The sale of Lendo had been expected, as it has been on the market since Vend Marketplaces announced its plan to focus on marketplaces. Uncertainty surrounding new regulations for the loan-comparison sector had delayed the transaction.

The deal is expected to close in Q1 2026, “subject to approval from regulatory authorities and other customary closing conditions,” according to Vend’s news release.

Vend CEO Christian Printzell Halvorsen commented: “Lendo Group has been a valued part of Vend’s portfolio since 2009, and it has been a privilege to follow the company developing into a leading platform for financial services in Scandinavia.”

“Now, we will be cheering them on from the sideline, confident that this new chapter holds strong potential for continued development and value creation for Lendo Group and its customers. The sale of Lendo Group marks another milestone in our journey to simplify our portfolio and transform into a pure-play marketplaces company in the Nordic region.”

Shareholders may benefit directly from the deal: According to the news release, Vend “follows a disciplined capital allocation strategy. While maintaining a conservative balance sheet, any surplus cash will be returned to shareholders over time. The company will come back with specific information about the distribution of the proceeds from the Lendo divestment to shareholders in due time.”

Clar CEO Per Granstrand said: “Lendo Group is the perfect complement to Clar’s global operations, enabling us to take a significant step forward in strengthening our presence in the Nordic region and continuing our global expansion. As a global financial technology leader, we are committed to accelerating Lendo Group’s expansion and strengthening its leadership in the Nordics, while at the same time unlocking the considerable cross-regional opportunities that come with integrating such trusted and established fintech brands into Clar.”

Clar Global operates loan brokerage businesses in a number of countries. Zentro Global Consulting AB owns 31% of the company and Zentropy AB 23.6%.

Carla had revenue of SEK1.09 billion ($116 million) in 2024 but made a loss of SEK111 million. July was the first month in which Carla had a positive EBIT, and co-founder and CEO Patrik Illerstig hopes it will remain positive for the rest of the year.

“We sold 3,505 cars last year, with a market share of 0.57% (cars sold to private individuals/businesses, all fuel types under ten years of age). For YTD (January–July), we have sold 3,214 cars with a market share — according to the same definition as above — of 0.84%,” according to Illerstig.

Illerstig and co-founder Niklas Jungegård met with a lot of skepticism when they launched the business in 2020. Competitors used to burst into a “loud guffaw” when Carla was mentioned, according to tech magazine BreakIt. But Carla appears to have silenced the skeptics.

“Our unique selling points as a digital dealer are transparency, simplicity — experts in electric cars,” said Illerstig.

You cannot test drive a car you buy from Carla, but you do have the right to return it within 14 days before the transaction is finalized.

Carla delivers the car with its own transport fleet, which consists exclusively of EVs.

Illerstig doesn’t think there is another pure online/EV dealer in Europe, and he said that the company plans to expand within the wider Nordic region and perhaps even beyond that.

Carla did not start as a dealer: “Five years ago, we were trying to build a comparison site for electric cars. In Europe there are plenty: Leasingmarkt, MeinAuto, Carwow. Sites that let customers compare things. And five years ago we saw that didn’t exist in Sweden. And we made the classic mistake of not asking ourselves why it didn’t exist when it seemed so obvious that it should,” he said.

“After a painful first year, we realized that the Swedish car market is so consolidated. No one dares, wants or will compare anything on the dealer side. Four years ago, we decided to move from saying we’ll build an online marketplace without inventory, without operations, without all that to become a real car dealer ourselves — with everything that entails: logistics, repairs, purchasing and a balance sheet.”

Carla was able to survive because of patient investors: “The investor who really got it going was Luminar Ventures. They’re still with us. And then there were a bunch of angels as well, and almost all are still with us,” Illerstig added.

“I started Carla together with a guy named Niklas Jungegård. And of course, we own less and less now. But we’re still major owners.”

Carla has no facility where customers can come and test drive or where it can check trade-ins.

“We have a built-in process, but buyers can also tell us about the condition of their car over the phone. Then, when we deliver the new car, the customers check the condition of the new car and we check the condition of the trade-in so it matches. We usually do that well, and otherwise it’s usually quite easy to agree if we’ve missed something or if the customers have missed something,” according to Illerstig.

Carla has a large facility outside Stockholm: “There we have 50–55 people working with everything from inspection, photography, painting. It is a workshop — it is basically a regular workshop with car technicians. We have what we call a production flow where all cars go through the same process and then appear on the site.”

“Out there we work with both the cars we buy and sell ourselves. And then about 30–40% of all the cars we handle on behalf of someone else. It could be a leasing company, a bank or a car manufacturer. Most of those cars we sell on our website, but there are also processes where we just prepare cars — for example, for a car manufacturer.”

The business has two parts: “We call one retail, that’s about 60–70%, and then partner services is the other for bulk sales on assignment and preparation,” Illerstig explained.

In December last year, Carla raised SEK38 million in funding. Shareholders with a stake of more than 10% in the company are Illerstig himself, media company Bonnier, Black Ice Capital, Verdane and Luminar Ventures.

Having stepped down as CEO of Sweden-based real estate marketplace Hemnet early this year, Cecilia Beck-Friis (above) has now joined the board of Kivra, a digital mailbox for documents. It allows users to receive and store letters, invoices, digital receipts and payslips from businesses and the government.

“We’re here to make adulting easier. Adulting as in paying bills, keeping receipts, collecting letters and keeping track of stuff… Join over half of Sweden’s population and gather your important stuff in Kivra,” according to the company’s website.

“Kivra is an exciting company with a strong position in the daily lives of millions of Swedes,” Beck-Friis told Breakit.

“With my background in digital marketplaces and transformation, I look forward to contributing to the board work and being part of continuing Kivra’s journey.”

When asked by Breakit if she wanted to serve on more boards, Beck-Friis replied: “I am taking my time to hurry slowly and find the right context. The future will show what else may become relevant.”

One of the first thing she did after leaving Hemnet was to sell shares in the company for SEK200 million ($21.2 million). It appears that the move was well timed, as its share price has fallen by 40% since then.

It was recently revealed that Australia-based GCQ Funds Management has built up a 4.8% stake in Hemnet. However, U.K.-based Vor Capital remains the largest shareholder with a 12% stake. Coincidentally, Vor Capital recently invested in Kivra. Only 22.4% of Hemnet is now owned by domestic investors.

Source: Vend

Ruben Søgaard is to step down from his role as EVP of marketing and sales at Norway-based Vend Marketplaces SA (formerly Schibsted Marketplaces) after nine years, according to the company’s news release.

“A process to appoint a permanent successor is ongoing. In the meantime, Eddie Sjølie, EVP jobs, will step in as an interim solution,” the company said.

Søgaard joined marketplace horizontal Finn in 2016 and later moved into a broader Nordic role overseeing sales, advertising and adjacent products. He also represented Marketplaces within Schibsted Marketing Services (SMS).

“Ruben has made important contributions across Schibsted, Finn and Vend, including building a strong sales organisation, developing our pro-customer offering and playing a key role in the separation from Schibsted Media and the successful start of Vend,” said Vend CEO Christian Printzell Halvorsen.

Søgaard himself commented: “It has been a privilege to be part of Schibsted, Finn and Vend over the past nine years, through immense changes in our company, our business environment and the competitive landscape. I joined what was then a Norwegian classifieds company, and I now leave a Nordic marketplaces powerhouse. I’m proud of the journey we’ve taken together — from building a stronger, more data-driven sales organisation to guiding Vend through the separation from Media and into a new chapter. While this is where our paths part, I have nothing but support for the direction Vend is heading and look forward to following its continued growth.”

Last year, Schibsted was split into two separate entities — Schibsted Marketplaces and Schibsted Media.

Vend operates such marketplaces as Blocket (Sweden), Finn (Norway), Tori (Finland) and DBA (Denmark). Its operating revenue fell by 0.9% year on year to NOK1.7 billion ($170 million) in Q2 2025.

The company recently appointed Carl Vult von Steyern as director of advertising products and operations.

Norway-based Vend Marketplaces SA (formerly Schibsted Marketplaces) has appointed Carl Vult von Steyern (above) as director of advertising products and operations.

Vult von Steyern left recycling app Bower, where he had been COO for two years, earlier this year. Earlier in his career, he “spent more than a decade within the Schibsted Group, including nearly eight years as Nordic managing director of Prisjakt, a period during which the company grew into one of the most influential comparison services in the region,” according to Vend’s news release. (Vend agreed to sell Prisjakt earlier this year).

Four months ago, Vult von Steyern wrote on LinkedIn: “After more than two intensive years that have been truly inspiring and educational, I have now completed my operational assignment as COO at Bower… I am now looking for my next dream assignment and am meanwhile available for interim and consultancy positions or board work where needed: operational leadership in growth or change; business strategy, GTM [go-to-market] and commercial packaging; organizational development and leadership; AI and automation in consumer platforms.”

“Vend has a unique opportunity to redefine what advertising means on digital marketplaces. With our logged-in users, deep behavioral data and strong local brands in the Nordics, we can build the next generation of solutions, powered by AI and personalization. The potential is enormous, and I look forward to creating products that make a real difference for both users and advertisers,” Vult von Steyern said in the news release.

“We are very pleased to welcome Carl to Vend. With his proven experience in building successful digital businesses, both in established companies and new scaleups, he will be a key figure in our continued journey,” Vend CEO Christian Printzell Halvorsen commented.

In another personnel change at the company, it was recently announced that Ruben Søgaard is stepping down from his role as EVP of marketing and sales at Vend.

Last year, Schibsted was split into two separate entities — Schibsted Marketplaces and Schibsted Media — in the wake of the sale of the bulk of its stake in multinational marketplaces operator Adevinta to a consortium led by private equity firms Blackstone and Permira.

Vend operates such marketplaces as Blocket (Sweden), Finn (Norway), Tori (Finland) and DBA (Denmark). Its operating revenue fell by 0.9% year on year to NOK1.7 billion ($170 million) in Q2 2025.

In July this year, the company was fined NOK10 million by Finanstilsynet (the Norwegian Financial Supervisory Authority) for disclosing sensitive information to select analysts ahead of its first-quarter earnings report. This led the company to implement new communications practices.

Rolv Erik Ryssdal, is already the chairman of Simployer; Source: Simployer

Rolv Erik Ryssdal, the former CEO of Schibsted and Adevinta, has taken on another board appointment, this time as chair of Sweden-based Mecenat Group, a discount platform serving more than 2.8 million members.

Mecenat, best known for its student discount service, also runs Mecenat Alumni, Senior Days, and Finland-based Frank Students. The company reported turnover of SEK155 million ($16.3 million) and EBITDA of SEK77 million in 2024.

Since December last year, it has been owned by U.K.-based private equity investor Inflexion. The group is regarded as a leading player in Scandinavia’s growing loyalty and discount services market, where student and senior discounts remain a strong driver of brand engagement.

Ryssdal, born in 1962, is one of the Nordic media industry’s most seasoned executives. He led Adevinta ASA from its 2019 listing on the Oslo Stock Exchange until 2022, following nearly three decades at Schibsted. His Schibsted career included roles as group CEO (2009-2018), and CEO of Schibsted Classified Media, Verdens Gang, and Aftonbladet.

Beyond Mecenat, Ryssdal holds several board positions, including Orkla ASA, Spir Group ASA, Simployer Group, and Ness, Risan & Partners AS. He is already chairman of Simployer.

The appointment adds to Ryssdal’s portfolio of leadership roles as Mecenat looks to expand its discount services under new ownership.