Erling Løken Andersen

CEO & Senior Advisor at Journey Group

Erling Løken Andersen is founder and CEO of Journey Group.

Graduated in law (LL.M.) at UiO and 3-year Art Director from Westerdals Reklameskole. Founder of the online community Biip.no, which was sold to TV2 and Egmont for NOK 75 million in 2008. Erling works with the company's clients in disciplines such as brand strategy, market analysis, search engine optimization (SEO), content marketing, Google Ads and social media.

Erling originally trained as a 3-year Art Director from Westerdals Reklameskole. After the examination in 2005, Erling worked as a designer and web manager in companies such as Schibsted, Cappelen and Telitas ASA.

In 2005, he founded the social network Biip.no together with Bo Myrås and Ozan Øzerk. Biip.no quickly became a success and gathered more than 100,000 members in 3 months. In 2008, Biip.no was sold to Egmont and TV2 for NOK 76 million. In the time since, Erling worked widely across the Egmont and TV 2 organisations, including with TV 2's youth initiative and with SEO for Egmont at the Nordic level.

In 2010 Skatt Øst announced that they were considering reclassifying part of the sales consideration for Biip.no from share gains to salaries for the founders. In any case, this would result in a tax hit of close to NOK 5 million for each of the founders. Motivated by what he believed to be an unreasonable tax requirement, Erling enrolled in law studies at the University of Oslo and completed his studies (Master of Law / LL.M.) in half the time. In 2015, Erling and the other founders then won the case against Skatt Øst in the tax appeal board. In the time since, Erling worked as a senior lawyer at Advokatfirmaet Berngaard.

At the end of 2012, Erling bought the remains of Biip.no back from Egmont and TV2 for NOK 150,000 and renamed the company Omega Media. The company then refined its investment in digital marketing services. Omega Media has subsequently increased its turnover from NOK 3 to close to NOK 40 million a year and today works with companies such as ManpowerGroup, Axo Finans, Møller Mobility, Dagbladet, Aller, NAV, etc.

Erling is currently involved in a number of companies at home and abroad. He is an investor in several startups, including Advokatguiden.no, and in property through the investment company Eimi Eiendom AS. Erling is passionate about art and collects, among others, Damien Hirst, Keith Haring, Jeff Koons, Kaws, Henri Matisse and Andy Warhol.

Timeline

  • CEO & Senior Advisor

    Current role

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