Fredrik Haga is the co-founder and CEO of Dune, a community-driven web3 data analytics platform. He led Dune to a $1 billion valuation in early 2022, establishing it as a "unicorn" company in the crypto space ^[1]. In late 2024, Haga gained widespread public attention following his decision to relocate from his home country of Norway to Switzerland. He publicly cited the country's wealth tax policies on unrealized gains as the primary reason for his departure, sparking a broader debate on tax policy and entrepreneurship in Europe ^{[2] [3]}.

Education

Fredrik Haga attended the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) from 2011 to 2016, where he earned a Master of Science (MSc) in Industrial Economics and Technology Management with a specialization in Computer Science. During his studies, he also spent time as a visiting student at the University of California, Berkeley, from 2014 to 2015, focusing on Management of Technology ^[4]. As part of his studies, he also participated in exchange programs at the University of Sydney ^[5]. While at NTNU, he was active in student life, co-founding Nabla, the student association for his field of study, and serving as its chairman from 2011 to 2013 ^[4].

Career

Early Career

Before founding Dune, Haga built a foundation in data science. He worked as a Data Scientist Intern at Schibsted ASA in the summer of 2015. After graduating, he took a full-time position as a Data Scientist at Schibsted Norge from August 2016 to September 2017 ^{[4] [6]}. It was during his time at Schibsted Media Group that he and his future co-founder, Mats Olsen, worked on projects related to Ethereum. They ultimately left the large company because they felt it was not prepared to commit to the emerging crypto industry, believing they could make a greater impact by starting their own venture ^[7]. Following his time at Schibsted, Haga worked as a consultant for Mogul in Oslo from September 2017 until August 2018, just before co-founding Dune ^[4].

Dune

In August 2018, Fredrik Haga co-founded Dune (originally Dune Analytics) in Oslo with Mats Olsen, who serves as the company's CTO ^[4]​^[1]. The company's mission from the outset was to make crypto data accessible to everyone, democratizing access to public blockchain information ^[4].

The initial concept for the business was a more traditional, closed analytics product akin to Mixpanel or Google Analytics. However, after a few months, the team pivoted to an open, community-based platform. This strategic shift to a free, open-source service where users could freely create, share, and fork SQL queries and data dashboards proved to be a critical factor in the company's growth ^[7]​^[8].

The early years were challenging. Haga and Olsen worked for about eight months without a salary and spent two years building the company with minimal funding ^[2]​^[3]. An early attempt to raise a $1 million seed round in San Francisco was unsuccessful ^[1]. The company's fortunes began to change with the surge of interest in decentralized finance (DeFi) during the "DeFi Summer" of 2020, which led to significant user traction and renewed investor interest ^[8].

This period of growth led to a series of successful fundraising rounds:

• Seed Round: In September 2020, Dune raised $2 million in a round led by Dragonfly Capital, with participation from Multicoin Capital and angel investors ^[4].
• Series A: In August 2021, the company closed an $8 million Series A round led by Union Square Ventures (USV), with Redpoint Ventures and previous investors also participating ^[4].
• Series B: In February 2022, Dune announced a Series B round of 1 billion, officially granting it "unicorn" status. At the time of this valuation, the company had only 16 employees ^[1][3].

Commenting on the milestone, Haga stated, “It’s a clear validation of how big this opportunity is, and the $1 billion displays how much the sentiment around the whole space has changed.” ^[1].

Relocation and Tax Controversy

In late 2024, Fredrik Haga became a central figure in a public debate about Norway's tax policies after he announced his relocation from Oslo to Zurich, Switzerland ^[2]​^[3]. In a widely circulated essay and social media posts, he detailed his reasons for leaving, focusing on the country's wealth tax ^[2].

The core issue was that Norway's wealth tax is levied on an individual's total net worth, including the value of illiquid, unrealized gains in privately-held companies. Following Dune's Series B funding round, the "on paper" valuation of Haga's shares increased substantially, resulting in a tax liability that he stated was "many times larger than my after-tax income" ^[2]. Because Dune was still in its growth phase and not profitable, Haga faced what he described as a "tax trap." To pay the tax, his options were to take a large dividend from the company, thereby draining it of essential growth capital, or to sell a portion of his shares, diluting his ownership and control over the company he was building ^[2]​^[4].

In his essay, "Why I Left Norway," published on December 10, 2024, Haga articulated his position: "I want to build a great company that will last for decades. Instead, a Norwegian policy was forcing me to become a short-term-oriented seller of my own company’s shares, or to drain the company’s cash reserves... So I left." ^[2]​^[4].

Haga explained that his move to Switzerland was a strategic necessity. Norwegian law at the time required individuals who emigrate to continue paying the wealth tax for three years unless they move to a country that also has a wealth tax and a tax treaty with Norway. He described Switzerland as having a "more business friendly tax system" that met these criteria ^[3]. He noted that he made his move before the Norwegian government instituted a more stringent 38% "exit tax" in 2024, designed to tax unrealized gains immediately upon departure ^[2].

His case became a high-profile example in discussions about a larger trend of entrepreneurs and investors leaving Norway due to its tax environment. Haga mentioned that his story went viral and that his picture was reportedly featured on a "Wall of Shame" in the offices of Norway's Socialist Left Party ^[3]​^[2]. He framed the issue as one of policy hostile to innovation, stating, "Sadly Europe as a whole is falling behind due to innovation hostile policies/culture." ^[3].

Angel Investments

As an active member of the web3 ecosystem, Fredrik Haga has also made several angel investments in other startups. His portfolio includes:

• Herd: A collaborative terminal for blockchain contracts, which raised a $1.8M pre-seed round.
• Otterspace: A non-transferable badge protocol for DAOs.
• anotherblock: A Web3 music NFT marketplace enabling fans to invest in music.
• Velora: A DeFi aggregator. The known investments listed above were made between 2021 and 2025 ^[6].

Interviews

Building a Blockchain Analytics Company #01

In an interview aired on The Joe Pomp Show on May 12, 2022, Fredrik Haga, co-founder of Dune, described his account of the company formation, operational development, and funding history, including a valuation exceeding one billion dollars within approximately three years of founding.

According to Haga, Dune was developed to address practical challenges associated with analyzing blockchain data. While such data is publicly available, he stated that its native structure is optimized for transaction validation rather than analysis. He explained that Dune processes on-chain data into standardized tables that can be queried using SQL, enabling users with varying technical backgrounds to create and share analytical dashboards.

Haga outlined the early operational period as constrained by limited capital and investor interest, particularly during a broader market downturn in the cryptocurrency sector. He noted that the absence of founder salaries and extended fundraising efforts led the team to concentrate on core functionality and usage rather than expanding feature scope. He presented this period as influential in establishing the company emphasis on open data access rather than closed or restricted analytics.

Regarding revenue, Haga stated that Dune operates under a freemium model. The primary analytics tools are available without charge, while paid features include private dashboards, higher query performance, and data export options. He characterized this structure as comparable to models used in open-source software services, where paid tiers address specific professional or organizational requirements.

In discussing fundraising, Haga contrasted the initial difficulty of securing investment with later rounds conducted during increased market activity in decentralized finance in 2020. He described subsequent funding negotiations as occurring under different conditions, with shorter timelines and higher valuations, which he attributed to increased platform usage and investor interest.

Haga also addressed the characteristics of blockchain data, which he described as publicly accessible, continuously updated, and interoperable across applications. He contrasted this with traditional financial data systems, which he characterized as more restricted and subject to reporting delays. From his perspective, these properties allow for ongoing analysis of blockchain-based activity using shared datasets.

The interview presents Haga account of Dune development as centered on data accessibility, a community-oriented usage model, and operational decisions shaped by market conditions, rather than an emphasis on fundraising as a primary objective. ^[10]

Open Blockchain Data and Dune Analytics #02

In an interview published on November 30, 2022, on the Epicenter Podcast YouTube channel, Fredrik Haga, co-founder of Dune Analytics, presented his account of the platform’s development, technical structure, and operational approach.

According to Haga, Dune Analytics was initiated in 2017, during a period of increased activity around initial coin offerings. He explained that the project was based on the observation that blockchain systems produce data that is publicly accessible by design, but not easily usable without specialized infrastructure. He noted that challenges such as data scale, node limitations, and the transformation of raw on-chain records into structured datasets complicate direct analysis.

Haga stated that the platform provides tools for querying and visualizing blockchain data through publicly available dashboards. These dashboards are created using structured query language and can be accessed and reused by other users. He also referenced the development of an application programming interface intended to support programmatic access to curated blockchain data, with the aim of reducing the need for independent data extraction and infrastructure management.

From a technical perspective, Haga described changes in the platform’s backend architecture over time. He explained that Dune transitioned from an initial PostgreSQL-based setup to a cloud-based data lake and distributed query system. According to his description, this change supported larger datasets, enabled analysis across multiple blockchain networks, and allowed standardized data tables to be maintained through community contributions.

Haga also addressed the role of users who contribute queries and dashboards to the platform, commonly referred to as “Dune Wizards”. He characterized this group as participants who create and maintain analytical content and assist in documenting and structuring data, forming a collaborative environment centered on shared datasets rather than proprietary access.

With respect to revenue generation, Haga described Dune Analytics as operating under a freemium software-as-a-service model. He explained that public access to data and dashboards is available without charge, while paid features include private dashboards, increased query capacity, and data export options. He noted that this model is intended to offset infrastructure and development costs associated with operating large-scale data systems.

In discussing the broader context of crypto-related projects, Haga emphasized the use of standard business metrics, such as user retention and usage patterns, when assessing platform performance. He concluded by outlining areas of ongoing development, including the release of the application programming interface, further system optimization, and continued support for educational resources related to data analysis and query construction. ^[11]