Advania traces its roots to three Nordic countries, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. Over a long period of time each country generated a crucial component of what eventually was braided into one company, Advania AB, in 2012.

In 1939 an Icelandic entrepreneur founded EJS, an office equipment repair workshop in Reykjavik. He soon expanded his business, opened a store and started importing office machinery, cash registers etc. EJS eventually became a dominant IT business in Iceland. In 1952 the Icelandic government and the city of Reykjavik founded Skýrr, an IT company whose purpose was to take a leading role in computing and recordkeeping in Iceland. The company was privatized in 1995 and later became the core element in a group of companies – including EJS – that merged under the Skýrr brand.

In 1971 the IT company Nokia Elektronic AB – later renamed Datapoint Svenska AB – was founded in Sweden. The company sold Datapoint computer terminals but later became a network pioneer and a key system integrator in Sweden. In 2003 Datapoint merged with Virtus AB, an IT-company which was founded in 1994 and grew rapidly. Virtus soon became a key player in the Swedish market, focusing on Mircosoft based solutions and offering storage & backup services. In 2003 one the strongest and most comprehensive system integrators in Sweden was created when Datapoint and Virtus merged. The new company was named Kerfi AB.

In 1991 Merkantildata Applikasjon was founded in Norway, originally as a business unit within Merkantildata (later ATEA). The company focused on implementing ERP solutions in the Nordic market, industry solutions for retail, property management, logistics, legal and transport & waste management. In 2000 the company changed its name to Hands and was listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. In 2005 Hands was unlisted, as it was acquired by the Icelandic company Kögun which later merged with Skýrr (see above). Despite changes in ownership Hands kept its Norwegian identity and acquired Nett.2.3 and Completo in 2005.

In 2012 Advania AB was born, when Skýrr from Iceland, Kerfi from Sweden and Hands from Norway merged and became a key challenger in the Scandinavian IT-market. Since then four companies have been acquired and merged with Advania, the listed Swedish IT company Caperio included.