Denmark

Copenhagen

MEMBERS:

Digital Hub Denmark

In Denmark, we draw on the Nordic region’s rich design tradition and renowned digital prowess to guide startups toward sustainable, innovative, human-centric ideas and technologies. And there’s no better place in Europe to do it.

Ecosystem by the Numbers

EARLY-STAGE FUNDING

$470 m

GLOBAL AVG.

$687 m

ECOSYSTEM VALUE

$11 bn

GLOBAL AVG.

$28.6 bn

MEDIAN SEED ROUND

$458 k

GLOBAL AVG.

$671 k

MEDIAN SERIES A ROUND

$1.5 m

GLOBAL AVG.

$4.7 m

SOFT. ENGINEER SALARY

$71 k

GLOBAL AVG.

$46 k

Edtech

Denmark is #1 in Scandinavia and #2 in the world in education investments, according to the OECD. Recently, the Danish Growth Fund made one of its largest investments, $30 million, in Area9 Lyceum. Labster, a startup that creates digital tools to help students, raised $21 million in a Series B round in 2019. Lead investors included the London-based venture capital firm, Balderton Capital.

Fintech

Copenhagen Fintech is a vibrant community of Fintech startups and corporate financial institutions. Danske Bank has joined forces with Nykredit, Accelerace, and Copenhagen Fintech to create Copenhagen Fintech Accelerator that has secured funding from the Danish Industry Foundation. Copenhagen has fostered high-growth Fintech startups such as Tradeshift, a unicorn (now based in San Francisco) that raised $240 million in a Series F funding round in January 2020. Investments in Danish fintech, excluding Tradeshift, rose from $80 million in 2018 to $210 million in 2019.

Reasons to Move Your Startup to Copenhagen

COVID-19 Policy

The Danish Government has announced direct financial support for the self-employed and small businesses with fewer than 10 employees facing a loss of earnings of 30% or more. Under this measure the state will pay 75% of employees’ salaries up to a maximum of 23,000 Danish crowns ($3,418) per month if the company pays the remaining 25% for a three-month aid period lasting until June 9, 2020.

Talent and training

Denmark has been a world leader in entrepreneurship education through the Danish Foundation for Entrepreneurship. There is a strong lineage of technical talent in the ecosystem, too: Pascal, Realm, C#, C++, and Unity programming languages were developed here. The innovative Technical University of Denmark has catalyzed approximately 2,200 businesses.

Widespread experience

Copenhagen offers startups a deep well of experienced startup talent, having produced successful tech companies such as Trustpilot, Siteimprove, LogPoint, and Zendesk.