TechBBQ 2019

ANNONCETILLÆG TIL JYLLANDS-POSTEN

TECHBBQ 2019 SEPTEMBER 2019

From backyard BBQ to Scandinavia’s biggest tech summit

p. 4-5

The True Powers of Artificial Intelligence and Computer Vision have yet to be Unleashed p. 12

8-9 Tech has penetrated every industry and sector · 10 Lego Ventures: Where return on investment isn’t measured in capital gains

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LEDEREN

#The Nordic Way

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or the past 50 years, Silicon Valley has been the most prominent, celebrated, capital-infused, job creating, and unicorn-breading startup ecosystem in the world.

But its influence goes beyond tech millionaires and thousands of high-paying jobs in the Bay Area.

Billions of Facebook users stay connected every day and navigate the wealth of information on Google from their iPhones. In other words, the tech giants from the valley play an integral role in shaping – even defining – everyday life for almost every person on the planet.

Big money and influence characterize this single startup ecosystem. As technological disruption continues to move into more sectors and industries, it’s no wonder that

the hunt for “the next Silicon Valley” has intensified.

The Nordics may well be an ideal candidate. The ecosystem is notorious for punching above its weight.

Unicorns like Tradeshift, Skype, Spotify, Klarna, Zendesk, and Supercell have already risen. While it may be tempting to label our blossoming ecosystem as “The Next Silicon Valley,” we shouldn’t.

Becoming the next Nordics As an ecosystem, we tend to forget that we are unique. Scandinavia’s social model has been a hot topic in American politics for the past few years. Rather than adopting the “move fast and break things” approach that made Facebook a behemoth, we should celebrate our own core values.

Scandinavian countries are already some of the best at doing business. It’s easy to get started, the talent pool is highly-skilled, and if you fall through the cracks there is a safety net to catch you.

The society is open, people trust each other, and – at the same time – it’s highly digitized. This allows for a unique mix of data collaborations between startups, government, and corporations all the while respecting data privacy.

On top of our unique business opportunities, we have a tradition of maintaining a work-life balance, where parental leave and vacations are a mainstay of our culture.

We know that new, meaningful businesses wouldn’t blossom without a healthy workforce and

the opportunity to recharge the innovative batteries.

We shouldn’t strive to make the Nordic ecosystem the “New Silicon Valley.” Instead, we should be proud of the Scandinavian values we call #TheNordicWay, convert them into opportunities, and inspire other ecosystems to become the next Nordics.

Avnit Singh, CXO, TECHBBQ

Program Themes Mental Health

Ecosystems

Breakthrough

In striving for success, it is often easy to neglect our greatest asset – our mental health. But the evidence is clear: maintaining health and balance among startup members is vital for the growth, prosperity, and longevity of their business. TechBBQ is bringing mental health to the forefront and wants to inspire and challenge every member of the ecosystem to integrate the Nordic value of work-life balance.

Innovation doesn’t happen in a vacuum.

Governments, startups, universities, and corporations all have a role to play in fostering a progressive tech ecosystem.

How can they best interact and support each other to make that happen?

How can a startup go from a mere concept to a giant in the blink of an eye? Both the investment culture and the tech startup landscape have undergone significant change, and this shift has come with its fair share of controversy. Could there be a better way? In this track, leaders in the field will discuss how you can responsibly scale your venture to reach the height of your potential.

Global Conservation

Emerging Technologies

Our world is changing and we are changing with it. What can we do to make our planet and ourselves better for future generations? At every level, startups are paving the way to make the world a better place to not only survive but thrive. This track will focus on developing technologies and ideas that will foster a brighter future for everyone.

The latest technological advances are increasingly recognized for their potential to revolutionize our world in ways we never thought possible. But how do we build the future? We need daring founders with the ideas and tech to match their ambitions. TechBBQ wants you to immerse yourself in their bold visions.

KOLOFON Udgiver: Jyllands-Posten

Ansvarshavende chefredaktør: Rasmus Blegvad

Projektledere: Sebastian Kjær & Jakob Frier

Layout: Reach Media

Forsidefoto: TechBBQ

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TechBBQ at a Glance TechBBQ attracts the best startups in the Nordic region, builds bridges between ecosystems, and draws the talent, capital, and know-how necessary to help attendees promote their innovations and technological solutions.

This year, 7500+ techie s will congregate at the event, representing 2500 startups. Two hundred speakers will take the stage, 150 startups will showcase their ideas, and a wealth of workshops, performances, and panels are set to take place throughout the summit.

Featured events Tech Talent

Get in the Ring

Having the right team composition is a key ingredient for a successful startup. Recruiting and maintaining talent is an ongoing challenge in every ecosystem. Tech Talent 2019 is all about matching Nordic startups, recent graduates, and experienced tech talent to support future growth. The session is structured so that, after startups make their pitch, the talented pool of candidates will have the opportunity to present themselves to selected companies in a speed-dating format.

Get in the Ring's Global Pitch Competition invites founders from over 100 countries to pitch their solutions against their opponents in a ring setting. As one of TechBBQ’s signature events, Get in the Ring is different from any other startup pitch competition. Here, startups will have the opportunity to pitch, wage battles, and win a ticket to the main stage for the featured event. Pitching in the ring fuels competition, making founders up their game. The battles will be moderated by the one and only Pitch Doctor (Christoph Sollich) and will feature his standup pitch.

VC Reverse Pitching

The TechBBQ North Star

Typically, startups are the ones who are put on the stage, pitching to and looking for investors. We’re reversing that trend.

On the first day of the summit, venture capitalists will take the stage and pitch about their firms, what they are looking for, and why you should take their money over someone else's. So if you are a startup looking for an investor, it's a great way to meet them and hear about their future plans. The pitching will be moderated by Carla Fabbro, founder of Startup Copenhagen.

On the first day of the conference, the TechBBQ North Star Pitching Competition will seek a rising star from the Nordic region.

Investors will be assessing the following criteria: growth potential, a scalable business model, and capital already invested in the startup. This session will be moderated by Danny Knudsen Malkowski, Investor Relations Manager at DanBan.

Emerging Technologies

Developer’s Corner

This session will bring together 2 international and 2 local accelerators to compare and contrast what they are looking for, the value that they can bring, what you can expect to achieve through them, and the types of partners they already have. This can help you to decide whether to go abroad or stay locally. The panel will be moderated by Sissel Hansen, founder and CEO of Startup Guide.

The mission of TechBBQ’s Developer’s Corner is to bridge the digital divide between market and talent. The corner – consisting of a technical stage and showcase area – helps demonstrate the breadth and depth of the tech talent pool. Through discussing the latest trends and best practices, the goal is to help make talent acquisition and matchmaking easier than ever, from the perspective of a talent seeker working in human resources, recruitment, or employee branding.

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From backyard BBQ to Scandina Since its humble beginning as a small event for techies organisation years ago, TechBBQ has grown immensely. As it continues to expand, its core values remain untouched – of doing things the Nordic way within the start up community.

Written by Sebastian Kjær

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ack in 2013, over 250 tech entrepreneurs gathered around a grill at the Copenhagen Stock Exchange. This was the first TechBBQ, an informal venue for entrepreneurs to share their experiences. At the time, tech startups weren’t seen as viable career paths, so TechBBQ was viewed as a coveted space to discuss challenges and opportunities with like-minded peers.

Pia Ella Elmegaard – who was 1 of the 5 hosts behind the first TechBBQ – recalls: “The initiative was by the community and for the community. The goal was to boost self-esteem among tech entrepreneurs and encourage new founders to dream just as big by showcasing successful startups from the ecosystem.”

Throughout the 6 years that followed, some tech entrepreneurs have become rock stars and well-established companies are increasingly interested in these upand-coming disruptors. Yet, the philosophy behind TechBBQ remains the same. They continue to support and strengthen the startup ecosystem by building communities and fostering growth – setting egos aside and overcoming barriers together through openness, trust, and inclusion.

From grassroots wannabes to rock stars Each year since its inception, TechBBQ has doubled its number of attendees. In 2015, the event moved to the Copenhagen Opera House, where it attracted 1100 attendees. During its second appearance in Øksnehallen (this past year), more than 6000 people attended. Although the event continues to grow, it’s been crucial for the

team behind it to maintain its intimate, Nordic, and founder-friendly vibe.

Elmegaard, who is now the chair of the non-profit organisation, explained: “We have ongoing discussions about how

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The tech startup scene is merging into something new that’s about more than just startups and corporations. Today, it’s all about building the right solutions Pia Ella Elmegaard, Steering Commitee member at TechBBQ

big we want TechBBQ to get. This year we actually capped the number of tickets to focus on quality instead of quantity. It’s most important to us that visitors actually get to meet each other and develop connections during the event.”

Some things have changed, however.

The event is no longer limited to core startups. TechBBQ welcomes students, representatives from corporations, investors, and

those with a general interest in tech. But that doesn’t mean TechBBQ has lost its focus on startups; it means that the startup scene has evolved tremendously over the past decade.

In Elmegaard’s words: “The tech startup scene is merging into something new that’s about more than just startups and corporations. Today, it’s all about building the right solutions. It’s more interesting to talk about the trends and technologies than labelling the ones doing it, and how to get there fastest and in the most sustainable way. Often, attendees are more interested in finding the right talent and the right partners. The mission has always been to showcase the best parts of the Danish tech scene and what makes it unique. We’re not the next Silicon Valley – and we shouldn’t be. Instead, we proudly showcase the unique startups in the ecosystem and their special way of doing business.”

Exposing both sides of the coin Foto: Odense Robotics

The connection to the Nordic tradition of trust, transparency, inclusion, and equality continues to play a guiding role at

TechBBQ. The summit shows the newest tech and innovations while fostering an atmosphere of trust, such that sharing experiences and insights – even the hard ones – comes second nature.

As Elmegaard sees it: “One of the virtues we’re holding onto is to share honest

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avia’s biggest tech summit munity volunteers still play a key role in the event’s success; last year 9,920 volunteer hours were put into the project.

Thanks to their hard work and passion for the startup ecosystem, the non-profit has evolved from a small Danish BBQ event to one of Europe’s leading tech summits.

According to Elmegaard: “It’s still about showcasing our startups and helping them to succeed out in the world. No one can buy their way to the stage, and we don’t pay our speakers to talk. They do it because they want to support the community event and pay it forward.”

TECHBBQ TechBBQ is a Danish non-profit, grassroots association that was established in 2012 to support and strengthen the Danish Startup Ecosystem. TechBBQ runs all year with a fantastic team of dedicated and passionate people, who strive to foster the meaningful growth and innovation with in technology sector.

18.-19. September Øksnehallerne Copenhagen

TECHBBQ 2018, BY THE NUMBERS:

and transparent stories and showcase the shades of grey. Things are never as black and white as the media make them out to be. We show best practices in building a company, but also the other side of the coin: what hard work means to your mental and physical health, your relationships,

and your family. Also, that virtue has only become more important as startups and entrepreneurs are becoming rock stars in the industry.”

Speakers don’t just talk about the newest trends; they share their failures, discuss parental leave opportunities and

mental health, and inspire hard-working startup founders to integrate the Nordic values of work-life balance.

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6,641 people attended TechBBQ’s 2-day summit

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Compared to 2017, there was a 65% increase in attendees

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84% of the participants either “agree” or “strongly agree” that it is of utmost importance to have large-scale startup events like TechBBQ to stimulate entrepreneurship and innovation in Denmark

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91 nationalities were represented at TechBBQ 2018

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465 venture capitalists and 266 angel investors attended TechBBQ 2018

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2,637 startups participated in TechBBQ 2018

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90% of small- and medium-sized enterprises, corporations, and investors gained a better understanding of the Danish startup scene

A community-driven non-profit True to its humble beginnings, TechBBQ remains a non-profit organisation. Com-

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Secret Investor Meeting Crucial to the Danish Startup Ecosystem Invited investors – of all sizes and nationalities – will meet at a closed networking event during TechBBQ. This is expected to benefit the ecosystem in a big way.

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enture capital is vital to the health of Denmark’s startup ecosystem.

Knowing this, the TechBBQ organisers have something new on the program this year – poised to strengthen the investor side of the Danish ecosystem.

‘Nordic Investor Day’ is a closed event for select investors. While many investor meetings are filled with startup pitches from potential investees, this day is all about getting investors to know each other.

According to Esben Gadsbøll, chair of the Nordic Business Angel Network and one of the hosts of the Nordic Investor Day: “It’s a networking event, and what makes it special is the fact that we invite all kinds of investors – from the new ‘business angel’ to the international, well-established venture funder. There will be talks and panels, but, at the same time, we want the event to create connections between ecosystems. Business angels and venture funders need each other in different stages of the investment journey. For that reason, it’s important that they know each other.”

Even though it’s the first time investors are assembling in this way

Written by Sebastian Kjær

at TechBBQ, the event has already lured investors from all over the Nordic region, Asia, London, and the United States – including US Sequoia, Asia Soft Bank, London Accel, and the Nordic Creandum.

Attracting partners to Denmark True, inviting a broad spectrum of investors to mingle might seem more ‘hyggelig’ than business-related. But the fact is that different kinds of investors need each other, irrespective of how much capital they manage.

Richard Breiter, Head of Investment at PreSeed Ventures, explained: “Startups need capital at every stage of their journey. Events like this one are important because they can catalyse the investment ecosystem.”

For example, the Danish early-stage investor who is attending this event on their own benefits from the opportunity to build relationships and attract syndicate partners – partners that may come with new investments and access to new markets.

Breiter pointed out: “We are in this world to help every startup in our large portfolio grow into successful

businesses internationally. Moreover, they are all going to need, capital to keep growing. To support that process, we want to build and nurture great investment partners. This event manages to attract foreign investors by creating a critical mass of investors as well as exciting startups from the ecosystem in one place.”

Accordingly, this event – at a distance from the main floors of the festival – has the potential to accelerate investments in the Danish ecosystem.

Breiter observed: “Today we see how almost all investors cover the Nordic region because they expect more interesting companies based here. Looking back at the big developments in recent years, the future holds great promise. We believe more unicorns will be born out of Denmark.”

Foreign investment funds are betting on the Nordics NordicNinja is a foreign venture fund that is paying close attention to what’s happening in Denmark.

The fund is looking to invest €100M in scaleups from the Nordic and Baltic regions on behalf of a Ja-

panese syndicate of corporations that include Panasonic and Honda. For that reason, Claes Mikko Nilsen, Investment Director in the fund, is welcoming their addition to the tech summit in Copenhagen.

“We’re super excited that we now have this kind of investor day, where international investors can have an overview of what’s going on. It helps internationals find references and introductions to the most interesting startups in Denmark,” he explained.

Frederik Hagenauer, from the German venture fund Speedinvest, expects great things from Nordic startups, and sees TechBBQ as a great way to emerge within the ecosystem: “As an ecosystem, the Nordics punch vastly above their weight.

There’s a disproportionately high number of successful tech companies in the region and that experience trickles down to early-stage founders. As a pre-seed investor, this means that, at TechBBQ, I am expecting to meet ambitious founders embedded in a mature support system of angels, mentors, and local entrepreneurs.”

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Equity Crowdfunding is Here:

Private Investors can now have their own ‘Dragons’ Den’ A new platform is enabling Danish startups to fuel their growth and raise millions of kroner through an equity crowdfunding model. This is a great opportunity not only for the startup ecosystem but for aspiring angel investors.

Written by Sebastian Kjær

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rom the time it hit the airways in 2015, the television program Løvens Hule (an adaptation of Dragons’ Den) piqued interest and provided opportunities for Danes to invest in quickly-growing startups. Now that the equity crowdfunding model has made its entrance to the Danish market – after years of hype – private investors can participate in their own Løvens Hule. This model enables smaller, private investors to invest in up-and-coming startups. In fact, a handful of Danish startups have already raised capital through the platform, Funderbeam.

According to Mads Emil Dalsgaard, CMO at Funderbeam: “Investing in startups isn’t for everyone. It should be part of a portfolio mix. Investing in startups takes the money and it’s high-risk. But that also means the rewards can be high. There are tens of thousands of people in Denmark who could be investing in startups, and we want to open the door for them.”

While Funderbeam enables anyone to invest, there are a series of hoops to jump through to ensure that would-be

investors understand the risks involved.

Investors can start by buying tiny pieces of equity in individual startups for a couple of hundred euros. This means that private investors get a chance to try things out on a small scale, while startups have the opportunity to attract a wider range of investors.

Funding from a wide community To date, 40 Nordic and Baltic startups have raised capital through Funderbeam. For example, the Danish company, Hooves just raised €114.000 from 114 investors.

Suvi Kaario, CEO at Hooves, explained: “… our company is built on community, so it is natural for us to engage the community in our fundraising. We are getting so much support from them, so we also want to give them a chance to be part of our financial success.”

Hooves needs to attract both horse owners and horse renters to their platform. The startup hopes their wide variety of inve-

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“We now have a wide pool of experience and expertise to pull from whenever we need help or advice. Angel investors tend

There are, of course, other companies that are not doing well, but that is the nature of investing: picking the right companies and helping them to succeed Thomas Marschall

stors, made possible through Funderbeam, can help them to crack the classic “chicken and egg” issue they are experiencing.

to be a rather homogenous group of people, so we were very pleased to see how different all of our 114 crowd investors are.

We look forward to benefitting from their skills and network in the future,” Kaario remarked.

Breaking ground with a unique form of liquidity Thanks to the equity crowdfunding model, investing in startups is no longer restricted to seasoned angel investors.

Smaller private investors can get in on the action. According to the investor, Thomas Marschall the model offers some advantages to classic startup investing.

In his words: “Investing in startups is (generally speaking) riskier than investing in the stock market, which makes it important to diversify by investing in different compani-

es. In the past, when investing directly in startups, you needed to invest hundreds of thousands of kroner in each company to get access, and this meant very few could invest. By investing through equity crowdfunding, you can get started with much smaller amounts, and easily spread across multiple investments and platforms.”

Traditionally, startup investors didn’t reap their benefits for many years. It wasn’t uncommon to wait 10 years or more from the initial investment in a young startup to a return on their investment and an exit.

This meant that even the right investment decision usually took a lot of time and patience to mature and pay off.

By offering a secondary market, Funderbeam investors have the opportunity to sell their equity to other investors instead of waiting a decade to make their exit. Investors can now claim a smaller profit earlier on in their journey and then reinvest it.

As Marschall observed, “The option to potentially sell company shares is a great feature of Funderbeam. I brought CityLogistik – an all-electric last-mile delivery company – to Funderbeam as their lead investor. Since we closed the round earlier this year, its price on the secondary market has more than doubled. There are, of course, other companies that are not doing well, but that is the nature of investing: picking the right companies and helping them to succeed.”

Funderbeam will launch a new Danish campaign at TechBBQ. There, attendees can learn more about and test their products with a number of companies that are trading on the platform.

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Tech has penetrated every industry and sector – from maritime to sex

One of the features of the Upteko drone is to help the captain park the ship with an aerial perspective from the drone - like a very advanced parking camera

ANNONCE TILLÆG 9

The number of categories for tech startups is on the rise – from fintech and machine learning to impact. Not only does this signal the expansiveness of startups across sectors and industries, it helps them to collaborate. Still, their labels may come to lose their meaning over time.

Written by Sebastian Kjær

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ust a few years ago, the label “tech startup” would have sufficed to categorise a company. It signalled that a business did something digitally and online – whether opening a webshop or creating a platform. The more conservative parts of the business world remained uninterested. This was also true for the first TechBBQ back in 2013.

One of the founding fathers of the TechBBQ, Daniel Laursen recalled: “There were no specific labels. We divided “startup” into three categories, depending on how long they had been a company and whether they had investors. The sub-categories came later when we started working in clusters.”

Laurensen helped to lead the startup media company, ‘Trendsonline.’ Since then, he has founded Valuer.ai – a platform that matches startups and corporations – based on his keen observations of how the tech scene has unfolded since the early 2000’s.

One of the most significant changes has been the addition of labels like “fintech,” “machine learning,” and “impact.”

The sub-categories and niche labels demonstrate how the tech scene has come to penetrate every industry. And the labels also point to how new startups are reaping the benefits of digital technology in new industries. This, in turn, makes it easier for the newcomers to work in clusters.

Where tech and sex meet One of the more colourful attendees at last year’s TechBBQ was the sex tech startup, Ferly.

According to Billie Quinlan, co-founder and CEO of Ferly: “As a society, we talk about physical and mental well-being, but the third pillar of our health – sexual well-being – is often left out of the conversation. Feeling confident and healthy with our sexuality is essential to our health, and we want to normalise investments in transforming it.”

Working alongside experts in human sexuality, the UK-based startup has developed an app that enables users to explore their sexuality in a holistic way, through

content like guided practices, podcasts, and sensual stories. Their mission is to close the “pleasure gap” by letting users self-explore their concepts, desires, bodies, and boundaries through the app.

Using tech has enabled the startup to reach users from 53 countries in a matter of months. While most users are from the US and the UK, Ferly has attracted a considerable fanbase from far-reaching countries like Cambodia and India. In Quinlan’s words, “Technology has enabled us to reach people in places where information is hidden and sexuality is taboo.”

Technology has already played a pivotal role in reach and accessibility, and Ferly is keen for it to play an even bigger role as the solution matures. The company is planning to use artificial intelligence, machine learning, and natural language processing (NLP) to tailor the experience and support users in understanding their needs, desires, and bodies.

For Quinlan, the company is trying to create behavioural change: “… as the app develops we want to use NLP – in combination with diaries – to create a richer, more personalised experience for our customers. NLP will allow us to generate meaningful, actionable insights.”

She sees it as a natural bridge, using tech to assist users in their sexual exploration: “We use tech in every area of our lives. We are already accustomed to using technology to foster well-being, and if we

”

Our solutions could be a fit for the windmill industry as well.

But we’re passionate about the maritime industry and have developed partnerships with shipping companies who have been open to adopting our technology

point A to point B. Maybe that’s the reason why the industry is perceived as quite conservative and transactional, with less digitisation and automation than other sectors.

However, through focused efforts and venture capital, the industry has nourished a budding ecosystem of tech startups – clustered under the label “Maritime Tech.”

As Lotte G. Lundberg, head of The Danish Maritime Fund, observed: “The maritime sector is one of the five strength positions in Danish export. Globally, we

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be designated drone, robot, or AI and could solve problems in other industries as well. Still, Upteko has categorized itself “Maritime Tech,” which has led to an investment from The Danish Maritime Fund, access to the shipping industry, and a clearly defined space to solve problems.

“Our solutions could be a fit for the windmill industry as well. But we’re passionate about the maritime industry and have developed partnerships with shipping companies who have been open to

As a society, we talk about physical and mental well-being, but the third pillar of our health – sexual well-being – is often left out of the conversation. Feeling confident and healthy with our sexuality is essential to our health, and we want to normalise investments in transforming it Billie Quinlan, co-founder and CEO of Ferly

rank fifth as a shipping nation. There is great value and scale in maintaining and expanding this position. For that reason, we must think innovation, digitisation, and automation – not least to attract new talent to the sector.”

One of the pioneers in this area is the young drone startup, Upteko. Its co-founder and COO, Benjamin Mejnertz explained: “We build aerial robotics, which are essentially drones with a bunch of robot sensors.

And we attach a different payload to the drone depending on the task it needs to solve.”

Currently, their drone responds to two scenarios in the maritime sector.

First, the drone streamlines and automates inspecting ships in a dry dock. Second, it serves as something of a Swiss army knife in drone form, with a nest on ships solving different tasks onboard – from parking the ship with the help of an aerial perspective (from 120 meters above) and assisting in search and rescue missions to performing fire inspections with a thermal camera.

These advanced solutions call for a broad combination of different technologies, which means the startup could

adopting our technology. We aim to be the number one supplier of drones for the maritime industry, and that means we can look into and solve some very specific challenges,” Mejnertz pointed out.

Verticals may soon become obsolete While Laursen is excited to see tech startups spread and agrees that collaborative clusters can add value and help startups to narrow their focus, he also reserves the right to be critical toward all the creative startup labels: “It has become a business model to say you’re a cluster or exclusively focused on one startup category. And, when an accelerator or event uses a new label, it’s just as much about getting customers as giving value to the startups in this specific category.”

The sheer number of categories is already starting to dilute their meaning. Moreover, the fact that both new and established companies are building their futures on a tech foundation could make the tech labels lose their meaning altogether.

Benjamin Mejnertz, co-founder and COO at Upteko

don’t include sex, it will just add to the taboo. A person’s sexuality is a living, breathing part of who they are and it deserves a space on their phone’s home screen, next to Uber and Monzo.”

Sub-categories are typically chosen by the startup The shipping and transportation industry is a physical business, moving cargo from

Ferly Founders - Billie Quinlan and Anna Hushlak

Daniel Laursen, TechBBQ

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Lego Ventures:

Where return on investment isn’t measured in capital gains Through their newly developed venture arm, the internationally-renowned toy company, Lego is working with ambitious startups to define the future of play. But their primary goal isn’t capital gains.

Written by Sebastian Kjær

T

he brick remains at the centre of Lego’s brand. Since it was invented close to 90 years ago, a wealth of products – bricks in new shapes, digital add-ons, and even a blockbuster movie – have becomes staples within the creative world of Lego.

In 2018, Lego Ventures was founded in an effort to keep their bricks future-proof. Its aim is to invest in entrepreneurs, ideas, and startups that align with Lego’s mission to give children worldwide high-quality creative learning and play experiences.

According to Alexis Horowitz-Burdick, managing director of Lego Ventures: “We’re exploring the world of creativity, learning, and play. The Lego company is 87 years old. At Lego Ventures, we’re looking to the next century of play – how Lego’s vision and mission can be adopted by entrepreneurs and how we can support them.”

Although Lego’s mother company, KIRKBI is behind Lego Ventures, the primary goal of investing in startups isn’t to add more capital to the foundation’s bank account.

out where they can tap into the resources across Lego entities.”

This ranges from accessing their extensive knowledge on how children play to solving more logistical issues like supply chain management.

Klang – a gaming studio based in Berlin that received an investment – is working with Lego to grow the company in a sustainable way while their game is being built. Once their ambitious and futuristic game is completed, Lego’s games division will come in handy.

“We want to invest in companies where we can support their growth while they contribute to the broader Lego ecosystem. We want to be a strong partner to every company we are investing in. There is a lot of capital in the world, and our value proposition needs to be more than just money. We are looking to add value beyond the money we’re putting in,” Horowitz-Burdick explained.

Success is measured beyond capital

Lego Ventures: More partner than investor When Lego Ventures was launched last year, they carved out the following investment areas: education technology, 21st century skill development, new play spaces, and creative making.

As Horowitz-Burdick sees it, “The toy – the brick – is for creative making. It was developed with the goal of unlocking the creative superpowers of kids. This goal is shared by the startups we invest in, but their foundation can be both physical and digital.”

When a startup becomes part of Lego Ventures’ portfolio, they don’t just gain access to capital. The venture arm has also tasked its “value creation team” with identifying how the two parties can help each other.

Horowitz-Burdick explained, “We onboard the startups and align expectations as to where we can help them to accelerate. We anticipate and discuss their challenges for the coming year and figure

Alexis Horowitz-Burdick, managing director of Lego Ventures

”

We want to invest in companies where we can support their growth while they contribute to the broader Lego ecosystem. We want to be a strong partner to every company we are investing in Alexis Horowitz-Burdick

Investing in startups isn’t just looking at current trends and investing for a quick, lucrative exit. Lego Ventures aims to find the right fit with their mission and brand.

In Horowitz-Burdick’s words: “Lego is an incredible brand. We get to leverage that, and we want to protect it. Lego means a lot to almost every entrepreneur we meet, and that’s amazing. It means entrepreneurs understand what Lego is about.”

The focus of the return on investment is based more on strategy than finances.

“We bring Lego’s core ethos into the fund, and one thing unique to Lego is their partner-promise: the way we work with and treat partners. It has to be advantageous to both parties. The financial return is not our primary goal and not even our secondary goal. We’re not trying to make bad investments, but our investments are more strategic. We’re trying to learn the future of play and find new ventures to tap into that future,” Horowitz-Burdick observed.

Lego’s portfolio company, Klang is showcasing a demo of its game at this years’ TechBBQ. There, Lego Ventures will speed-date 15-25 startups within their categories to see if they are a potential fit for an investor partnership.

ANNONCE TILLÆG 11

Shibuya, Japan. Photo by Andre Benz // Unsplash

Danish startups must look to Asia for new opportunities ‘Innovation Lab Asia’ has created a knowledge-base of the most high-profile leaders and stakeholders in the Asian innovation ecosystem.

Written by Sebastian Kjær

F

or almost 50 years, tech entrepreneurs have focused their attention on cracking Silicon Valley. Now that strong innovation ecosystems are starting to emerge across Asia, Danish startups need to start looking to the East. After all, Silicon Valley is no longer the epicenter of innovation. China has surpassed the Bay Area both in terms of funding and number of startups. Moreover, startup communities in Singapore, Beijing, and Bangalore consistently rank among the top global players.

Despite the fact that startups need to connect with and take advantage of these new superpowers, almost no Danish startup has done so.

As Peter Johansen, project lead of Innovation Lab Asia, pointed out: “Denmark is one of the most entrepreneurial nations in the world, according to the Global Entrepreneurship Development Index. But when it comes to internationalization,

we’re close to the bottom. We’re often just looking to Germany or the Nordic region – and maybe the United States on a good day. But we very rarely look to Asia, and that’s a big problem with Asian growth and funding opportunities on the rise.”

Innovation Lab Asia is a joint venture between TechBBQ and Asia House aimed at changing this trend by helping startups access opportunities in Asia in a feasible and strategic way.

A vision, but no guides While several Danish startups have scaled to Silicon Valley, no one has ever made it big in Asia. This makes it hard for young companies to navigate the Asian market.

Without a peer to guide them, startups have to be pioneering and resourceful. For that reason, The Danish Industry Foundation lent its support to two non-governmental organizations, TechBBQ and Asia House on their 2-year project Innovation Lab Asia.

In describing their approach, Johansen explained: “If you look at Bangalore, you’ll see hundreds of accelerators and investors, but you have no idea where to start and who to work with. Our task is to find the best needles in the haystack – those who have a Nordic context or have experience working internationally.”

During its first phase, Innovation Lab Asia spanned 10 cities – across China, India, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Ko-

rea, and Taiwan. Their findings will be pre- a small, Danish startup scaling their busisented in six reports at this year’s TechBBQ, ness to somewhere in Asia and providing a which will make life easier for hungry star- water solution for millions of people simply isn’t realistic. tups looking to But there are so expand to Asia. many other enIn Johansen’s trances to Asia words: “Our jour– offering more ney in Asia has than potential pretty much concustomers.” firmed our asCo-creatisumptions. Whion, production le there are some facilities, data, startups from and investments Finland, Sweden, Peter Johansen, project lead of Innovation Lab Asia are some of the and Estonia, theareas where Dare are almost no nish startups Danish startups out there. We hope to change that in pha- can look for Asian opportunities, without se 2, when we start working in-depth with the need to move their entire company to select innovation communities to help a different country. But finding the right partners, who know how to work with Wespark collaborations.” sterners, is a big step towards successful Asia has much more to collaboration. offer than potential customers Johansen suggests that “Startups The goal is to convert the initial findings should be motivated by other opportunitifrom this project into tangible opportuni- es in the Asian markets above and beyond ties during the next phase of the project, the sheer size of it. If you look at Shenzhen aptly named “Information on central play- in China, there are great opportunities ers and tangible advice on doing business for rapid hardware prototyping, and investment opportunities are flowering for in Asia.”

Importantly, Innovation Lab Asia Nordic startups in Japan. Any kind of partwants startups to know that the Asian mar- nership or startup engagement in Asia kets hold much more than potential cust- will be a success, because at this moment omers. As Johansen sees it, “The image of we have barely any.”

”

We very rarely look to Asia, and that’s a big problem with Asian growth and funding opportunities on the rise

12 ANNONCE TILLÆG

Photo: Colourbox

The True Powers of Artificial Intelligence and Computer Vision have yet to be Unleashed Computer vision and AI are already commodities.

At TechBBQ, Microsoft is turning to tech talent to explore what the technologies are capable of.

Written by Sebastian Kjær

C

ars are now driving themselves, artificial intelligence (AI) can beat the most advanced gamers, and human-like robots can do backflips. The futuristic world – that seemed a distant possibility from the sci-fi movies of the past few decades – now appears to be just around the corner.

While experts are left guessing just how long it will take before human-like intelligence and robots with superhuman senses will be part of our everyday lives, simpler machine learning, algorithms, and AI are already mainstays.

In an effort to demonstrate that it doesn’t take a warehouse crammed with researchers to apply AI and computer vision, Microsoft is bringing a hackathon to TechBBQ. According to Sherry List, the Azure

Developer Technical Lead at Microsoft and the Vice Chairwoman of the Board at Hack Your Future Copenhagen: “TechBBQ brings together innovators from across Scandinavia, who are looking to disrupt industries and use technology in innovative ways. We’re looking to collaborate with developers at the event and explore how computer vision can be used to improve how businesSherry List ses work through opportunities for digital transformation, help scaling businesses, and working more effectively. It’s a great opportunity for us to meet developers who are new to AI and to get their perspectives, and for them to hopefully learn more about the current ready-made services.”

”

tively simple AI, it is already a commodity to such a degree that it can be picked off the shelf.

In List’s words, “Popular Cloud services, like Microsoft Azure, are helping to democratize AI. That means these services are making it easier to add AI capabilities to existing applications. You can still build your own algorithms and models to fit specific requirements, but, in most cases, the ready-made Cloud services will be all you need.”

Even though we’ve only just scratched the surface of computer vision and AI’s potential, it has become the foundation for some remarkable products – from automatic expense report processes and quality assurance in manufacturing lines to keeping track of the population of endangered species of animals.

Popular Cloud services, like Microsoft Azure, are helping to democratize AI

AI can be picked off the shelf Tech products have already taken their first steps in terms of human-like capabilities. Spotify knows what kind of music we like and Google Photos can help us search through the pictures we’ve taken for a bike or a horse. Even though it is rela-

Looking for Nordic inspiration During TechBBQ’s Microsoft’s Hackathon, participants will get to experience

building solutions with computer vision and AI. The tech giant will provide participants with access to technology and coaches to help them explore its capabilities.

Throughout the summit, Microsoft will also keep an eye on the Nordic ecosystem for another reason.

As List observed: “In the Nordics we have some of the most educated technical talent. Denmark has been a frontrunner in sustainability and renewable energy, so we will keep our eyes open for great innovations in this space. We are also bringing our global program, Microsoft for Startups to find new partnership opportunities with Danish and Nordic startups.”

Sherry List, Azure Developer Technical Lead at Microsoft

13 “net/http”; “strconv”; “strings”; “time” ANNONCE ); TILLÆG type ControlMessage struct { Target string; Count int64; }; func main() {controlChannel := make(chan ControlMessage);workerCompleteChan := make(chan bool); statusPollChannel := make(chan chan bool); workerActive := false;go admin(controlChannel, statusPollChannel); for { select { case respChan := <- statusPollChannel: respChan <- workerActive; case msg := <-controlChannel: workerActive = true; go doStuff(msg, workerCompleteChan); case status := <- workerCompleteChan: worker active = status; }}};unc admin(cc chan ControlMesage, statusPollChannel chan chan Akamai for bool) Join {http.HandleFunc(“/admin”, func(w http.

ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) { /* strings. the presentation: Split(r.Host, “:”); r.ParseForm(); count, err := strconv.ParseInt(r.FormValue(“count”), 10, 64); if err != nil { fmt.Fprintf(w, err.Error()); return; }; msg := ControlMessage{Target: r.FormValue(“target”), Count: count}; cc <- msg; fmt.

Fprintf(w, “Control message issued for Target %s, count %d”, html.EscapeString(r.FormValue(“target”)), count); }); http.HandleFunc(“/ status”,func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) { reqChan := make(chan bool); statusPollChannel <- reqChan;timeout :=[time.After(time.

Second); select { case result := <- reqChan: if result { fmt.Fprint(w,]”ACTIVE”); } else { fmt.

Senior Security Architect Fprint(w, “INACTIVE”); }; return; case <- tiXavier Daspre meout: fmt.Fprint(w, “TIMEOUT”);}}); log.Fatal(http.ListenAndServe(“:1337”, nil)); }; package main; import ( “fmt”; “html”; “log”; “net/ http”; “strconv”; “strings”; “time” ); type ControlMessage struct { Target string; Count int64; }; func main() { controlChannel := make(chan ControlMessage);workerCompleteChan := make(chan bool); statusPollChannel := make(chan chan bool); workerActive := false;go admin(controlChannel, statusPollChannel); for { select { case respChan := <- statusPollChannel: respChan <workerActive; case msg := <-controlChannel: workerActive = true; go doStuff(msg, workerCompleWhere: teChan); case status := <- workerCompleteChan: Technical Stage }}}; func admin(cc chan workerActive = status; ControlMessage, statusPollChannel chan chan September 18 11:00 bool) {http.HandleFunc(“/admin”, func(w http.

ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) { /* Does anyo-

Designing for API Doomsday

18-19th September Øksnehallen, Copenhagen

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04-09-19 13:34

14 ANNONCE TILLÆG

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n f b t summ es (an S push abou norm comm taken comm A expla tabili want es an still a long way to market when what you doty. Th is – quite literally – trying to cure cancer. coun In Stage’s words: “Being accepted intoand the BII program and receiving 1.4 millionstake euros worth of funding has been an im-entre portant step towards maturing the com-take pany and preparing for the additionalprov investments needed from investors and R partners. This will enable us to fulfil ourand i ambitions of bringing our novel ADC drugand to market for treatment of patients with anledge unmet medical need.” comp with Startups that can make an impactshow require a lot of support verse The BII aims to play a facilitating role forretur life sciences entrepreneurs through funY ding, business development, infrastruc-of th ture, and a strong network of internati-than onal partners and investors. After all,them these new, groundbreaking companies need a lot of support in the early, high- Div risk stage.

Desp In Nielsen’s words: “Startups in the lifegloba sciences play a huge role in solving the challenges we’re facing – both as individuals and as a community. The pharma and med tech industry invest billions in health every year, while biotech plays a significant role in solving climate change. In both these areas we see companies join forces with the tech industry to gain new perspectives, which results in better solutions.”

For life sciences researchers-turned-entrepreneurs, curing cancer requires patience and a lot of capital Undertaking research in the life sciences can be complex and extremely expensive, but the potential upside – both financially and for society – is huge.

For that reason, BioInnovation Institute is helping researchers become entrepreneurs.

Written by Sebastian Kjær

I

t’s a common refrain among successful startups that your idea isn’t worth anything until it is executed.

But when you’re leading a startup in the life sciences – inventing medical equipment, making blood testing more efficient, or working to cure cancer – this adage takes on a whole new dimension. Although these ventures require the right team and proper execution, their success revolves around their hypotheses, research, and ability to demonstrate feasibility. Such activities typically take up to a decade to mature from initial research to a marketable product that can start repaying research investors.

Bearing that in mind, BioInnovation Institute (BII) was established – with 392 million DKK of seed funding from the Novo Nordisk Foundation – to help researchers working in pharma, biotech, and med tech to commercialize their findings. Since opening its doors in 2018, it has granted 100 million DKK to 42 life sciences projects, and expects to award another 50 million DKK by the end of 2019.

According to Jens Nielsen, CEO at BII: “There’s already a lot of groundbreaking

research being done in Danish universities. This creates a huge demand for supporting skilled researchers who want to take their research out of the lab and to the market. By supporting those projects with early-stage funding, know-how, and networking, we expect to see more research translated into new products and drugs that promote health and benefit the public and broader society.”

In more detail, the institute supports early-stage research projects and startups. And the most promising startups gain access to their incubator – 2300 square meters of office facilities with a stateof-the-art lab – and a 10 million kroner convertible loan.

The arduous journey to curing cancer To be sure, commercialization is a dramatic departure from academia. But the groundbreaking research occurring in universities needs to be commercialized for patients and society to reap its benefits. One of the startups trying to make this transition is ADCendo.

The company is developing a drug based on antibody drug conjugates (ADCs), which have shown promise in curing cancer. Adcendo’s drug targets a specific protein that is significantly over-expressed in certain types of cancers. Essentially, it brings a payload into the cancer cells that is powerful enough to kill them. In a recently published journal article, they demonstrated a 100 per cent cure rate in their mouse model among those mice that were treated with their first drug candidate.

According to Henrik Stage, co-founder and CEO of ADCendo: “It all started with 3 researchers from the Finsen Laboratory at Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen, who had longstanding basic research in the mecha-

nisms involved in cancerous invasion. In 2017, following the publication of their remarkable 100 per cent cure rate of mice, I joined the team and ADCendo was born.”

In the two years that have followed, licensing agreements have been negotiated with the University of Copenhagen to com-

”

Startups in the life sciences play a huge role in solving the challenges we’re facing – both as individuals and as a community Jens Nielsen, CEO at BII

mercialize the findings. The young company has been accepted into BII, where they have received financial support. But there is

ABOUT BIOINNOVATION INSTITUTE BioInnovation Institute is an international initiative for research-based innovation and entrepreneurship, which embraces every phase of life sciences startups. Located in Copenhagen, BII offers startups within med tech, biotech, and pharma 2300 square meters of state-of-the-art lab and office facilities, business acceleration programs, startup business incubation, commercial support, unique funding opportunities, and access to high-level mentoring and international networks.

ANNONCE TILLÆG 15

Lack of gender diversity remains an issue in the tech sector. TechBBQ wants to help change that Companies who have leaders from diverse backgrounds perform better. Yet, this is far from the norm in the tech community. TechBBQ’s gender diversity agenda seeks to change that.

Written by Sebastian Kjær

I

n just 7 years, TechBBQ has grown from 100 people gathered around a barbeque to Scandinavia’s largest technology, startup, and innovation summit. This year will see 7,500+ attendees (and a few robots).

Since its inception, the summit has pushed boundaries and expectations about discussion topics, in addition to norms, trends, and practices in the community. This year, TechBBQ has taken steps to diversify the startup community’s agenda.

Avnit Singh, CEO of TechBBQ, explained: “We believe in accountability, and, in pursuit of this, we want to openly share our strategies and initiatives around diversity. This serves a dual purpose – accountability for us and inspiration and guidance for other events and stakeholders in the technology and entrepreneurship sector. We need to take the initiative when it comes to improving gender diversity in tech.”

Research findings show that diversity and inclusion are good for society at large, and it is becoming increasingly acknowledged that these values positively impact companies and organizations. Companies with diverse leadership teams have been shown to outperform those with less diverse leadership, in terms of profit margins, return on equity, and revenues generated.

Yet, according to Dansk Industri (DI), of the Danish companies that have more than 50 employees, only 12 percent of them are led by female CEOs.

Diversity matters Despite the Nordic region’s tradition as a global front-runner in gender equality, we

2019, we are mainly focusing on gender. We are well aware that diversity goes beyond gender, but it is a good place to start and hopefully it can lead to TechBBQ being a more diverse and inclusive summit.”

A long way to go

are not as egalitarian as we would like to think. Based on a report by Gender Diversity Roundtable Denmark: “Current cultural norms, social expectations, stereotypes, and unconscious bias are part of our everyday life and all contribute to a skewed gender balance in leadership in Danish society.”

According to Klaus Nyengaard – chairman of TechBBQ’s steering group and CEO and co-founder of LetsBuild – it

TECHBBQ GENDER INITIATIVES AT THIS YEAR’S SUMMIT: •

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is virtually impossible for TechBBQ, in its capacity as an influential stakeholder in the Nordic tech and startup ecosystem, to ignore this agenda.

In his own words: “If we wish to fulfil our goals of creating a future where Denmark and the Nordics are at the forefront of tech and innovation, we have to focus on gender diversity. TechBBQ is a small association, so we have to start small but think big. For

In collaboration with diversity strategist and innovator, Marie Valentin Beck (of Bureau M), TechBBQ has put initiatives in place that aim to build strategic processes that can improve the diversity of the summit’s program.

Leading the diversity process, Katrine Arevad – head of communication for TechBBQ – explained: “As a conference, our first and most natural step has been to curate talks and workshops about the subject so that we share relevant knowledge, experiences, and advice. We will have 5 different talks on our stages and 3 open workshops on how and why companies can work to implement greater diversity of gender identities and other lived experiences.”

Even though great progress has been made through these efforts, there is still a long way to go.

According to Rene Munk, COO of TechBBQ: “This year we have not been able to perform as well as we wanted to in regards to the representation of women on the stage program, which is, in part, because there have not been any strategies or guidelines in place internally to guide the selection process. However, the percentage has increased from 25 last year to 29 this year; this is really good, but not good enough. It is clear that we need to step up our game for 2020, and we will.”

•

TechBBQ donated tickets to organisations working with women in tech and reached out to women in the tech ecosystem, encouraging them to participate and nominate other women. This was in an effort to attract female talent and ensure more female role models are visible and present in the ecosystem.

For the first time in TechBBQ history, there will be 6 talks on stage and 3 workshops around gender diversity and inclusion in tech.

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TechBBQ hosted a round-table discussion on June 30 (2019) for founders and representatives from organisations like Women in Tech Denmark, Wondertech Summit, Daregender, Goodtalks, Potential.co, Mind & Bodylab, Innovator Q, Ladies First, and Bureau M. There, the group shared thoughts, knowledge, and advice for how TechBBQ can better tackle this issue. These insights fed into TechBBQ’s strategic process.

One of the founders behind the #movingforward initiative, Ginny Fahs will speak at TechBBQ. This new, open source platform helps entrepreneurs find up-to-date information on venture fund initiatives and policies related to diversity, inclusion, and harassment. The team behind TechBBQ Nordic Investor Day have campaigned and sent out a call to join the movement to 1,000 Nordic Venture Capital funds.

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During TechBBQ there will be a women in tech pub crawl, hosted by Women Techmakers Copenhagen in collaboration with Mikkeller.

TechBBQ struck a TechBBQ Diversity Advisory Board to assist in the development of guidelines and strategies for planning future TechBBQ’s.

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There will be 3 workshops on “How to get started working with diversity” facilitated by Helene Aagaard, diversity expert and co-founder of GoGetty.

16 ANNONCE TILLÆG

Meet startups at TechBBQ In 2018, TechBBQ drew 2637 startups and this year’s number are expected to keep pace. Attendees will have the opportunity to meet-and-greet the best startups from all over the Nordic region.

To help get you started, we’ve handpicked a few from the ecosystem that you can find at TechBBQ – both established and up-and-coming.

Peakon Sector: Human Resources Founded: 2014 From: Copenhagen

Pleo

Funding: $68M (457M DKK) Number of employees: 200+ Peakon is the world’s leading platform for measuring and improving employee enga-

From: Copenhagen Funding: $78M (525M DKK)

Sector: Fintech Number of employees: 200 Founded: 2015

Planday Sector: Enterprise Software/Human Ressources

From: Copenhagen Funding: $62M (417M DKK) Number of employees: 190

Founded: 2013

Planday is a shift-based work collaboration platform desig-

Upteko

From: Copenhagen/Odense/ Aarhus

Sector: MaritimeTech

Funding: Investment by Danish Maritime Foundation – size not disclosed.

Founded: 2018

Number of employees: 7

Klang

Funding: $37M (250M DKK) Number of employees: 44

Sector: Gaming Founded: 2013 From: Berlin

Wastehero

Klang Games aims to redefine the massive, multi-player online genre (MMO) through their space colony simulator, Seed. The goal of the game is

From: Aarhus Funding: $700.000

Sector: Smart waste collection, Internet of Things

Number of employees: 7

Founded: 2017

Through a combination of IoT-devices and artificial intelligence, Wastehero

gement. In just a few years, it has attracted some of the world’s leading brands. The Danish tech scale-up is making human resources (HR) data driven by posing a series of questions to employees.

The data is then collected in

a dashboard that provides insights for leaders to see where and how to make strategic improvements. The end goal is a satisfied workforce, which – in turn – will increase productivity, retention, and business performance.

Pleo is a new way to manage company expenses. By offering employees smart payment cards, Pleo enables everyone to buy whatever they need for work, all the while making

sure the company maintains oversight. Pleo harnesses technology to reduce administrative complexity, eliminate expense reports, and simplify bookkeeping.

ned to save business owners both time and headaches.

The company streamlines scheduling, communication, time-tracking, and HR management. The all-in-one platform makes it easier to create optimal shift planning

– where staff needs, budgets, availability, and legislation are all accounted for. Their mission is to change the way companies, leaders, and employees interact.

Upteko’s vision is to improve the maritime sector through drone technology. The company is currently working on a pilot version of their “Swiss army knife drone” for ships.

It will support a variety of processes – from parking

ships (from an aerial view of 120 meters above) to search and rescue missions.

Meet: Upteko will be showcased as part of the maritime track.

to rebuild society by creating a new home in a new world somewhere in the future.

Through advanced tech, the company simulates a world that is larger, richer, and that contains more players than what was previously possible.

Meet: Klang Games is showcasing alongside Lego Ven-

brings cost-efficient and sustainable waste management solutions to corporations and city planners. Thanks to IoT-devices, Wastehero knows when bins are full and need to be emptied. This allows for dynamic route planning. After implemen-

ting their solution, the city of Herning has saved 71% on their city maintenance costs, with 53% fewer collections.

tures, which is one of the game studio’s investors.

Meet: Wasterhero will be showcased in the UrbanTech area.