Grow Aarhus (2022)

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Grow Aarhus 2022

06-09

16-19

30-31

A new spark in the ecosystem: Aarhus has the potential for so much more Powered by TechSavvy

Horses, elephants and unicorns: Can Aarhus become a city where the largest companies stay?

Investors are eyeing the potential in Aarhus 1

Incubator for entrepreneurs within the food and bioresource industries We’ve got the key to your growth

As an entrepreneur, you shouldn’t just settle with a desk, a coffee machine and access to print and meeting facilities.

Network, insight into the industry and the opportunity to get daily sparring on your ideas are some of the key fundamentals, when you want your business to grow. And that is why you need to be located in a place, where all of the above is included in the package.

What we offer: • Flexible facilities at a fixed price and with low risk • Rent from 1000 DKK a month • Specific insight into the food and bioresource industries • The newest knowledge and concrete collaborators • Guidance on finding your way through the funding system

Find us here

The Incubator is placed in Agro Food Park, which houses more than 80 businesses developing the food of the future. Agro Food Park is the place to be if you are a part of the agriculture and food industry

• Access to capital • Counseling from experts • A good community and the sense of being a part of something larger

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Contact Kathrine Lykke Kirk Innovation Manager klk@foodbiocluster.dk Grow Aarhus 2022 Phone: +45 2534 1833 Agro Food Park, Aarhus

About: Grow Aarhus 2022 Something special is happening in the startup ecosystem in Aarhus. No less than three unicorns have been born here, and with more than 7.600 startups it’s just a matter of time before the next one will arrive.

However, this impressive momentum has not suddenly materialized out of thin air. A wealth of organisations, corporates, public agencies and passionate ecosystem heroes have been planting the seed for several years.

With Grow Aarhus we invite you to explore the ecosystem with us. The strengths and opportunities pushing it forward. The incredible founders behind the successes. And the challenges that still need to be solved.

The magazine is published in cooperation with Startup Aarhus and Internet Week Denmark.

Partners We would like to thanks the following partners, sponsors and advertisers for making Grow Aarhus 2022 possible.

Grow Aarhus 2022 is produced by Techsavvy Media.

Editor in Chief: Sebastian Kjær Journalists: Anna Bernsen, Erik Lillelund and Sebastian Kjær Layout: Vratislav Pecka Published by TechSavvy Media Contact: sales@techsavvy.media

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Table of content

05 06-09

A new spark in the ecosystem: Aarhus has the potential for so much more

The number of successful startups from Aarhus as well as their impact is greater than ever. The ecosystem is rumbling all the way from its bottom and a wide range of stakeholders are adding to the momentum.

10-11

New ideas are prepared for the market in The Kitchen

12-13

Aarhus Townhall: A manifestation of the reignition

14-15

»It’s about trusting your fellow human beings and letting people be who they are«

16-19

21

Horses, elephants and unicorns: Can Aarhus become a city where the largest companies stay?

Although Aarhus fostered several huge business successes, many growth companies have over time still chosen to move to larger cities when scaling. But does Aarhus today support the entire growth journey?

Wedio: 6 tips for growing a tech business

22-24

On a field north of Aarhus, they invent the food and agriculture of the future Food & Bio

25

Beyond Beta wants to realise the unicorn potential of food and bioresources Food & Bio

26-27

Danish startup is securing farmers a direct line to the local weather gods Food & Bio

28-29

Farmbrella unites the agricultural sector Food & Bio

30-32

33 34-35 37 38-39

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Editorial: Fast and far: Aarhus has world-class potential

Investors are eyeing the potential in Aarhus Investments

Even with a great product and a strong team it can be hard for aarhus-based Startups to raise venturecapital.

And according to two venturefund, which have recently turned their interest to Aarhus, this is a shame, as there is potential for much more in Aarhus.

When are startups ready for investment? Investments

Aarhus’ veterans are building tomorrow’s ecosystem Fintech

Copenhagen Fintech: Financial technology is also a position of strength in Aarhus Fintech

Aarhus-startups to Watch

Grow Aarhus 2022

Editorial

Fast and far: Aarhus has world-class potential If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. The startup community in Aarhus has the potential to go far. Really far. It is our job, as a community, to align our efforts and run in the same direction.

Mette Tønnesen CEO at The Link

Why Aarhus?

Aarhus has for many years been home to a wide range of impressive and important activities, services, and events for everyone in the startup ecosystem.

We are famous for our young population, our world’s top-ranking university and the talent they foster. Aarhus is small enough so that everyone knows everyone and large enough to have the necessary power – if we lift together.

In other words: We have huge potential. But to fulfil our potential, collaboration is key.

Over the past year, many new activities and efforts have been initiated. All in a close-knit collaboration across government institutions, corporates, knowledge institutions, investors, and startups. As a result, we hear a lot of »I can feel something is happening« around the city. And something really is happening.

Why now?

It is a massive kudos to the entire startup community, that Slush, the world’s leading startup event, selected

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Aarhus as one of the first five cities to run their spin-off event, Slush’D. The choice was made based on our young, booming community and our vision for development.

Slush’D is, to stay in the startup-lingo, our first proof of concept as a community. It is a recognition from the best of the best, that what we are doing is making a dent in the world. We are being noticed out there.

So, take the praise. Enjoy it – before you get back to work. Because there is still work to be done. Like any startup, we need to keep pushing forward, exploring new opportunities, and adding fuel to the sparks that are starting to burn under the community.

This is what this magazine further explores. The successes and the potentials.

Keep reading to hear from some of our community builders, investors and most importantly startups. Take home nuggets of inspiration and insights, and then tie your hiking shoes and get going.

Because why not try to go far and fast?

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A new spark in the ecosystem: Aarhus has the potential for so much more The number of successful startups from Aarhus as well as their impact is greater than ever. The ecosystem is rumbling all the way from its bottom and a wide range of stakeholders are adding to the momentum.

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Grow Aarhus 2022

Aarhus by the Numbers:

3

Unicorn

7.600+ startups

$530M invested

#7

Denmark on Global Innovation Index Lunar joined the club of Aarhus unicorns last year, which also includes Just Eat and Trustpilot. Unlike its predecessors, Lunar has retained a large portion of its employees in its hometown.

By Sebastian Kjær

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hen Morten Sønderskov walked through the door at the Aarhus-based startup Lunar six years ago, he joined a team of only around ten people who were tasked to work on the first version of a new banking app. But even though the startup neither had a finished product nor earnings, it was located at a prominent address near the port of Aarhus. »From the beginning, it meant something to be in the heart of Aarhus. We dared to bet big from the start - also on the location of the office - in order to show: We actually mean this, we want to build something big from Aarhus,« Sønderskov, COO in Lunar, remembers.

Since then, the team of ten has grown to 600 employees, and the company has reached a valuation of more than DKK 2 billion, making it the third unicorn born in Aarhus.

Even though the bank has also opened hubs in Copenhagen, Stockholm and Oslo along the way - and not least got Will Ferrell as an investor and advertising face - Lunar still employes 170 people in Aarhus, which is still a central tech hub for the fast-paced unicorn. »Our original home is Aarhus, and although we are also present in other cities now, there is no doubt that Aarhus is still in our DNA: Our culture is formed and carried by many of the first employees from the time in Aarhus,« Sønderskov says.

Morten Sønderskov COO, Lunar

An ecosystem in the same direction Lunar is the latest shooting star from Aarhus, but the city has previously fostered two more unicorns as well as a large number of other successful startups and leading startup communities since the turn of the millennium.

Much of the development, however, has taken place in silos: the unifying

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Mette Tønnesen CEO at The Link

Jeppe Dørup Olesen Head of The Kitchen

factor has been missing. Which is precisely what the new organization The Link wants to accomplish. »Aarhus is small enough for everyone to know each other. We are big enough to make an impact. So we actually have potential here, and when we get people to run in the same direction, we can move a lot. That is why we are trying to connect the amazing fragments into a more unified ecosystem,« Mette Tønnesen, CEO of The Link, says.

Among other things, the organization is behind the ecosystem platform Startup Aarhus, the event Aarhus Townhall, which recently gathered 500 participants, and managed to lure the international startup summit Slush to the city with its satellite event Aarhus Slush’D this fall.

However, The Link is not working alone. All efforts are made in collaboration with a large number of startups, corporates, investors, public agencies and knowledge institutions based on the thesis that the ecosystem can only raise the level of ambition, create better conditions, and gain more international attention if they do it together.

The team behind The Link (from the left): Lasse Chor, Line Breckling and Mette Tønnesen.

Educations have changed Shortly before The Link was founded, Aarhus University opened its new space for entrepreneurs, The Kitchen, and after just three years they have attracted 170 companies started by students and employees at the university. At the same time, VIA University College has decided that entrepreneurship should be a theme in all its programs. And according to Jeppe Dørup Olesen, head of The Kitchen, this paints a picture of the movement that is running through the city’s educational institutions. »There is a big difference between how education contributed with ten years ago

The student city Aarhus University is in the top 100 worldwide, but the university is just one among many educational institutions in Aarhus. VIA University College, Aarhus BSS, Arkitektskolen, Journalisthøjskolen, Det Jyske Musikkonservatorium and Erhvervsakademi Aarhus are just a few examples of the many opportunities in the city.

The many students make Aarhus a young city. In fact, central Aarhus is the first major zip code in Denmark, where half of the inhabitants are young people in their 20s.

Source: Danmarks Statistik (POST1A) og DR.dk

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Three years ago, students and researchers from Aarhus University got a dedicated startup hub called The Kitchen.

and what is happening today. Educational institutions have launched a wide range of initiatives to focus on startups and work seriously with entrepreneurship,« Dørup Olesen says.

This has made the path from student to founder of a startup more clear: The students are familiarised with entrepreneurship through teaching, and can afterwards visit The Kitchen to try out

Grow Aarhus 2022

an idea. Once established, they can continue their journey in the city’s industry-specific innovation hubs. All this while having role models such as Lunar, Humio, and Bright Star Studios, which have shown how big a startup can become in Aarhus in recent years. »I think it is important to appreciate and embrace great diversity in the ecosystem, so there are many paths to success.

The more people who succeed, the more activity the ecosystem will become - as the successes pass on some of their resources and experiences. It is an important part of the ecosystem that there is always a next step that you can aim for as a startup,« Dørup says.

The big ones and the small ones Well-established IT companies such as Systematic, Designit, Trifork and Stibo have proven the innovative power of Aarhus for decades, and international giants such as Google and Uber also located some of their tech development in the capital of Jutland.

Still, both entrepreneurs and big businesses have looked past each other. But here, too, something new is happening: a network for large companies interested in investing in startups - so-called corporate venture capital - has seen the light of day. And this is good news for the young companies, which will have better opportunities for growth capital, industry specific feedback, and collaboration

Positions of Strength in Aarhus: On 1 October 2020, Denmark‘s 14 new business clusters were named. 8 of the 14 business clusters have a physical presence in Aarhus: Clusters headquartered in Aarhus: • Food & Bioressources: Food & Bio Cluster Denmark • Digital teknologies: DigitalLead Clusters with branches in Aarhus: • Environment Technologies: CLEAN Environmental Cluster Denmark • Energy technologies: Energy Cluster Denmark • Life science & healthtech: Life Science Cluster Denmark • Design, fashion & furniture: Lifestyle & Design Cluster • Robot- and drone technology: Odense Robotics • Animation, games and movies: Vision Denmark Source: Business Aarhus and Municipality of Aarhus.

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with the corporates.

Large companies such as Grundfos, Arla and Aura have joined the network to share their knowledge. And the latter has already set up Aura Ventures, where a double-digit million DKK a year has been set aside to invest in startups: »We want to be the obvious partner for startups, and finding our place in the ecosystem is a journey I look forward to. With our investments, we can help bring new solutions to the market.

Together with good local players, we also hope to be able to help make Aarhus even more attractive for startups,« Martin Schorling Overgård, who heads Aura Ventures, says. » We’re not at the finish line yet« Across the board, the startup ecosystem in Aarhus has matured immensely over the past decade. Public as well as private players are evolving and uniting their strength. And with its unicorn status, Lunar clearly shows that the city’s startups are on a different level than just a few years ago as well.

However, Lunar is far from the only new star in Aarhus: the fintech colleagues from Aiia have been sold to Mastercard for a triple-digit million DKK amount, CrowdStrike has acquired the data startup Humio for 2.4 billion DKK, and the gaming

sensation Bright Star Studio has received pre-orders for more than a billion DKK. »There are still many tech companies on the rise in Aarhus - for better or worse.

And when I say worse, it’s mostly because the competition to attract tech talent in Aarhus is at its maximum,« Morten Sønderskov from Lunar says with a laugh.

Ten years ago, it was common startup wisdom that you should move to Copenhagen, London or Silicon Valley as soon as possible if you wanted to make it big.

But when Sønderskov looks back, it made sense for Lunar to root itself in Aarhus and grow from here. »There is nothing that indicates that we would be more successful by moving everything to Copenhagen or other cities - on the contrary. Today, it is a great strength that we are represented in our hubs across Denmark, Norway and Sweden, so we can attract new talent everywhere,« Sønderskov says.

And perhaps it is also the Jutlandic roots that show themselves in his reluctance to acknowledge the new unicorn’s significance for self-understanding in the Aarhus ecosystem. »We have come a long way, and it can be exciting and inspiring to look at from the outside. But conversely, when you’re in it, it just becomes everyday life. That’s it. We’re not at the finish line yet.«

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Sponsored: This article is made in collaboration with The Kitchen.

New ideas are prepared for the market in The Kitchen In a few years, the startup hub The Kitchen has become the main connector between Aarhus University and the startup ecosystem in Aarhus.

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he Kitchen just opened the doors to its new startup hub at Aarhus University, before the first corona lockdown hit the country. But despite the difficult start, the incubator has become so popular that 170 startups run by students and researchers at Aarhus University is affiliated with The Kitchen just three years after its opening. »It has become clear to the students that they can access a great framework for help if they have entrepreneurial dreams.

The same applies to the employees - and here The Kitchen also shows a clear way to turn research into concrete solution on the market - allowing the research to help patients or the climate agenda in a very tangible way,« Jeppe Dørup Olesen, head of The Kitchen and former innovation attaché in Silicon Valley, explains.

The reason that the old kitchen has been turned into a startup hub is to bridge the gap between the university and the business community. Not just by helping new startups with advisors and business development - but also through teaching and workshops in entrepreneurship at the university.

The brand new ideas The Kitchen is first and foremost made for students and staff at Aarhus University who can use it to turn their ideas into a company. But at the same time, the new hub has also opened the university environment to the rest of the startup ecosystem in the city: Everyone is invited to use the facilities or participate in workshops. »The whole idea was to build an environment that can support very early startups - people who typically only have an idea - so we can help more people get

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Jeppe Dørup Olesen is head of The Kitchen, a place where university students can turn their idea into a business.

knowledge and technology out into the world,« Dørup Olesen says.

When the new ideas mature to the point where they have customers or investors, they move out of the kitchen and into another community. And a constant flow is necessary with the many ideas generated at the university: Every month, The Kitchen welcomes at least ten new companies seeking help to prepare their idea for the market.

A mistake is not a failure Although the startups in The Kitchen are all at a very early stage, they have collectively raised around DKK 40 million in the past year. At the same time,

partnerships with corporates such as Grundfos and Kamstrup show the established business community’s interest in the new startup hub.

This does, however, not mean that the startups that do not become a commercial success are failures: »We provide a unique opportunity to get the building blocks for entrepreneurship - but it does not have to lead to an entrepreneurial career. There’s going to be a lot of companies from The Kitchen that never take off, and that’s okay too.

The whole idea is that everyone should be able to come inside and experience entrepreneurship, and we help them all as best we can,« Dørup Olesen says.

Grow Aarhus 2022

Cases

Cystotech: Artificial intelligence supporting the diagnosis of bladder cancer

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he startup Cystotech is working to develop an AI assistant who, during outpatient and surgical procedures, guides and supports clinicians around the world to optimize the examination and control of bladder cancer. »We are developing a support tool that visually shows the doctor suspicious changes in the bladder in real time. We hope that using this tool can target treatment in relation to the individual patient.

The vision is to support early and targeted treatment for the benefit of patients living with changes in the bladder,« Anna Nielsen, COO at Cystotech, says.

The solution allows patients to receive faster treatment and avoid side effects related to unnecessary surgery. The effect will be early diagnosis and safer treatment with major health economic savings as a result. »Buzzing with entrepreneurship« Cystotech’s founding team is rooted in stong, medical competencies and even before the company was established in the autumn of 2021, a research project showed the potential of their technology.

In the process from research project to spin-out companies, The Kitchen has

provided valuable advice which has accelerated the process. »The Kitchen is buzzing with entrepreneurship, and we come from a completely different world, so it has been valuable to gain insight into that whole startup game. It has been of great importance to us that we have been able to brainstorm with our adviser from The Kitchen,« Nielsen says and continues: »At the same time, we have expanded the circle of founders with strong, local competencies within entrepreneurship, which have qualified our financial and operational strategy.«

Norfalk: Sustainable chemistry for the cosmetics industry

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he two fellow students Nicklas and Kasper wanted to use their master thesis as civil engineers in chemistry as a springboard to start a business.

After a small detour, it has now turned into the startup Norfalk, which develops and produces sustainable chemistry for the cosmetics industry - so-called surfactants, which, for example, make it possible to mix water and oil. »Instead of using ingredients from palm oil or fossil products, we have developed a technology that makes it possible to use local, renewable, biological sources,« Nicklas Nørgaard, CTO of the company, explains.

The somewhat cryptic description is

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due to the fact that their method is in the process of being patented. However, the founder states that the technology provides radical innovation that has the potential to pull the industry in a more sustainable direction. »We have proven our solution in the laboratory and are in the process of upscaling the technology. We can reduce CO2 emissions significantly with our process, and the more traction we get, the more reduction we provide,« Nørgaard says.

Newfound business understanding When the two entrepreneurs came to The Kitchen two years ago, it was actually with a different idea targeted at the

textile industry. But as the potential was explored and their understanding of the business grew, they ended up pivoting to the cosmetics industry. »At the initial level, it was like a new education. We are engineers in chemistry and have a chemist on the team, but none of us have any business experience.

So when we came to The Kitchen two years ago, we got a lot of workshops and courses in simple canvas models and validation of the business model - which has been insanely valuable for us,« Nørgaard says.

Norfalk’s office is located in The Kitchen today, where they still actively use the network.

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After four years of hibernation, Aarhus Townhall is back as Startup Aarhus Townhall. From this point forth as a bi-annual gathering for the startup ecosystem in Aarhus.

Aarhus Townhall: A manifestation of the reignition

By Sebastian Kjær

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ven after ten years as a startup writer based in Aarhus, it can be difficult to find your way around startups, clusters, and organizations. Despite the city’s limited size, the ecosystem has always been fragmented.

Startup City was a good entry in the beginning, but after moving a few times it was closed permanently. CultureWorks did the same for a while before suffering the same fate.

Conversely, Kathrinebjerg, Agro Food Park, and Incuba have been consistent powerhouses. But first and foremost in their own domains.

Four years and a pandemic ago, it seemed that Aarhus Townhall could

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become the new, unifying factor. But it took four years and a pandemic before the dusty memory of Be My Eyes and the startup community gathered in a church on Nørre Allé turned into another Aarhus Townhall. However, there is no doubt that Aarhus Townhall anno 2022 has changed. Just like the ecosystem.

Today, the new organization The Link organizes the event, and the name is changed to Startup Aarhus Townhall and a large number of the previously so fragmented stakeholders in Aarhus support it.

500 participants from the ecosystem meant a packed and sold-out evening.

Sold out in the way that 60 more were on the waiting list with some trying in vain

to get a ticket at the door. One even after traveling all the way from Copenhagen.

From the stage, Ken from Lunar talked about how he got Will Ferrell to invest and advertise for his Aarhus-born unicorn.

Mayor Bundsgaard proclaimed that there had never been so many startups in Aarhus as of right now.

Clearhaus received an award - Ecosystem Hero - for launching Aarhus’ new tech hub, PoP2.

And when the stakeholder-sponsored beer was subsequently served, a young guy interrupted my conversation with one of the local founders. The founder acknowledged the interruption with a spontaneous job offer.

Games as Grow a Business Aarhus 2022

What’s happening in Aarhus!?

We have asked some key figures from the startup environment in Aarhus about their thoughts on the current development in their ecosystem. »There is something going on in Aarhus. New initiatives are helping out - Aarhus Townhall is a good example of this. Many of those who have built a successful business themselves wants to give back to the community. We also see skilled tech people return to Aarhus with experience from large tech companies abroad - and they bring back a lot of networks and competencies. And then there are some new idols like Lunar who gives newcomers something to strive for. We are beginning to see the sprouts of the seeds that have been planted over a number of years by enthusiasts in the ecosystem, companies, municipality, and the region. This is not something that happens overnight.« Anders Boelstifte Mogensen, founder of Gaest, Landfolk and the venture fund Founderment

»It has been exciting to follow the startup ecosystem for the last ten years. The ecosystem has historically been a bit fragmented and sometimes a bit anonymous. There are a lot of talented people and stakeholders who have helped develop the environment to what it is today, but there has been a lack of an organization like The Link and Startup Aarhus to bring it all together.

It is without a doubt a big boost to the startup environment that they have arrived. I believe this will only enforce the already existing and supporting forces in the ecosystem, allowing us to create one of the world’s best startup ecosystems together.« Niels Holst, CEO and founder, Heyfunding.dk

»I just flipped through Startup Guide’s book on the startup ecosystem in Aarhus, which was published in 2015. Many of the players, stakeholders and startups are still active in the ecosystem almost ten years after the guide was published - but in a developed and refined form. The ecosystem has matured.

However, the professionalisation of the ecosystem has created a vacuum for joint development, cooperation and dialogue. When I talk to Systematic, Humio, or Bright Star Studios, the tech companies really want to participate in the ecosystem in Aarhus, but they need more tech bridges that tie the ecosystem together across competencies and startup seniority.« Adrian Fey Matthew, co-founder of Culture Works

»There is a super-strong field of new startups in a seriously strong ecosystem. We learn from each other constantly - even if we just meet on a social level. It makes a huge difference to have people you can learn from; who have made some mistakes that you do not necessarily have to make” “Now, we have a platform to meet and make sure that the knowledge and experience we’ve collectively gained isn’t lost.

As a startup, we have grown, but we want to give back to the brand new ones - the ecosystem that has given us so much.

And Aarhus Townhall is definitely one of the solutions.«

Nichlas Walsted, Co-founder and CEO, Swap Language

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Sponsored: This article is made in collaboration with Miracle.

Miracle in Aarhus is characterized by a flat hierarchy, great employee loyalty, and few rules.

Miracle is an IT company that puts people first:

»It’s about trusting your fellow human beings and letting people be who they are« As an expert in making technology accessible to people, it is only natural that Miracle puts people first themselves. In the IT company’s Aarhus department, employees enjoy few rules and a lot of freedom when it comes to choosing how their tasks are solved. It works because we have respect for each other’s professionalism.

A

flat hierarchy, great employee loyalty, and a working environment with few fixed procedures are some of the characteristics that characterize the IT company Miracle, which has offices in Ballerup, Aarhus, and Aalborg. From the start, it has been

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a priority to put people first, says Simon Møgelvang Bang, CTO of Miracle and head of the Aarhus office. »It’s all about having trust and letting people be who they are. If the framework is right and there are no obstacles, people will solve the tasks themselves. I trust that.

And it works. It’s not necessary to have a lot of rules or procedures, because people can think for themselves,« Møgelvang Bang says. As long as everybody just think for themselves, things run smoothly. It is natural to take responsibility, and it brings out the full potential in everyone.

Grow Aarhus 2022

»It’s all about having trust and letting people be who they are,« says Simon Møgelvang Bang, CTO of Miracle and head of the Aarhus office.

When Miracle has such good experience in attracting and retaining the right tech people, software enthusiasts, and other good people, it is partly because Simon Møgelvang Bang himself has a background in IT. Therefore, he has always been able to speak the same language as his colleagues, who are typically software engineers and computer scientists. »I provide feedback to everyone. That’s why I don’t manage people: I understand the issues they face. It also means that I participate in making major decisions on individual projects, where we try to figure out what the best solution is,« says Møgelvang Bang says. »And it keeps me sharp - because I daily play ball with some of the best in the industry. It’s a privilege,« Møgelvang Bang smiles.

Startup background Simon Møgelvang Bang graduated as a computer scientist in 1999. Since then, he has worked as a programmer, architect, and project manager at several companies, including Grundfos where he worked as an external consultant.

In the spring of 2006, Simon Møgelvang Bang co-founded the IT company Lenio,

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where he initially worked as a programmer. After a few years, however, that title was replaced with architect and later project manager. »In 2010, I thought it was time to switch again. But then Lenio was bought

by Miracle and I got the opportunity to become project manager and head of the new department. That’s when I replaced programming with coordination and management,« Møgelvang Bang says.

What started as a small business with 4 employees is today, 11 years later, a department with 70 software specialists.

And Møgelvang Bang has helped recruit the vast majority of them. Miracle does not have an HR department, which is why the CTO himself reads through all the applications. »I don’t look at the applicants’ CVs very thoroughly. Of course, they have to have an IT background, but as long as they have that, we will figure out the rest. It’s about the human aspect,« Møgelvang Bang says.

Tech peoplem, for example, are often introverted - which is not a problem at Miracle. It is important that we can attract and keep the »locomotives« - they are the ones that give the company traction… and they are not average at all.

Buddy-system and employee clubs There are few rules at Miracle in Aarhus, however, one of them is that there always have to be cold beers in the fridge on Fridays. Being social is a high priority. »We are good at welcoming new people, which is mainly due to the fact that we have a buddy system. When you’re hired, you are assigned a buddy who is in a different team, so you also get to meet other people in the office. They are responsible for showing you where the coffee machine is and everything else practical. There is always someone you can go to,« Møgelvang Bang says.

In addition, Miracle also has a number of employee clubs: While the beer club brews their own beers, the running club meets to get blood pumping.

Thus, Møgelvang Bang and the rest of the team at Miracles’ Aarhus department do their part to make everyday life at the company as pleasant and productive as possible. »We have a strong culture because we put people first. And it has a self-reinforcing effect, which time and time again helps to attract the right software enthusiasts. We get along with each other. It’s that simple,« Møgelvang Bang says.

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Horses, elephants, and unicorns:

Can Aarhus become a city where the largest companies stay?

Aarhus has fostered several huge business successes, but many growth companies have over time still chosen to move to larger cities when scaling. But maybe that tendency is about to change?

Three startups from the city paint a picture of an entrepreneurial environment in explosive development.

Af Erik Lillelund

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Grow GrowAarhus Aarhus 2022

I

f you drive along the coastal road in Aarhus, you quickly notice it. The neobank and unicorn company (a company valued at $ 1 billion or more) Lunar’s large neon sign, which reminds young entrepreneurs that the city has been home to many great business successes.

And for the mere two-year-old startup Shouter, who has created a marketplace app for practical labour jobs, the Aarhus success stories are a great source of inspiration. They create a breeding ground for optimism and a belief that anything can be done in the startup environment, which has long been on a strong, upward curve. »Just in the two years we’ve been running, the environment has exploded with more entrepreneurs. This is partly due to the good stories and the positive focus that has been around the city. A good track record is tremendously inspiring and cultivating,« Simon Cederholm says, one of the founders behind Shouter.

Today, the young company is housed in the DBA’s old offices, where »the tiles smell of eBay,« as Simon Cederholm describes it. But it is not just the good stories that make the difference. It is just as much the culture and dynamics of the city. »My experience is that there is a growing entrepreneurial network with a high concentration in the Aarhus ecosystem. The closeness between all actors creates a general awareness of helping each other dynamically along the way and playing each other well,« Simon Cederholm describes.

However, the picture is not perfect.

It can be difficult as a start-up tech company to secure the right candidates, because of the rift over the talent pool in Aarhus. Large companies such as Google, Uber and AirBnB are difficult to compete with in terms of finances and employee relations, and therefore, recruitment in the city is still one of its weak points, assesses the Shouter founder. »Because of the university and the many startups in Aarhus amongst other things, the available talent pool is extremely sought after. We often get a tap on the back about a talented graduate or year group, but large companies that run their development offices here quite understandably use their muscles in the battle for the graduates. But it can make it difficult for startups to attract and even nurture

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Shouter advertising their marketplace app in the city of Aarhus

17

Landfolk is a platform for renting high-end and remarkable summer houses

talent. From my perspective, the pool is emptied faster than refilled,« Cederholm explains.

This particular disadvantage of Aarhus is also one of the reasons why many companies move to Copenhagen when they reach a certain size. And to change that trend, more long-term success stories are needed. »Although several fantastic companies have been started and scaled from Aarhus, it is difficult not to look towards Copenhagen, the neighboring countries or a total adoption of a remote working approach. We will always be inspired

by Aarhus-based companies - and look forward to seeing even more frontrunners, success stories and IPOs, the whole trip from pre-seed to IPOs based from Aarhus,« Simon Cederholm says with a smile.

Landfolk has Aarhus-DNA running through their veins When the founders behind the booking-platform Gaest.com achieved huge success in just three years, it was in Aarhus. When AirBnB then chose to buy the

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entire company and turn their offices into a Danish development department for the American giant, they stayed in Aarhus.

And today, after the old Gaest.com entrepreneurs are back with a new holiday home booking-platform (Landfolk), the tent poles are once again firmly placed in the Aarhus soil.

Aarhus, Aarhus, Aarhus.

The city of smiles has been the backdrop to most of what the people behind Landfolk have done, and they are not in doubt why this particular place has been home of their many business adventures. »Aarhus is a good place to start a business, because it is first and foremost a good spot on earth. The ‘liveability factor’ is high. And over the years, the level of tech talent has grown to incredible heights - mostly due to the great university,« CEO and co-founder of Landfolk, Christian Schwarz Lausten says.

Since the beginning of 2021, Landfolk have established themselves as a technology-driven marketplace for tenants and landlords of high-end holiday homes - a concept that has become enormously po-

pular in a short period of time. One of the keys to success is, among other things, the amount of particularly technically based talent found in the city.

“Although the term is a bit worn out, the level in the city is world-class. It is no coincidence that eBay, Uber, Airbnb and Google have chosed to set up development offices here. It is a tech city on the very top shelf,« the Landfolk founder assesses.

But that has not always been the case.

The city has been through a major development led by the fact that more and more large companies have shown the way to success. Because role models are vital if you are to succeed as a startup environment, Christian Schwarz Lausten believes. »Big companies like Uber, Crowdstrike and Concordium are hugely important to have in an entrepreneurial city. They often act as a sort of schools that train skilled graduates in scaling or consolidation for example, which benefits the entire community’s common talent pool when the companies exchange talent,« he explains.

Grow Aarhus 2022

Although progress is being made in the Jutland capital, the sentence set in stone has almost always been that companies with big growth dreams reach a point where they have to move to a bigger city.

But the pandemic and the rise of remote work have changed that. Today, it is more about national borders. »Whether it is Aarhus or Copenhagen has gradually become irrelevant. Companies that have big, big scaling ambitions will often find that the recruitment surface becomes too small in just one city.

It is to a greater extent today the national borders that are decisive in the question of talent,« Christian Schwartz Lausten says.

Trustpilot, the one that got away When the young student Peter Mülhmann and his three co-founders in 2007 got the idea for a digital customer review platform in a basement in Aarhus, no one talked about unicorn valuations.

But that was exactly what Trustpilot became when they went public in London a year ago: a unicorn. Today, the company has nearly 700 employees with branches in London, New York, Denver, Vilnius, Berlin, Melbourne and Edinburgh.

And a head office in Copenhagen, where Trustpilot moved to as the growth journey gained momentum. But is it still necessary today to leave Aarhus to become a large company? »I have gone back and forth on that question often, but the truth is that the pandemic has changed everything. Two years ago, I was completely convinced that if you built a large company, you had to - as a minimum - move to Copenhagen, and probably also further out into the big world. But I am not anymore,« Peter Mühlmann explains.

The burgeoning remote culture that the pandemic has brought with it has in many ways dissolved the geographical boundaries and made it easier to build a large company everywhere - also in Aarhus. »With the new online culture, Aarhus has maintained many of its advantages, and at the same time does not have the same disadvantage around attracting international talent, which Copenhagen has historically had an easier time with.

But we still need to see how it settles,« Mühlmann says.

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Peter Mühlmann is a co-founder and the CEO of Trustpilot - one of Denmark’s most well known IT companies

Although the giant company today operates from Pilestræde, in the heart of Copenhagen, Peter Mühlmann has not forgotten either his or Trustpilot’s roots.

Because it is a perfect place to start a business, he believes. »There is a lot of goodwill from the local community. In larger cities, it is taken for granted that there are a lot of people and that a lot is happening, while in Aarhus they are aware of constantly doing initiatives for the local environment and entrepreneurs. There is a feeling that you are pulling in the same direction and helping each other - a kind of local patriotism, I would call it,« Mühlmann says.

Still, there are challenges when it

comes to the really, really big companies. It is just no longer questions of Aarhus as a city, but more of Denmark as a country, the Trustpilot founder believes. »We are historically bad at fostering new large companies in Denmark. It is ’easy’ to build both a small and a medium-sized company, but if you look at the five most valuable Danish companies, they are all over 100 years old. This is due to both the tax structure and the way international talent is treated, which creates an incentive for companies to go abroad when they reach a certain size. So the distinction is less and less between Aarhus and other cities and increasingly between Denmark and the rest of the world,« Peter Mühlmann says.

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Grow Aarhus 2022

Sponsored: This article is made in collaboration with Wedio.

Wedio: 6 tips for growing a tech business Aarhus-based Wedio helps content creators rent equipment for their productions. The goal is to become the world’s largest community for filmmakers, etc. With 11,000+ members around the world and 70,000+ monthly guests, you have to run fast to reach your goal. After three years on the startup journey, Daniel Sand, co-founder & CEO, shares six concrete pieces of advice to other tech entrepreneurs who want to think bigger than “just” Aarhus.

Create an open culture from the start Startup life is not a bed of roses. You face a lot of challenges and the feeling of insecurity and doubt will constantly strike - and here it is crucial that we have each other’s backs.

By designing an open culture, we try to tackle conflicts before they escalate. That is why Kasper, Morten, and I attend a pre-mediation session with two psychologists every month, where we have free rein to share our thoughts with each other - for better or worse.

1

Test before you build The biggest reason why startups fail is the lack of demand, and it’s a shame when there are methods to test whether people are willing to pay for your product/service - without you having to build the big space rocket. We have proven this several times, most recently with Wedio Subscriptions: We set up a website through Wix.com, made a quick logo with DesignEvo and created an associated Facebook profile - all in less than two working days. Then we set up Facebook ads, spent a total of DKK 5,000 on getting traffic to the website and measured how many people would actually buy our subscription.

Spending five days and DKK 5,000 gave us enough data to prove our hypothesis that Wedio Subscription was a really good idea, and we could now use the resources necessary to actually build and launch the service with peace of mind.

2

The word »user« is prohibited As Wedio is a community that tries to help people in the physical world through tech, we have deliberately banned the word »User« in the company. I personally think it’s a horrible way to talk about the people you want to help.

3

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Wedio rents equipment to content creators and filmmakers. Here is the company’s best pieces of advice for tech entrepreneurs.

I want our employees to always have our members in mind. That is why we refer to our »Visitors« as »Guests«, and our »Users« as »Members«. In this way, we try to humanize our online community in a simple way.

the world, and online there are no physical boundaries. In digital marketplaces, there is typically only one global winner in the end: the player who first achieves international networking effects. You do not know two AirBnB’s, do you?

Accept the 80% rule As a startup, you are in a race against time. For that treason, it is important to constantly work with MVPs (Minimum Viable Product ed.) in the early stages of your entrepreneurial journey.

Of course, there is a limit to how ugly and flawed things can be, but it will often take you twice as long to go from 80 per cent done to 100 per cent done - while the last 20 per cent rarely provide double value for your business.

15 hour workdays are bullshit Yes, there are days and weekends where we have to give something extra - Wedio is not going to become the world’s largest community for creators while we sleep. But personally, I do not believe that you as an entrepreneur should work around the clock for several years in a row.

In startups, quick decisions often have to be made, and you are best placed to do so if you have the energy to think clearly. Therefore, we must prioritize leisure activities that give us energy right now I am building a Tiny House with my girlfriend, for example. I’m not saying you should do the same, but in my opinion, it’s incredibly important to build a culture in the company where it’s okay to prioritize the activities that give the team energy - whether it’s yoga, cooking, trekking or something fourth.

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Think beyond the Danish Law of Jante It can be challenging to communicate global ambitions and dreams of worldwide visions when we come from a city like Aarhus. But it is necessary if you are a tech company.

Tech companies (and to a large extent two-sided marketplaces like Wedio) compete with similar platforms from around

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Sponsored: This article is made in collaboration with Food & Bio Cluster Denmark and Agro Food Park.

The food of tomorrow is being invented at Agro Food Park.

On a field north of Aarhus, they invent the food and agriculture of the future If the food production of the future is to be sustainable, it requires a wealth of new solutions and technologies. Agro Food Park brings together the entire industry in Skejby north of Aarhus, so they can invent the future together.

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he pallet stacked with liquorice drinks comes fresh from the bottling plant, and this is the first time the new soft drink has to stand the test in front of potential customers. But that does not make Omar Jarkas’ hands shake: He smiles and confidently invites visitors at the Aarhus Townhall event to taste the goods. »The feedback has been super positive.

They ask why no one has thought of it

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before and most say it is something they would like to buy. And that is a good sign,« he says.

Jarkas has tried his hand as a tech entrepreneur twice before, but at the beginning of the year, he reinvented himself as a food entrepreneur who develops a liquorice-flavoured soft drink with the company Liqofresh. »The idea comes all the way from my childhood: I love liquorice, and the first

Grow Aarhus 2022

Omar Jarkas Founder of Liqofresh

time I visited my parents’ homeland, I discovered that in Syria they have a traditional drink made of liquorice root.

And it surprised me: How do they know about it in Syria? I only thought it was in Scandinavia that people loved liquorice,« Jarkas says.

After falling in love with the drink himself, he brought it to Denmark, where he has drunk it for many years.

And now he believes that it is time to introduce the Danes to this new kind of soft drink in the fridge. »We love liquorice in Denmark. Now it’s time for us to not only eat liquorice, but also drink liquorice« he says.

A united ecosystem in Skejby Agro Food Park north of Aarhus has not received the same attention as fintech in Copenhagen or robots on Funen. But since 2009, the environment has grown from being a bare field in Skejby to a powerful innovation environment with over 80 companies and 1,200 employees in a Danish position of strength with huge growth potential. An environment Omar Jarkas immediately sought out after founding Liqofresh. »For entrepreneurs, it is incredibly valuable to be in Agro Food Park. It is a strong knowledge environment where innovation takes place both in the individual companies and across the companies that are located here. The proximity makes it easy for the small companies to enter into a dialogue with the larger and established companies,« Anne-Marie Hansen, CEO of Agro Food Park, says.

The park already counts 50,000 square meters, and another 8,000 are on the way - all dedicated to the work of creating new, interesting foods and finding solutions on how to produce more sustainably in the future. And Food & Bio Cluster Denmark makes sure the impressive ecosystem has the business-relevant content to fit its impressive exterior. Not least aimed at the startup companies in their incubator. »We meet the entrepreneurs’ needs.

With our 1:1 sparring with them, we agree on the efforts needed for them to grow. It can be anything from connecting them with knowledge institutions, finding fund-

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The idea to create Liqofresh came from Syria, the homeland of Jarkas’ parents.

Anne-Marie Hansen, CEO of Agro Food Park, believes the park is of great value to the entrepreneurs.

ing opportunities or testing facilities to the development of their business plan, financial planning and connection to investors,« Kathrine Lykke Kirk, Innovation Manager at Food & Bio Cluster Denmark, explains.

The cluster has more than 360 members, and 40 employees are ready to help with specific industry knowledge and a wide network. In this way, they facilitate a cross-grafting of innovation between the members.

Making sustainability profitable Food entrepreneurship is many things. New soft drinks from Liqofresh or Sparkly Drinks and self-driving tractors from AgroIntelli.

Wine gum made from rosé by Sweetkynd and a new method for sustainable cultivation of seaweed on land. The latter is developed by the startup Pure Algae.

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Sponsored: This article is made in collaboration with Food & Bio Cluster Denmark and Agro Food Park.

Food & Bio Cluster Denmark •

•

•

Food & Bio Cluster Denmark is Denmark‘s new national cluster for food and bio-resources. The cluster was created to strengthen knowledgebased innovation and knowledge collaboration across the entire value chain - in Denmark and internationally.

The cluster has over 360 members - from young startups like KlimaMad and DeliDrop over forward-thinking scaleups like AgroIntelli and Fieldsense to industry giants like Arla and Seges.

The cluster is headquartered in Agro Food Park in Skejby north of Aarhus and operates the incubator here, where 20 startups currently reside.

In addition, the cluster has offices in a further nine locations throughout Denmark. Read more at www.foodbiocluster.dk.

Fish farming on land is gaining ground in response to overfishing in the oceans, but there is an accumulation of CO2 and nutrients in the water where the fish live.

Here, the company has seen the opportunity to utilize the discharge as a resource to grow seaweed in the same cycle as, for example, land-based fish farming. »We create circular production, where emissions become a revenue stream. We have made it profitable for aquaculture to be part of the green transition. They should not ask themselves how much it costs to become sustainable. They have to ask themselves what they can earn from it,« Esben Christiansen, founder and CEO of Pure Algae, explains.

Instead of filtering CO2 and nutrients from the water and then discharging it, the startup transfers the water to a bioreactor, where the nutrients are used to grow seaweed. Thanks to the startup’s patented system, they ensure stable and scalable growth of the seaweed, which can then be used for food or animal feed - and thus constitute a stable, additional income. »We want to revolutionize the traditional way of thinking about food production.

Instead of looking at how many resources the production takes, we want to look at how much one can regenerate through production. Among other things, by using the excess resources from fish farming and converting them into food in the form of seaweed,« Christiansen says.

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Pure Algae turns emissions from the aquaculture into seaweed - and a new revenuestream.

Grow Aarhus 2022

Beyond Beta wants to realise the unicorn potential of food and bioresources

Beyond Beta is an incubator that combines scaling startups with industry-specific networks.

Omar Jarkas from Liqofresh is part on the first batch.

A new, ambitious incubator program helps food and bio startups scale - even when the founder does not have 15 years of industry experience.

Denmark has a position of strength in food and bio-resources. A large number of successful, Danish companies have already established themselves as global leaders in their respective fields, and at Food & Bio Cluster Denmark they work to help more entrepreneurs become equally successful.

As part of their efforts, the cluster has launched the incubation program Beyond Beta in collaboration with Accelerace, which will give new, ambitious entrepreneurs the best conditions to

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succeed internationally. »It is an offer for entrepreneurs in food and bio that can move them quickly and efficiently towards scaling. The program is based on knowledge of how to generally scale companies, combined with specific knowledge from the industry. And that is what makes it the world’s best offer for food entrepreneurs,« Jacob Mogensen, Head of Incubation at Food & Bio Cluster Denmark, says.

A shortcut to success in the industry The first cohort of 14 companies has just been accepted into the incubator, and they have each been given their own, tailor-made program.

»We believe we can make an impactful difference for these entrepreneurs as we have more than 360 members behind us. At the same time, we work directly with universities, and our 40 talented colleagues are ready to help with their broad network, deep knowledge and extensive experience,« Mogensen says.

Through Beyond Beta, entrepreneurs can, among other things, get their solutions tested and validated with potential customers. That way, the program helps entrepreneurs from idea to market much faster. »The food industry must be digitized and green-transformed - and here experience and knowledge from other industries are really what the sector needs. With the program, entrepreneurs don’t need 15 years of experience in the industry; if only you are ambitious, we will help you out with the things you do not know,« he says.

Potential for a unicorn The participants in Beyond Beta spans from entrepreneurs with a good idea on paper to companies that already have millions in sales. However, they all have one important thing in common: they want to create a large, international business. »It’s not about being the best in Thy or in Jutland. They must at least be the best in Europe in their field. This is the mindset, and the goal is to foster some unicorns in our industry - there is no doubt about that,« Mogensen says.

Beyond Beta The incubator combines the best experience of scaling startups in general with an industry-specific network and know-how from Food & Bio Cluster Denmark. The program’s duration and scope is customised for the individual company based on 5 basic packages: • • • • •

Startup food Reg: Keep track of relevant food regulations Industry-specific incubator: The optimal framework for a growth journey.

Feasibility Voucher: A voucher worth DKK 75,000 for the purchase of relevant knowledge Lead-user network: Market validation through potential core customers Hands-on go to market: Channel selection and market introduction.

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Fieldsense helps farmers adapt to the weather - and create better produce.

Danish startup is providing farmers with a direct line to the weather gods The Danish spin-out from Aarhus University, Fieldsense, will, with the roll-out of their mobile weather stations, make it easier for farmers to adapt to hyperlocal weather conditions and streamline their agricultural businesses.

By Erik Lillelund

A

lthough most things these days can be turned on and off with an iPhone, the weather is still one of the few mysteries left on this earth. We just can not control it. Sometimes not even predict it.

It is no wonder gods throughout history have symbolized the weather; from Zeus’ lightning to Thor’s unpredictable thunder. Rain, snow and sun - the weather is one of the few things many - especially farmers - still pray to God for.

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But maybe that is about to change. The Aarhus-startup Fieldsense has with great success developed a mobile weather station that farmers can install in their fields and thus get an overview of the hyperlocal weather situation in real time.

That way, they can see from home if it is too windy to crop spray in a field 20 kilometers away, and instead concentrate on other work tasks that day. »It is essential for farmers, for example to know if they can drive in their

fields, if there are local showers on the way or have already been, and if the wind conditions are optimal in terms of spraying - or if you just throw money out the window. Running a farm is a really complex logistical exercise and extremely weather dependent. With our solution, the lives of farmers will be a little easier,« says John Smedegaard, CEO and Co-founder of Fieldsense.

Fieldsense considers themselves a data platform for the farmer. Using

Grow Aarhus 2022

various data sources, the platform allows users to analyze the entire agriculture and get information about both air pressure, humidity, evaporation and the amount of light in addition to of course wind and weather. From there, farmers can make better and more efficient decisions about everything from when to harvest to whether the crops still have too much moisture from local rain for it to make sense to crop spray them. »We do not need to be the most accurate in Paris or Berlin. But out in a field, in the middle of nowhere, we want to be the best,« Smedegaard says.

More weather stations mean better predictions The next layer of data on the platform comes from satellites, which are used to locate which areas of the field need more care. Combined with the accurate weather data, it provides farmers with a range of completely new tools that makes the logistics of running a farm more efficient. »It used to be said that there is a farmer in every family when you go back two generations, but that’s not the case anymore. They can no longer call and ask the neighboring farm how the weather is at their place,« John Smedegaard says.

Fieldsense has recently completed a successful investment round led by the commodity group Danish Agro as well as the venture capital fund Rockstart and the Pajbjerg Fund as co-investors. Among other things, the investment will be used to consolidate its position in the market. »We want as much history as possible, which is why we are expanding aggressively. Because our platform uses machine learning for forecasts, it constantly becomes more accurate by being able to observe conditions historically over time and across national borders. We can not just set up a lot of stations in Denmark and then hope to make a forecast in Finland,« the Fieldsense CEO says.

Datafarmers As weather conditions in large parts of the world change, it is becoming increasingly important for farmers to be able to predict and adapt to the circumstances. Especially when it comes to one’s livelihood.

According to the Fieldsense founder, local weather stations are part of a tech wave that is sweeping across the sector

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John Smedegaard, CEO at Fieldsense

Fieldsense’s data-platform designed for farmers

as agricultural farms get bigger and bigger, but also more and more rare. »I feel as though we are part of a revolution. Besides meteorologists, I would say that farmers have the best sense of the weather. And right now we’re seeing a wave of farmers or data farmers using data in a whole new way to run their farms. Some have up to 17 weather stations and it is really impressive how extensive their scientific knowledge is,« Smedegaard describes.

And that knowledge will only become more important in the future, where fewer hands will have to supply more produce. »There are fewer and fewer in agriculture, and at the same time consumers expect the price not to rise. In order to solve this, a lot of new tools are needed that can streamline and optimize operations. We are not the whole solution - but we are part of the solution,« John Smedegaard says.

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Sponsored: This article is made in collaboration with Farmbrella.

Farmbrella unites the agricultural sector By working together, the agricultural sector can co-create the solutions to meet the challenges facing the globe. Farmbrella Group builds the networking platform uniting agriculture worldwide.

I

n Agro Food Park near Aarhus, one of the world’s largest AgTech clusters is taking shape. Agtech companies are ready to conquer a world that, according to the UN, in 2050 will have to feed 9.7 billion mouths. This must be done at the same time as agriculture has to provide lasting solutions to the climate challenge and meet an increasing demand for energy.

Agriculture has what it takes to develop the world more sustainably, but if it is to succeed, it requires entrepreneurial agricultural companies to work together worldwide. In the Aarhus company Farmbrella Group, with Christina Yding Hahn Elgaard at the helm, a diverse team of entrepreneurs works to create the missing

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link; a worldwide networking platform for directors and managers in the agro-sector. »Farmbrella Group is the first company in the agro-sector to embark on the great digitalisation transformation. There have been others before us, but no one has yet succeeded,« Christina Yding Hahn Elgaard, CEO of Farmbrella Group, says.

In May 2022, Farmbrella’s platform reached 1,000 users, and that number must now grow rapidly under the leadership of CEO Christina Yding Hahn Elgaard, CCO Jakob Tilma, CTO Martin Kollerup and CSM Bjarke Eg Sørensen, who all have experience helping startups. »We are a very complex team; we are four very different leaders both personally

Christina Yding Hahn Elgaard CEO i Farmbrella Group

Grow Aarhus 2022

and competently, and the entire founder team is a mix of young and experienced, women and men, because the statistics tell us mixed teams achieve the best results,« Christina Yding Hahn Elgaard explains.

Two investment rounds in one year In the autumn of 2021 Farmbrella Group was nominated for EY Entrepreneur of the year by Vækstfonden, and even though the startup did not win, the networkers were invited to pitch for DanBan at Danske Bank in Aarhus based on the nomination where the team brought home investments and competencies from DanBan and DanBAN’s Co-investment Fund.

At Vækstfonden, director of agricultural affairs, Lene Gade Hovmøller, has noticed a global demand for green solutions in the fields of energy technology, food, agricultural technology, environmental technology, and more. And the potential in the agro-sector, according to the director, is great. This is an opportunity to create new leaders in the agro-sector.

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»In Denmark, we are at the forefront of solving the world’s both short and long term climate challenges. At Vækstfonden, we see many of the new sustainable companies that have emerged in recent years to solve core challenges in traditional industries,« says Lene Gade Hovmøller, who finds and invests in the companies that ‘Denmark must not miss,’ and in that category she has placed Farmbrella Group. »Farmbrella is one of those companies, who, with its network platform, can contribute to connecting players from the entire food cluster - and thus help create relationships between competencies and capital,« Gade Hovmøller says on the Aarhus-based AgTech company.

Despite strong growth, the agricultural network is far from ready to reap the success, which in December led to a valuation after the latest investment round of more than 20 DKK million. The ambition is now to use machine learning to create a global professional network; Denmark is just the first of many mar-

kets on Farmbrella Group’s road map. »At Farmbrella Group, we are expanding the professional networks used in finding new business partners or the way into the next boardroom. But we are in the process of building an AI recruiter, so that we will soon be able to assemble boards and networks based on competencies using artificial intelligence (AI), in order to unite agriculture worldwide,« Christina Yding Hahn Elgaard explains.

FAKTA About Farmbrella Group Farmbrella Group aims to globally transform the dynamics of the agro sector through increased knowledge sharing and by creating and developing professional networks.

Agriculture in numbers According to FAO, agriculture globally had a total value of $3.4 billion by 2020, and 884 million people were employed directly in agriculture worldwide.

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Investors are eyeing the potential in Aarhus 30

Grow GrowAarhus Aarhus 2022

Henrik Kristensen, Investment Associate, Dreamcraft

Ekatarina Gianelli, partner i Inventure

Even with a great product and a strong team it can be hard for Aarhus-based startups to raise venture capital. And according to two venture funds, which have recently turned their interest to Aarhus, this is a shame, as there is potential for much more in Aarhus.

By Anna Bernsen

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here is great potential in Aarhus as an entrepreneurial city.

And the potential is greater than what is actually being realized right now. This is how Henrik Kristensen, Investment Associate in the venture capital fund Dreamcraft, sees his hometown. »There is room for bigger ambitions in Aarhus when it comes to attracting investment and growth. Right now, there is a lot of activity among the business angels in Aarhus, while I’ve also noticed a greater interest from venture capital funds in general,« Kristensen says.

Dreamcraft, which primarily invests in companies at the pre-seed and seed stage, is located in Copenhagen, but has previously invested in three Aarhus-based companies: Lead Famly, Organic Basics and ArtBoost. »As a fund, we really want to invest in Aarhus and contribute to building the city’s ecosystem. I know that The Link, among others, is working hard on this agenda, and that is very positive.

This was expressed, for example, at the Townhall event at the end of April, where

investors and founders met across the board. It was a huge success,« Kristensen says and elaborates: «Today we also experience that the startup environment in Aarhus is a bit fragmented, so the environment would benefit from more organization and a single point of entry where you really feel the city’s entrepreneurial pulse.« Aarhus lacks tech talent The Finnish venture capital fund Inventure is also focusing on Denmark.

Although the fund has not yet invested in an Aarhus-born startup, the fund’s next investment could very well be in a company from the City of Smiles, as the town is also known as. »Great companies can come from anywhere, and multiple founders from all over the country, including Aarhus, have already proven that,« Gianelli says.

Ekatarina Gianelle has first-hand experience with Danish companies, as she has been involved in Inventure’s investment in the skin care company Nøie. Therefore, she has also noticed one of the challenges that the Danish

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Biggest Aarhus-investments: Company: Date:

Amount:

Lunar 07/2021 DKK 1.560.000.000 Lunar 03/2022 DKK 520.000.000 Muna Therapeutics 09/2021 DKK 450.000.000 Pento 12/2021 DKK 230.000.000 InCommodities 09/2021 DKK 100.000.000 Chromaviso 11/2021 DKK 37.000.000 iSD Immunotech 10/2021 DKK 35.000.000 Capturi 08/2021 DKK 30.000.000 Fieldsense 02/2021 DKK 21.000.000 Fenagy A/S 07/2021 DKK 19.000.000 Kanda 08/2021 DKK 13.000.000 Spiio 02/2021 DKK 10.000.000 Kilde: Startupaarhus.com

the social media Flink, which is closed today. He therefore knows what challenges founding a startup come with. »I wish I had a deeper understanding of what the venture journey looks like back then. Because if you want to raise venture capital, it is crucial that you know how to prioritize your time and how much ownership you need to keep at the various stages of the journey,« Kristensen says.

He therefore encourages founders to spend time talking to venture funds from the very beginning so that they get a better insight into what the funds are looking for and what requirements they have. If this is not an option, companies can talk to others in the environment who have already received an investment. »In terms of ownership, we see that some founders own too little of their company in the very early stages for someone like Dreamcraft to invest in them. At the seed level, the founders must own about 80 percent of the company so we can be sure that they will not be too diluted on the journey towards a major exit,« Kristensen says.

If Aarhus is to live up to its potential and bring home large investments, it is a matter of educating the entrepreneurial environment as a whole. And then the city will begin to see positive outcomes. »We have to set the city up for success.

Once the environment is kickstarted, the good cases will become role models for new good cases. And those who successfully exit great companies and receive a lot of funds will hopefully invest it back into the environment. It will be really exciting to follow the Aarhus startup environment,« Kristensen says.

Aarhus in numbers •

entrepreneurial environment faces. »What remains to be one of the biggest challenges Danish tech companies face is attraction and retention of the top talent, especially when it comes to product leadership, growth, and commercial roles. The competition for top talent is global. It’s not easy to convince people with relevant experience to relocate to

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Copenhagen, and even more difficult to attract them to the hubs outside of the capital region. And so, this area needs extra attention,« Gianelli says.

Educating the startups Before Henrik Kristensen joined Dreamcraft in 2020, he himself was on an Aarhus-based entrepreneurial journey with

•

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Aarhus has produced three unicorns: Just Eat, Trustpilot and Lunar In total, the approximately 7,600 Aarhus-founded companies have attracted more than $530 million the past year.

Denmark is ranked at number 7 on the Global Innovation Index, a worldwide index that measures the countries‘ capacity for, and success in, innovation

Source: Startup Aarhus

Grow Aarhus 2022

Sponsored: This article is made in collaboration with Founderment

Founderment after the first year as a boutique fund:

When are startups ready for investment?

Denmark or the Nordics. Of course, it is important that the founders are skilled in their industry, but my thesis is that you can train for skills within a domain - it is more difficult to learn the visionary aspect.« Anders Boelskifte Mogensen: »They must have a robustness that enables them to cope with the ups and downs of the entrepreneurial journey and they must have some prerequisites for building big.« The good and the bad, honestly Christian: »Two founders can be great together, but they do not know everything.

They must have the insight to say: We need help. We have several meetings with founders before we invest, where we show ourselves as honestly as possible, and we expect founders to share both the good and the bad with us in return. That is the only way we can help them at this early stage - and if they are honest about their shortcomings we are much better prepared to help them when things go wrong - and things will go wrong on this journey.« Anders: »And here, of course, it helps to be physically close to each other, so you can look each other in the eyes. It is not a limiting factor if we can’t, but it just adds something to the relationship.«

Anders Boelskifte Mogensen and Christian Vinther from the venture fund Founderment

Aarhus lacks an early-stage venture fund based in the city.

This was the opinion of the serial entrepreneurs Anders Boelskifte Mogensen and Christian Schwarz Lausten, and therefore they launched the boutique fund Founderment in collaboration with Heartland last year. A fund that has a special focus on supporting the growth companies and entrepreneurial talents of the future in Aarhus.

N

ine investments later, we have asked Investment Director Christian Vinther and Anders Boelskifte Mogensen what they have learned about finding investment-ready startups after their first year.

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Grand ambitions needed Christian Vinther: »There is an insane amount of talent in Aarhus. However, there might be missing something in the scale of their visions: daring to think big and not just want to build a company for

Human Due Diligence Christian: »Our due diligence is actually quite light in relation to market material and market data. As we invest right around the creation of a startup, the human due diligence is much more crucial. So here, we go to great lengths. But of course, in addition to the characteristics of the founders, we also focus on creating a business in a large market that in the long run can return our investment many times over.« Anders: »We need to see integrity, ambition and willpower in the founders - we need to see that they can handle some of the disciplines in the startup game they enter. It’s not because we have a checkbox, and there are huge differences between founders, but there must be some traits for success. So far, the combination of both technical and business-oriented founders has proven to be a good match for us. And then, of course, we want to associate with some talented people, who can teach us something, so that it is not just someone who has to learn from us.«

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When Rune Mai founded Spiir in 2011, he quickly learned that he was on his own. There was no ecosystem to benefit from.

Aarhus’ veterans are building tomorrow’s ecosystem When Clearhaus and Spiir were founded more than ten years ago, there was no significant fintech environment in either Aarhus or the rest of Denmark.

But much has changed with the veterans’ commitment to the environment.

By Anna Bernsen

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I

n 2011, fintech was still a foreign concept to the vast majority of Danes, including those who worked in the financial sector. Nevertheless, it was fintech that both Claus Christensen and Rune Mai dealt with when they founded Clearhaus and Spiir, respectively, in 2011. »It was an exciting time. But we also quickly learned that we were on our own.

There was no environment, nowhere to get funding, and there were few business angels. So we created Spiir with the mentality that we had to build everything from scratch, so we funded the company ourselves the first year,« says Rune Mai,

who co-founded Spiir with Guðmundur Hreiðarsson, an app that helps its users get a financial overview.

Still, Spiir grew rapidly. Three months after launch, the platform had 10,000 users, and after one year, there were 60,000 users. However, the success is only due to the founders and them thinking outside the box. »We hyped the product by making it invite only in the beginning. We distributed the keys on social media, so if people talked about us, whether it was positive or negative, they got a key. We created a hype on social media before

Grow Aarhus 2022

Claus Christensen and Clearhaus has been highly motivated to stay in Aarhus due to the world class university.

people used it to post anything other than baby pictures,« Mai says.

One year after launch, Spiir got investor Lars Kolind on board, while Mette Reismann, who at the time had participated as an expert in several seasons of the TV program Luksusfælden, also became a shareholder. However, this did not change the fact that it was difficult to secure investments.

I pitched and pitched, but no one bought in. There was almost no willingness to take risks among investors at the time. However, that has changed.

Today, we see venture capital funds and business angels compete against each other,« Mai says.

Clearhaus stays in Aarhus Claus Christensen also recognises the image of a non-existent fintech environment and reluctant investors back in 2011.

This is also the reason why it took four years from Clearhaus’ foundation until the company went live with their first payment solution. »It took us a long time to raise capital. So we spent the first few years building our systems and preparing to go live. When we finally got the last investment in 2014, we were able to launch the following year.

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Many would probably think it took too long, but we simply could not raise that money at a faster pace. If I had to do it again, I would probably have boarded a plane to London,« says Claus Christensen, co-founder and CEO of Clearhaus.

Once Clearhaus had gone live, things sped up. During the first five months, the company onboarded approximately 1,000 webshop customers. At that time, there was a total of approximately 20-25,000 webshops in Denmark. So, all in all, Christensen does not regret that Clearhaus stayed in Aarhus. »Our motivation for being in the city is Aarhus University, because there is a really good environment around the school and several relevant tech programs. That is why we have always had a really strong recruitment basis, and this is also the reason why we’ve never considered moving the development department out of the city, for example,« Christensen says.

The start of an ecosystem Today, however, both Rune Mai and Claus Christensen see the beginning of a fintech ecosystem in Aarhus - and both founders are contributing to the system.

Rune Mai is involved in The Kitchen, an entrepreneurial hub created by

Aarhus University that offers workshops and an accelerator program, among other things. »From the start, we wanted to build a fintech ecosystem in the city, which is why I am involved in The Kitchen today.

Here, I work as a kind of mentor for the entrepreneurs, because I think it’s super cool that you can get help from someone who has already built a startup, and who is now helping the new generation,« Mai says.

When Clearhaus was acquired in 2021 by the payment company Unzer.com and the investment company KKR, the company moved into an 8,000 square meter building. Today, a total of five different fintech companies are located in the building - and there is room for more. »The building now houses the beginning of an ecosystem, because we give each other input on anything needed,« Christensen says, and and continues: »In the rest of the city, some founders have made their first exits, so some of the money is now being channeled into new businesses. There probably aren’t a lot of founders who cash their check and move to the Bahamas. A lot of entrepreneurs are driven by starting new, good companies.«

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Sponsored: This article is made in collaboration with Copenhagen Fintech

Copenhagen Fintech: Financial technology is also a position of strength in Aarhus Its name starts with Copenhagen, but Copenhagen Fintech has always been an organisation for all Danish fintechs. The competition is international, which makes it crucial to stand united.

F Simon Schou Chief Innovation Officer i Copenhagen Fintech

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intech has exploded in popularity.

Neo-banks and digitized versions of the banking products we already know have been followed by completely new financial solutions and tools. »Fintech is cool tech solutions that make life better for ordinary people and ordinary companies. Innovation comes from many places; from large banks but increasingly also from startups. And there is no doubt that Denmark has a position of strength here - which also applies to Aarhus,« Simon Schou, Chief Innovation Officer at Copenhagen Fintech, says.

Companies like Lunar, Aiia and Clearhaus are already showing the fintech-pondus in Aarhus, and new, aspiring startups and scaleups are emerging in the city as well. And for Copenhagen Fintech, it is important that it does turn into a regional battle in Denmark as the real competition is on the international stage.

community, where, among others, Anyday, Vibrant and Quickpay have already moved in - and Copenhagen Fintech would very much like to support that.

A unifying powerhouse Users as well as stakeholders in the financial ecosystem - such as banks and insurance companies - are spread across the country. For Copenhagen Fintech, the task is to connect the dots into one national powerhouse for fintech. »Danish fintech is a great, international growth success, and one of the reasons is that we have joined forces across the ecosystem. From there, we have been able to create new networks - both horizontally and vertically as well as nationally and globally. We see ourselves as the platform that wants to connect and create the networks it takes to achieve success,« Schou says.

The organization runs the community Copenhagen Fintech Lab in Copenhagen, but that does not mean that all startups have to move to the capital. In Aarhus, Clearhaus is creating a similar fintech

A global enabler Both Cardly from Odense, Subaio from Aalborg and Lunar from Aarhus have been part of Copenhagen Fintech since the organization was created. Although the companies are operated from different parts of the country, the goal of the fintech organization is to bring them onto the internal stage. »Fintech is a very, very global game, and we focus on positioning both Denmark and the Nordic region in that field.

It requires a strong organization with the whole country behind it - and we have fortunately achieved this through our strong partners,« Schou says and adds: »We have a wide range of different programs and activities for fintech entrepreneurs at all levels. We want dialogue with all fintech projects - they are always very welcome to reach out to me or one of my colleagues at Copenhagen Fintech.«

Despite the name, Copenhagen Fintech is for all parts of Denmark.

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Aarhusstartups to watch

Turning phones into a gateway for payments NAME

Vibrant

Sum eici ut mi, occatem qui odi quis quo everum dolupta tquam, cusFounded sequamccatem 2020 qui odi quis quo everum dolupta tqusolecte mporeperum re nat.

Sum eici ut mi, occatem qui odi quis quo everum dolupta tquam, cus sequamccatem quis quo everum dolupta With nothing more than an app,qui the odi fintech-startup Vibrant turns any tqusolecteinto mporeperum re nat. smartphone a payment terminal.

The World of Warcraft killer from Aarhus NAME

Bright Star Studios

Sum eici ut mi, occatem qui odi quis quo everum dolupta tquam, cusFounded sequamccatem 2018 qui odi quis quo everum dolupta tqusolecte mporeperum re nat.

This makes it easy for any business to accept payments without investing in any hardware. At the same time, Vibrant.io makes it easy to transfer the sales data to any accounting software in order to make accounting a breeze.

Former Lix co-founder Kasper Enggaard Krog is at the helm of the startup, and its ambitious goal is to reach 250.000 users within three years.

Easy reselling for fashion brands NAME

Greate2Stay

Sum eici ut mi, occatem qui odi quis quo everum dolupta tquam, cusFounded sequamccatem 2021 qui odi quis quo everum dolupta tqusolecte mporeperum re nat.

Ember Sword is the first game from Aarhus-based Bright Star Studios, and it is on a mission to challenge World of Warcraft (WoW) as the top Sum eici uttitle mi,inoccatem odigenre quisMMORPG. quo everum dolupta the videoqui game tquam, cus sequamccatem odiWoW-professional, quis quo everumthe dolupta Apart from their founder being a qui former studio has a few technical tricks up mporeperum its sleeve: The game is playable from a tqusolecte re nat. browser making it super accessible, it ups the entertainment with an AIdriven game master and they use blockchain technology to provide an open economy inside the game.

The latter has allowed the studio to sell and receive preorders for digital real estate inside the game, which has led to DKK 1.3 billion in sales.

And that is before the game is even launched.

Sum eici ut mi, occatem qui odi quis quo everum dolupta

tquam, cuswants sequamccatem quishopping odi quis easy quo by everum dolupta Create2Stay to make circular allowing fashion brands to tqusolecte enter the resale market without all the hassle. mporeperum re nat.

When customers are done using their clothes they simply send them back to the brand instead of just throwing them away. The startup takes care of the trade-in and reselling to new customers - as well as handling, cleaning and shipping.

This way, fashion brands get to extend the lifespan of their goods while providing a greener future.

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Grow Aarhus 2022

Turns customer conversations NAME into an asset

Capturi

Sum eici ut mi, occatem qui odi quis quo everum dolupta tquam, cusFounded sequamccatem 2020 qui odi quis quo everum dolupta tqusolecte mporeperum re nat.

An on-demand platform for learning Danish

Swap Language

Sum eici ut mi, occatem qui odi quis quo everum dolupta tquam, cusFounded sequamccatem 2017 qui odi quis quo everum dolupta tqusolecte mporeperum re nat.

Sum eici ut mi,Capturi occatem quicompanies odi quis quo everum The AI-startup allows to listen to all dolupta or their tquam, cus sequamccatem odi quis quo to everum customers at the same timequi by using software analysedolupta the tqusolecte mporeperum re nat. conversations.

Unique insights can the extracted from those conversations: how do they like the product, what do they think about competitors, and what does it take to create a better dialogue?

Capturi automatically turns all these insights into measurable value in a GDPR-compliant way and is already working with clients like Coop, Lunar and JP/Politikens Hus.

The startup ecosystem desperately needs foreign talent, but relocating Sum eici ut mi, qui odi quis quoDanish everum dolupta can be hard.

The occatem barrier in front of the weird, language is tquam, cus sequamccatem qui speak odi quis quo and everum dolupta particularly high, and most Danes English are eager to tqusolecte mporeperum re nat. hard. actually speak it - which makes practicing Swap Language offers Danish lessons on-demand based on motivations and real-life scenarios like public transportation, the Danish labour market and Grocery shopping.

Their service is offered as self-study but where the startup really excels is in the corporate environment, where they have already attracted clients such as Normal, Aarhus University and Bestseller.

No more food waste and queue in canteens

Kanpla

Sum eici ut mi, occatem qui odi quis quo everum dolupta tquam, cusFounded sequamccatem 2019 qui odi quis quo everum dolupta tqusolecte mporeperum re nat.

From food waste to valuable protein NAME

Enorm

Sum eici ut mi, occatem qui odi quis quo everum dolupta tquam, cusFounded sequamccatem 2016 qui odi quis quo everum dolupta tqusolecte mporeperum re nat.

Sum eici ut to mi, occatem qui odi experience quis quo everum dolupta Kanpla wants reinvent the canteen by adding a digital tquam, qui odi quis quo everum layer to thecus mixsequamccatem that allows customers to preorder and pay fordolupta their food tqusolecteusing mporeperum re nat. an app.

For the canteens, Kanpla’s SaaS platform includes tools to minimize food waste, digital sales channels and valuable insights and data that can be used to optimize their business.

The startup is currently helping 300 canteens in Denmark, and the startup-accelerator and investor Accelerace recently named Kanpla as one of the “most likely to become a unicorn.”

Sum eici ut mi, occatem qui odi quis quo everum dolupta tquam, cus sequamccatem qui odi quisdemanding quo everum Both humans, fish and pigs are increasingly moredolupta protein mporeperum nat. is to be sourced and insects is antqusolecte obvious place to look if the re protein

sustainably.

This is exactly what Enorm has been doing for years, and today they are running their own biofactory where food waste is turned into fibres and valuable protein with a little help from larvas.

Looking into the future, insects provide a wealth of sustainable business models in the food industry.

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There is a lot at stake

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Book a meeting at erhvervshusmidtjylland.dk This is how we helped NewRetex With help from Business Hub Central Denmark NewRetex will build a sorting mechanism for textiles. It sorts in colors and qualities so the textile waste can be recycled and used again.

“The consultant from Business Hub Central Denmark provides great help and is always ready with input and good ideas. Among other things, she offered help to apply for a digitalization boost, so we can reach our goals faster, ” says entrepreneur Rikke Bech.

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