“We take founders from the drawing board to the market”

There are plenty of challenges in the world. That is why young venture studio Black Capital Ventures is working every day to make the future look a little brighter than it did yesterday.

“We don’t get involved in projects that make the world a worse place than it was yesterday. Therefore, we only invest our time and capital in startups that make a difference - primarily in healthtech and greentech, which are the two areas where we can create the most impact,” says Stefan K. Johansen, CEO and founder of Black Capital Ventures.

In many ways, the venture studio is a little different. Because BCV likes to work with founders who have first-hand experience with the problem they want to solve or improve. This approach creates strong startups, Johansen explains.

“There is a big difference between founders with a good idea versus founders who have experienced a problem first-hand. The latter have such a strong desire to make a difference that they get the best conditions to succeed. This usually results in a strong company with a clearly defined purpose.”

Founders who are passionate about the cause

Many of the founders of BCV’s portfolio companies come directly from the field, with no previous entrepreneurial experience. That is why the venture studio specialises in building companies from scratch - everything from organisational structure to business plan and scalability - together with the founder.

This was also the case when Steffen Yndal, a former paramedic and founder of the startup HATO Medical Technologies, became frustrated over several years that ECG measurements in ambulances were displayed and transmitted to the hospital in a hopelessly old-fashioned way. This could be done much better, he thought, and in 2021 he approached Black Capital Ventures to solve the problem.

“As a new entrepreneur, there are countless things to learn from scratch. I believe that many first-time entrepreneurs don’t get very far because there is simply no single recipe. BCV specialises in this process and supports entrepreneurs with the necessary knowledge and resources to take a project from idea to finished product and on to success,” explains Steffen Yndal.

From there, BCV and HATO quickly set about developing, designing and producing a prototype for a new ECG methodology that visualises the heart’s key figures, analyses what is wrong and automatically relays the critical information from the ambulance to the cardiologists at the hospital. The parties hope to introduce a regulatory approved solution to the market in 2024.

Ideas from the real world

In the field of healthcare, BCV has proved particularly effective. Currently, the challenges are growing, and many public healthcare organisations are crying out for new solutions and technologies that

Black Capital Ventures

• Founded in 2018 by Stefan K. Johansen

• 6 portfolio companies, 80% of which are in the healthcare sector

• Focus on medtech, healthtech and greentech

Stefan K. Johansen CEO and founder of Black Capital Ventures

can make a difference in everyday life.

“The healthcare system is under pressure because we as a population are living longer with multiple and chronic diseases, while at the same time there is a shortage of healthcare professionals. Therefore, the healthcare system needs to look at new solutions that can make everyday life more efficient. Fortunately, the potential for innovation is huge,” says Kristina Refstrup Sørensen, founder of the startup BeSammen.

As a nurse at Herlev Hospital, she found that the physical grief groups at the hospital were insufficient. Therefore, together with BCV, she is developing a platform that offers patients small digital and intimate grief groups - even after they have been discharged from the hospital.

This solution only emphasises how BCV, in collaboration with the practical knowledge of its founders, can result in new innovation, says Stefan K. Johansen.

“An idea is only good when you can execute it. We take the founder’s sketch and establish a plan for how to build a prototype as quickly as possible using the strong technical competences we have in-house. We like to say that we take founders from the drawing board to the market.”

Sponsored: This article is published in collaboration with Deloitte