How to get funding for you startup in Denmark

Nicolaj Højer Nielsen has an impressive track record as both a serial entrepreneur and an investor in Denmark.  He has co-founded, among other businesses, CodeSealer and Sepior, and invested in many Danish startups, such as Penneo.  Read his crash course on how to get financing for your business in Denmark.

I am often asked by both the Danish entrepreneurs and foreigners who have moved to Denmark about the different options available to finance a start-up company. Therefore, here is a brief guide on how to find investment.

Business angels

Many business angels prefer to invest in joint ventures, and Denmark is no exception, and there are four regional networks for business angels in Denmark, who entrepreneurs can reach out to and pitch their ideas. The networks are:

• Business Angels Copenhagen
• Switzr Midt/Nordjylland
• BAN InVest Vestdanmark
• Business Angels Syddanmark

For a variety of reasons, there are some business angels, who are not members of these formal networks.  For example, many business angels already have very large personal network, and therefore do not need the exposure and the leads that the networks can offer. It’s a little more challenging to find these business angels, but you can try DVCA, the Danish Venture Capital Association.  This organization is for both Danish venture funds and business angels.  On their members list, you can find many business angels, who are not active in the official networks listed above.

There are, of course, business angels, who are not members of DVCA. Many of the most successful IT entrepreneurs in Denmark, who now invest their fortunes in new digital startups, are part of this group.  Below are the names of some of these entrepreneurs-turned-investors.

• Morten Lund (Skype)
• Jesper Buch (Just Eat)
• Martin Thorborg (Amino, Jubii, etc.)
• Morten Wagner (Freeway)
• Tommy Ahlers (Podio)
• Janus Friis (Skype)
• Ditlev Bredal (UK2)
• Morten Strunge (Onfone)
• Thomas Madsen-Mygdal (Podio)
• Mads Peter Veiby (M1)
• Thor Angelo (LanguageWire)
• Kaare Danielsen (Jobindex)
• Moonis Kamil (Onfone)
• Niels Henrik Rasmussen (Secunia)
• Lars Torpe (Mach)
• Klaus Nyengaard (Just Eat)

The best way to contact these investors is to look at startups they have previously financed and figure out who might be a good fit for your business.  You can easily find this information through news articles, such as those on Trendsonline (in Danish), or business databases such as Proff.dk.

Public innovation centers

In order to bridge the “valley of death” for start-up companies, the Danish government has decided to run a number of public innovation centers. These think and act almost like venture funds, but invest much earlier than conventional VCs. The average first investment round is typically 3-4 million Danish crowns.

Until 2014, there were six centers across the country, which predominantly invested locally. The centers were merged last year into four centers, which now invest more nationally.  The centers are spread out across major business regions.

• Pre-Seed Innovation (Copenhagen – affilliated with SEED Capital)
• CAPNOVA (Århus/Roskilde)
• Syddansk Teknologisk Innovation (Odense/Taastrup)
• Borean Innovation (Aalborg/Herning)

Venture funds

Naturally, Denmark also has real venture funds. Here’s a list of the most active:

• SEED Capital (IT, Medtech)
• Sunstone Capital (IT, life sciences)
• Northcap (IT)
• VF Venture (business growth fund)
• Northzone (IT)
• Novo Ventures (life sciences)
• Lundbeckfond Ventures (life sciences)
• Creandum (Swedish venture fund, which is also active in Denmark)

Accelerator programs

A startup Accelerator invests usually invests smaller sums of money, but participation in such programs is often a turning point for many startups.  The exposure and mentorship found in accelerator programs can help startups tremendously in raising funding.

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There has been an explosion of such programs in recent years in Denmark.  The two leading programs are:

• Startup Bootcamp (the Danish program is focused on mobile technology)
• Accelerace (several focus areas)

Get a loan

Like any entrepreneur, banks in general are reluctant to lend money to start-up companies that have not yet proven their business model.  The Danish Growth Fund has two options to overcome this obstacle that may be relevant to start-up companies.

• Vækstlån
• Vækstkaution

Although the above list is brief, and therefore not exhaustive, I Hope it can be a helpful starting point for entrepreneurs seeking funding in Denmark.

Read the original blog post here.