Home to many great startups, Denmark's startup ecosystem is lively and thriving. The country is well-known for its ease of doing business, highly educated talent, and great social welfare; giving Danish startups the best fighting chance from the get-go. The entrepreneurial community is also close-knit and approachable; providing many opportunities for founders and teams to tap into various support systems they need. If you're planning to start a business, Denmark is a great choice as startups can take advantage of a variety of startup programs available.
In this article, we have compiled a comprehensive list of all incubator and accelerator programs in Denmark, along with a short overview to help you find a suitable program. The incubators and accelerators in this list have been subdivided into applicability for startups in their 'ideation' or 'launch' stages.
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FULL LIST OF STARTUP INCUBATORS AND ACCELERATORS IN DENMARK
Ideation Stage Startup Incubators in Denmark
Full list of ideation-stage startup incubators in Denmark:
Who is it for: Aspiring entrepreneurs with an idea and seeking cofounder / Early startup with a team
Need to have an idea: Yes
Focus: Game
Game Hub Denmark is a non-profit organization that teaches, develops, and supports game entrepreneurs in order to establish long-term, sustainable game startups. They offer assistance and resources to entrepreneurs that join Game Hub Denmark while making no investment or ownership in the games or businesses they promote. If this is your first time starting a business, they will help you understand how to operate a business, create games as products, and stay motivated. For more experienced game developers, they provide production, managerial, and strategic level coaching. Their program's curriculum and offerings differ depending on each location, which is present on Aalborg, Grenaa, and Viborg.
Who is it for: Early startup with a team
Need to have an idea: Yes
Focus: Green Tech, Life Sciences, Technology
Innofounder is a 12-month development program Innovation Fund Denmark which intends to support entrepreneurs who want to turn their ideas into viable firms. The course's goal is to expedite the early-stage concepts into a commercially viable firm, either through sales or by further public or private investment. Founders will get opportunities to learn from workshops, mentoring, and peer-learning sessions, as well as earn salary financing that will allow them to work full-time on developing and building their businesses.
Who is it for: Early startup with a team
Need to have an idea: Yes
Focus: IT, CleanTech, Life Science
INCUBA is a science park that houses a professional community of startups, scaleups, innovation departments, businesses, investors, mentors, researchers, and business developers. Through its Startup Lab program, the incubator provides startups with access to coaching, the right network, and important contacts to develop their enterprises. Some of the milestones that the founders want to reach throughout the one-year program are proof of technology, proof of market, and proof of business plan.
Who is it for: Early startup with a team
Need to have an idea: Yes
Focus: Sector Agnostic
Scale Incubator is a founders-first incubator created by experienced entrepreneurs who want to share their expertise and wisdom with startups and entrepreneurs. They provide best-in-class resources, a trained team, and a supportive community to help entrepreneurs develop their businesses from the ground up. Joining Scale Incubator will also provide you access to their facilities, daily workspaces, as well as their team and the founders of their portfolio startups.
Who is it for: Early startup with a team
Need to have an idea: Yes
Focus: Technology
Sound Hub Denmark is the world's first international sound technology innovation hub and growth center for startups, SMEs, and corporations. They provide company acceleration and incubation services in a professional coworking space, with access to superior sound, craft, and test facilities, as well as access to industry-leading sound specialists and professionals. The SoundTech Incubator will help you to get from idea validation to early market traction by accelerating conceptual and technical development, whilst their SoundTech Accelerator will assist you in finding your product/market fit, developing a go-to-market strategy, and gaining traction on your customer journey.
Who is it for: Aspiring entrepreneurs with an idea and seeking cofounder / Early startup with a team
Need to have an idea: Yes
Focus: Technology
Stairways is a startup incubator that provides business development knowledge, software development skills, and funding to emerging technology firms. With experience in creating their own startups, they have a background and expertise in web development, cloud-based business, and scalable B2B sales. They leverage their expertise, time, and technological know-how to assist and advise the early-stage firms in which we are involved as board members or early seed investors.
Who is it for: Aspiring entrepreneurs with an idea and seeking cofounder / Early startup with a team
Need to have an idea: Yes
Focus: Technology, ITU Students
The ITU Startup program is a service provided by ITU Business Development to students and early-stage entrepreneurs from the IT University of Copenhagen. Their main Incubation program serves as a launchpad for students to develop their innovative ideas into new technology firms; providing them with the necessary resources, coaching, and financial assistance to create their business, products, and launch their firms. They also host other initiatives such as Idea Pipeline, which is a 3-month mentorship program for the idea and customer validation, and the Matchmaking program helps connect students to other students searching for cofounders through their networking events.
Launch Stage Startup Incubators and Accelerators in Denmark
Full list of launch-stage startup incubators and accelerators in Denmark:
Who is it for: Aspiring entrepreneurs with an idea and seeking cofounder / Early startup with a team / Mature startup with a team
Need to have an idea: Yes
Focus: FinTech
Copenhagen Fintech is a leading Fintech Hub that utilizes its network, creates a community, and promotes the development of Fintech startups in Denmark. They provide a number of stage-specific startup programs, whether you are thinking of turning your idea into a business, launching your firm, preparing to scale, or an international startup looking to expand to Denmark. You can also join their mentorship program, which has over 40 active mentors ranging from well-established entrepreneurs, to investors, and executives.
Who is it for: Aspiring entrepreneurs with an idea and seeking cofounder / Early startup with a team
Need to have an idea: Yes
Focus: Biotech, Medtech, Diagnostics, Healthcare, Digital Health, Industrial Biotech
NOME is an exclusive Nordic Mentoring Program for promising life science initiatives and entrepreneurs that provide them with long-term guidance from industry mentors. Though not an accelerator per se, the two-year mentoring program will pair startups with highly qualified mentors to assist them in meeting their goals and reaching technological milestones. These mentors include well-known life science executives, financiers, specialists, and serial entrepreneurs with extensive backgrounds in medicines, medical devices, digital health, and industrial biotechnology.
Who is it for: Early startup with a team
Need to have an idea: Yes
Focus: B2B, Multiple Sectors
Startup Wise Guys is a leading startup accelerator with an optimized methodology and carefully chosen knowledge and abilities that will assist early-stage startups in establishing and growing their firms. Their programs are stage-specific and vertically-focused, providing personalized and specialized assistance to help startups at the building, expanding, and scaling stage grow their operations and achieve exponential MRR development. In particular, they focus on the following verticals: Cybersecurity, Extended Reality, Fintech, SaaS, Sustainability, Proptech, and Web 3.0.
Who is it for: Early startup with a team
Need to have an idea: Yes
Focus: Deep Tech
Futurebox is Denmark's premier deep tech incubator and accelerator located in DTU Science Park. As part of their programs, you can receive the tools and access to a network of the top hardware and deep tech specialists, advisers, mentors, and investors to help you grow. You can also receive hands-on support as well as access to expert knowledge from DTU, the Danish Technical University.
Who is it for: Early startup with a team
Need to have an idea: Yes
Focus: Multiple Sectors
Founded in 2008, Accelerace is a pre-seed investor and accelerator run by founders, that have been behind some of the largest successes we know today: Trustpilot, Templafy, Penneo, Dreamplan, and many more. They co-manage a range of accelerator and mentorship programs for startups in various industries and stages around Europe. Rather than a standard acceleration program, their curriculum is completely adaptable and customized to your requirements and the stage your business is in, organized around learning laboratories, seminars, mentorship, and coaching.
Who is it for: Early startup with a team
Need to have an idea: Yes
Focus: Sector Agnostic
Copenhagen School of Entrepreneurship (CSE) is an entrepreneurial center of Copenhagen Business School, Denmark's largest business school. CSE offers a range of assistance and programs to founders at any stage of their journey, including an incubator, accelerator, educational courses, and many other activities. The incubation program will help students to build their business concepts and get started on their entrepreneurial path, whilst the accelerator program provides specialized assistance to advance early product and market validation. The only requirements to apply to their programs (aside from stage-specific programs) are that you are a student, recent graduate, or researcher of the university who is building a startup.
Who is it for: Early startup with a team
Need to have an idea: Yes
Focus: Technology, Multiple Sectors
Rainmaking is a corporate innovation and venture development company that created Startupbootccamp, a renowned accelerator program. They offer a number of innovation and accelerator programs to build, accelerate, and scale new startups. Their programs foster collaboration between partners and prospective startups by matching their business objectives and areas of interest in order to co-create solutions and concrete business results whilst sharing risks and profits.
Who is it for: Early startup with a team
Need to have an idea: Yes
Focus: UN SDG
The SDG Accelerator is the accelerator program by UNDP, the United Nation's lead agency that provides guidance, knowledge, and resources to firms to help startups implement and accelerate the SDGs. The SDG Accelerator Programme was created to stimulate company growth that is both sustainable and environmentally friendly. They provide targeted support to enterprises at various stages of growth/maturity, enabling them to integrate sustainability into their company strategy, accelerate sustainable innovation, and achieve corporate development while meeting SDG objectives.
Closing Thoughts on Startup Incubators and Accelerators in Denmark
Startup successes such as Trustpilot and Zendesk have made Denmark's startup scene more recognizable in the European and global scene. Investors as well as corporate partner's interest in Danish startups have also surged, creating a conducive environment for entrepreneurs to grow. Through the startup accelerator and incubator programs, entrepreneurs may take advantage of various resources and connections to these networks to learn and implement best practices for quick growth and continuous innovation.
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