Børsen, Copenhagen’s Old Stock Exchange, was bursting last Tuesday with 350 dedicated individuals interested in gathering, building, and improving Copenhagen’s startup scene to make it the European hub for entrepreneurship. Trendsonline reports.
Lærke Ullerup, the event’s moderator, beautifully led the evening with creative networking exercises and group discussions about the future of Denmark’s startup ecosystem, focusing on identifying mutual projects that all corners of the startup world could help accumulate and grow.
It seems to be working. In the last month, over 1500 tweets have been written with the #CPHFTW hashtag. The hashtag is short for Copenhagen For the Win and was communally decided upon as the symbol that would gather and connect Copenhagen across all social media platforms.
A Fragmented Startup Scene
The problem that came up again and again and again is that Copenhagen’s startup community is fragmented and lacks a common identity. As is, there are many events and opportunities happening, however, there is a lack of communication and people are confused about where to best spend their time and energy. The evening urged closed groups and organizers running cool events to join forces and focus on a common cause – getting Copenhagen’s entrepreneurs together so they can better learn and help each other out.
The meeting did not produce many concrete solutions for how to ameliorate Copenhagen’s situation, but steps were taken in the right direction. For starters, thanks to the #CPHFTW hashtag, there has already been action to
- Outsource the design of the logo that will officially represent #CPHFTW and the Copenhagen startup scene
- Bring together an organizing team of dedicated individuals
- Create a positive buzz about Copenhagen as an epicenter for entrepreneurship
The #CPHFTW Team Can Physically Meet Once a Month
In response to the discussion held at the Townhall meeting, the team at Trendsonline.dk has come up with two solutions for how we can help:
- Propose a place where passionate people can come and work together on #CPHFTW.
- Dedicate our core competencies and resources once a month to the #CPHFTW initiative
The Rocket Labs co-working space next to Nørrebro Station, for example, has expressed an interest in being one of the physical spaces where Copenhagen entrepreneurs interested in dedicating some of their free time to the #CPHFTW initiative could gather.
At Rocket Labs, you will find an energizing atmosphere, likeminded entrepreneurs, work space, and lots of coffee.
United Copenhagen = United Denmark
Trendsonline.dk believes in the mission of #CPHFTW and will do whatever it can to strongly support the initiative and cover its efforts by reporting on what happens. We’re working in an environment where there is rapid development and we will do our best to keep up. Trendsonline.dk will also continue to focus on other exciting areas of Denmark such as Kolding, Aalborg, Odense, and Silkeborg, where local heroes are working hard to build up their entrepreneurial communities.
We welcome all the forces who are working to strengthen and unify the startup scenes of not only Copenhagen and Denmark, but also the rest of Scandinavia. We know how much Danish entrepreneurs have to offer and its time that others know it too!
”Startup Introductions” To Present Actual Startups
The evening ended with a quick round of startup introductions, showing off some of the stars of Copenhagen’s startup scene.
There was Milestone – our biggest startup with 10 years of experience under its belt, the recent crowdfunding success Airtame, Opbeat with the famous angel investors from Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, mobile advertising company AdQuota and Endomondo presented by founder Mette Lykke. Also presenting was the revolutionary new concept DealCircle and lastly Tradeshift, which just received 400 million Danish kroner in investment.
Tyler Crowley, CEO of Skweal and the man behind the building of #STHLMTECH (Stockholm’s hashtag for their startup community) was also present and shared his advice and experiences about how to build a successful all-encompassing start-up community. His biggest point was that the more we use #CPHFTW in our online conversations, the more attention we will draw to Copenhagen. He also stressed that we must communicate in English so that the world can follow our conversations and news. Afterall, the more people who read and know about what is going on in Copenhagen, the more talented people and investors our city will attract. Big ideas must be built from the ground up, and #CPHFTW is being built slowly but surely.
We can’t wait for the next Town Hall meeting on June 3, 2014 and we hope to see you there.
Read More About Copenhagen “star” Startups Here
Milestone – Tech-Toolbox: Vækst dit startup – analyser din forretningsmodel
Airtame vinder prisen som årets startup på CES
Opbeat får 15 millioner i Serie A investering
Northcap investerer 19 millioner i adQuotas mobilteknologi
FOCUS on Endomondo: the fitness app with 20 mio. users
Tradeshift får ny massiv investering på 400 millioner kroner
You can also read a round-up about Thursdays meeting here (Karsten Deppert, Øresund Startups).
And see more pictures from the event here (Janus Sandsgaard, Dansk Erhverv).
