Denmark leads the healthtech sector compared to other European countries, with the industry ranking as the country’s top-funded since 2018. With one of the most digitised healthcare systems globally, Denmark’s health scene offers the perfect environment for healthtech startups to grow.
Last year, the Danish healthtech scene secured $835M (€763M) of VC investment across 56 funding rounds. This investment, which accounted for a substantial 58 per cent of Denmark’s total investment in 2023, marked an 11 per cent increase from 2022’s health investment.
Denmark’s flourishing healthcare sector owes much to its mature market. With a healthcare expenditure of $5,203 (€4,754) per capita in 2021, surpassing the developed countries’ average of $4,527 (€4,136), the demand for advanced healthcare provides all startups with a large customer base.
Moreover, the widespread accessibility of electronic health records (EHRs) to 99 per cent of Danish citizens, combined with the use of telemedicine services by 84 per cent, further supports the conducive environment for healthtech startups to grow.
Additionally, the Danish government actively supports innovation in the healthcare sector by offering programs and incentives to assist early healthtech startups. Venture capital firms like Innovation Fund Denmark and Denmark’s Export and Investment Fund (EIFO) have invested in various healthtech startups in Denmark.
Let’s get to know some of the startups thriving in Denmark’s healthtech scene.
Teton.ai
Founder(s): Mikkel Wad Thorseen, Esben Klint Thorius
Founded: 2020
Funding: $8.7M (€7.95M)
Hiring: Yes, check out opportunities here.
Founded by Mikkel Wad Thorseen and Esben Klint Thorius, Teton.ai aims to reduce the workload strain on nurses by providing them with an AI companion to monitor patients and simplify workplace administration.
With a background in product design and computer science, Thorseen recognised the need for better support for nurses, who often face exhaustion and burnout due to heavy workloads.
According to Thorseen, its solution has already reduced night shift workload by 25 per cent in care homes, thereby allowing caregivers to focus more on providing quality care.
Recently, Teton.ai secured €4.8M in a funding round led by Plural to expand its engineering and commercial teams to roll out its product in Denmark and other countries such as the Nordics, Germany, the UK, and the US.
Corti.ai
Founder(s): Andreas Cleve Lohmann, Lars Maaløe, Michael Boesen
Founded: 2016
Funding: €80.9M
Hiring: Yes, check out opportunities here.
Another Copenhagen-based startup, Corti.ai, is transforming emergency medicine with its AI-powered SaaS platform. Founded by Lars Maaløe and Andreas Cleve in 2016, Corti.ai helps emergency departments detect critical illnesses like cardiac arrest in real-time.
Corti.ai ensures that healthcare personnel can provide the right treatment by allowing them to analyse patients using AI and machine learning. Its service provides notes, searches databases, and compares the patient’s symptom descriptions with other historical cases.
According to Copenhagen Emergency Services, Corti.ai could help reduce undetected out-of-hospital cardiac arrest cases by more than 40 per cent.
Following a successful Series A funding round of $27M (€22.82M) led by Vaekstfonden and Chr. Augustinus Fabrikker, Corti.ai is accelerating its expansion into primary care in the US and focusing on launching new products.
Miiskin
Founder(s): Daniel Tronier, Jon Friis
Founded: 2015
Funding: Unavailable
Hiring: Yes, check out opportunities here.
Miiskin is making waves in the consumer health tech space with its skin monitoring app, Miiskin PRO. It was developed in collaboration with the head of AI and medical computer imaging at the University of Copenhagen.
The company also continues introducing advanced features in the digital teledermatology app for scientific research into skin cancer and chronic skin conditions.
Powered by AI, the platform helps 700,000 users document and track moles and lesions over time to help facilitate early detection and monitoring of skin changes.
Partnering with organisations like the British Skin Foundation since 2017, Miiskin extends its work in supporting research into skin cancer and chronic conditions of the skin. The EU has also provided €50 000 in funding for Miiskin to help further develop its AI to be more reliable and efficient.
Freya Biosciences
Founder(s): Johan van Hylckama Vlieg
Founded: 2020
Funding: €34.7M
Hiring: No
Based in Copenhagen and Boston, clinical-stage women’s health startup Freya Biosciences addresses the issue of infertility caused by dysbiosis in the vaginal microbiota.
With a focus on microbial immunotherapies, Freya Biosciences uses AI and research to develop a promising drug candidate derived from healthy female donors.
Results from the company’s proof-of-concept clinical study showed early success in restoring microbiota balance in women with dysbiosis within a few days.
A recent Series A funding round of $38M (€34.7M), led by Sofinnova Partners and OMX Ventures, will be used to aid Freya Biosciences’ clinical development efforts and advance its multi-omics data science platform.
Another €70M from the company’s total investment of €300M will be used to develop brain health products targeting women, children, and the elderly in Europe and North America.
Hoba Therapeutics
Founder(s): Kenneth Ahrend Petersen
Founded: 2016
Funding: €27M
Hiring: No
Backed by Novo Holdings and Borean Innovation, Hoba Therapeutics is tackling chronic pain disorders and hearing loss with innovative treatments.
Founded in 2016, the Danish biotech develops novel therapeutics HB-086 for chronic neuropathic pain and HB-097 for sensorineural hearing loss, both of which address unmet medical needs.
Hoba Therapeutics received the Accelerator grant from the European Innovation Council in 2021 and the Grand Solution grant from Innovation Fund Denmark in 2018.
Supported by investors such as Indaco Venture Partners and Novo Holdings, Hoba Therapeutics recently raised €23M in a Series A financing round. This funding will support the development of HB-086 through clinical trials and further execute the company’s research initiatives.
NMD Pharma
Founder(s): Thomas Holm Pedersen, Claus Elsborg Olesen, Ole Bækgaard Nielsen
Founded: 2015
Funding: €151M
Hiring: Yes, check out opportunities here.
Clinical-stage biotech company NMD Pharma is making strides with its unconventional therapies in the fight against debilitating neuromuscular conditions.
Using ClC-1 Cl- ion channel inhibitors, NMD Pharma aims to restore muscle function in individuals living with neuromuscular disorders. Its translational muscle electrophysiology platform identifies and develops first-class therapeutics for various neuromuscular diseases.
With a recent Series B financing of €75M led by Jeito Capital, the company plans to advance its lead CIC-1 inhibitor candidate, NMD670, through Phase 2 studies. Additionally, the funding will enable NMD Pharma to expand its clinical and commercial operations in Denmark and the US.
Orbis Medicines
Founder(s): Christian Heinis, Sevan Habeshian
Founded: 2021
Funding: €26M
Hiring: No
Founded in 2021, Orbis Medicines is a macrocyclic chemistry and computational platform created for drug discovery. Macrocycle drugs, as the company described, are compounds with therapeutic properties.
Its focus lies in producing oral alternatives that will enable the treatment of many other patients. Aside from that, Orbis Medicines is also exploring therapeutic areas with intra and extracellular targets.
The company recently announced €26M in seed financing backed by Novo Holdings and life sciences venture capital firm Forbion to facilitate its expansion.
Neurescue
Founder(s): Bjorn Broby Glavind, Habib Frost
Founded: 2014
Funding: DKK76M (€10.19M)
Hiring: No
Habib Frostand and Bjorn Broby Glavind founded Neurescue, a medical device company specializing in cardiovascular solutions, with a focus on the world’s first computer-aided balloon catheter for aortic occlusion.
Neurescue’s technique strives to increase blood flow to the brain and heart, therefore increasing resuscitation rates and additional treatment time. The device, NEURESCUE, received FDA approval in 2021.
The company recently secured DKK 50M (€6.7M) in a Series A funding round led by London-based West Hill Capital. The investment will further support the development and distribution of the NEURESCUE device.
Hedia
Founder(s): Andreas Jespensgaard, Christina Kildentoft, Peter Lucas
Founded: 2016
Funding: $11.7M (€10.7M)
Hiring: Yes, check out opportunities here.
Founded in 2015, Hedia developed a software-based personal diabetes assistant aimed at optimising insulin recommendations for individuals with diabetes.
Hedia’s solution is available via a mobile app, which detects the habits and patterns of the diabetic individual. The collected data is later used to weigh in on insulin recommendations.
Led by CEO Peter Lucas, Hedia recently closed a funding round at €3 million in February. The company plans to utilize these funds to expand its growth strategy, enhance its digital health product roadmap, and scale its Hedia Diabetes Assistant (HDA).
Additionally, Hedia aims to launch a holistic diabetes management solution called Glooko later in the year.
Droplet IV
Founder(s): Marcus Borum Mølskov Bech, Tore Victor Chrom Allerup, Niklas Rädel, Mette Dahl, Rasmus Falt
Founded: 20222022
Funding: €1.8M
Hiring: No
Droplet IV is a company focusing on developing novel medical devices for IV infusion therapy. Its mission is to ensure patients receive the full prescribed dose without adding strain to nurses.
The company’s technology automatically flushes every IV set at the precise time of medicine termination, which ensures optimal treatment quality for patients.
Droplet IV recently participated in BII’s Venture Lab program. It receives a risk-free convertible loan of €500,000 and access to labs and offices at the BII’s entrepreneurial ecosystem in Copenhagen.
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