Among the many flourishing startup hubs across Europe, Denmark also has marked a space for itself, thanks to the several hundreds of tech startups based in the country. Entrepreneurs are benefited from low corporate tax rates and great levels of transparency due to the lucrative incentives that the government provides to boost the startup ecosystem.
The capital of Denmark, Copenhagen is a thriving space for startups providing cutting-edge technologies that create numerous opportunities for talent in the city. Furthermore, the Savills Tech Cities research carried out earlier this year ranked Copenhagen as the fourth fastest growing tech cities in Europe.
While Denmark is home to over 400 tech companies, a vast majority of them are in Copenhagen. Without any further ado, here we have curated a list of the most funded tech startups in Denmark in 2019 as sourced from Dealroom.
Trustpilot (Copenhagen)
Founders: Peter H. Mühlmann
Total Funding: €162 million
Founded year: 2007
Why its hot: Trustpilot is a leading independent review platform that is free and open to all consumers and companies. It lets companies collect consumer reviews helping them grow and display brand trust. Also, it delivers measurable business results by converting casual browsers into buyers.
Back in March 2019, Trustpilot bagged $55 million (nearly €48.5 million) in a Series E equity investment round led by Sunley House Capital Management along with participation from existing investors Vitruvian Partners, Draper Esprit, Index Ventures, Northzone and Seed Capital.
Pleo (Copenhagen)
Founders: Jeppe Rindom, Niccolo Perra
Total Funding: €69.2 million
Founded year: 2015
Why its hot: Fintech company Pleo offers smart payment cards for employees so that they can buy things that they need for work without losing the control of spending. Pleo provides smart company cards paired mobile apps and software to match receipts automatically and track the company spending with detailed analytics in real-time. In May 2019, the fintech startup secured €50 million in Series B funding round led by New York-based Stripes and existing investors Kinnevik, Creandum and Founders Denmark.
Peakon (Copenhagen)
Founders: Christian Holm, Dan Rogers, Kasper Hulthin, Phillip Chambers
Funding: €66.8 million
Founded year: 2014
Why its hot: Peakon is a platform for measuring and improving employee engagement. The startup offers its services so that employers can gather feedback from their employees in real-time. In March this year, Peakon raised nearly €31 million from Atomico, Balderton Capital, Idinvest Partners, EQT Ventures, and Sunstone Partners.
ViaBill (Aarhus)
Founders: Jan Lytje-Hansen
Total Funding: €49.1 million
Founded year: 2010
Why its hot: ViaBill changes the way people shop online. The company provides a payment solution empowering shoppers to have the freedom of choice. It operates with the mission to create a transparent, simple, and hassle-free payment method. ViaBill provides shoppers the opportunity to buy now and pay later by splitting the payments into four monthly installments sans any interest. In February this year, ViaBill pocketed $10 million (nearly €9 million) from E.Ventures and BlackFin Capital Partners.
Lunar Way (Aarhus)
Founders: Ken Villum Klausen
Total Funding: €47.7 million
Founded year: 2015
Why its hot: Known as a bank challenger, Lunar Way is a fintech company that breaks the monopoly market on payment services. It lets users pay their bills, analyse their consumption, and transfer money through the app. All this can be done while the money stays in the users’ regular bank account. In 2019, Lunar Way collectively secured €39 million from Greyhound Capital, SEED VC, Socii Capital, and Seed Capital Denmark.
SNIPR Biome (Copenhagen)
Founders: Christian Grøndahl, Morten O. A. Sommer, Jasper Clube
Total Funding: €45.5 million
Founded year: 2017
Why its hot: SNIPR Biome develops CRISPR-based medicines giving hope for safe and effective treatment for diseases that are difficult to treat in the future. The biotech startup eyes to tackle a wide range of issues faced by humans. In April 2019, SNIPR Biome raised $50 million (nearly €45.5 million) from Wellington Partners, Lundbeckfonden Ventures, and North-East Venture.
Simple Feast (Copenhagen)
Founders: Jakob Jønck, Thomas Stilling Ambus
Total Funding: €41 million
Founded year: 2015
Why its hot: Simple Feast is an organic, plant-based food company that delivers weekly boxes of ready-to-eat meals straight to your doorstep. Headquartered in Copenhagen, this startup is now taking the Danish culinary experience globally. Back in September 2019, the company raised $33 million (nearly €30 million) from Balderton Capital, Sweet Capital and ByFounders.
Blue Ocean Robotics (Odense)
Founders: Claus Risager, Rune K. Larsen, John Erland Østergaard
Total Funding: €44.3 million
Founded year: 2013
Why its hot: Blue Ocean Robotics develops, produces, and sells professional service robots to service industries such as healthcare, construction, hospitality, and agriculture. Its first robots include UVD Robots, Beam Robots, and PTR Robots among others.
Blue Ocean Robotics just announced that it raised nearly $12 million (nearly €10.8 million) funding from Danish investors, but the names remain unknown. This follows the Series B funding of $11 million (nearly €9.9 million) that it raised in August this year from existing investors such as Southern Technological Innovation, Nordic Eye, DAHL Holding, and Niels Thorborg.
Labster (Copenhagen)
Founders: Mads Tvillinggaard Bonde, Michael Bodekaer
Total Funding: €31.8 million
Founded year: 2011
Why its hot: Labster is an edtech startup that has created award-winning virtual lab simulations. This Danish startup makes million-dollar labs in a single click and these labs are used by education institutions across the world including UC Berkeley and MIT. Labster’s mission is to engage and stimulate the natural curiosity of students. In April 2019, Labster raised $21 million (nearly €19 million) Series B funding from Balderton Capital, Northzone, Swisscom Ventures, Nordic Makers, David Helgason, EduCapital and Entangled Group.
Falcon.io (Copenhagen)
Founders: Morten Søderquist Li, Ulrik Bo Larsen
Total Funding: €30.6 million
Founded year: 2010
Why its hot: Falcon.io makes social media marketing easy for brands as it lets them manage comprehensive marketing campaigns via publishing, listening, engagement, advertising, and measurement. It provides an integrated SaaS platform for digital marketing and lets companies create both organic and paid posts for social networks in a collaborative manner. In January this year, Falcon.io was acquired by Chicago-based Cision, but the final amount remains undisclosed.
Main image picture credits: Pleo
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