NYHED - 14 September 2022

INCUBA Award jury member Poul Nielsen: "Startups create more value and that should be celebrated"

Poul Nielsen, Regional Director at Danske Bank, is part of the jury that will select the winners of "Startup of the Year" and "Investor of the Year" for the INCUBA Award 2022. Danske Bank has been one of the driving forces behind the Aarhus Investor Summit, where the award is presented, since the beginning of the summit. With Poul Nielsen representing Danske Bank, Danske Bank is helping to celebrate the most innovative startups and forward-thinking investors.

And honored they should be. Since the launch of the bank's "Growth" program for startups in 2016, Danske Bank has continuously developed it to today have dedicated Growth advisors throughout the Nordic region and contributed to the establishment of theHub.io, where more than 10,000 startups have created profiles for recruitment and funding. Therefore, it was natural to join the Aarhus Investor Summit together with INCUBA from the start.

"It is important that we utilize the ideas and competencies that exist in a strong startup environment. We believe that the startup environment enhances the competitiveness of established companies and provides great opportunities for collaboration," says Poul Nielsen and adds:

"When a new company enters a part of their market, the established companies also have to develop or collaborate with the new startups, and in this way more value is created overall. Therefore, the first thing that comes to mind when I hear the word "INCUBA award" is both initiative and development."

For Poul Nielsen, the decisive factor for winning the Startup of the Year award is that the company shows the way and is an inspiration for other startups, while the Investor of the Year must be able to act as both an investor and mentor for startups:

"The investor of the year is someone who sees opportunities in the overall startup environment as much as the individual investment. In this way, we use both knowledge and resources across the startup community," says Poul Nielsen.

This year, eight talented investors have been nominated for the "Investor of the Year" award. See them here.

The INCUBA Award inspires growth

The INCUBA Award aims to highlight the investors and startups that are taking the ecosystem to the next level.

"Startups create more value and that should be celebrated. That's why I think it's important that we as a society inspire people to establish, invest and take an interest in growth companies and startups. We observed last year that the INCUBA award created publicity and interest for the companies and investors. It's great that we can celebrate and highlight some good investors and startups through the award," says jury member Poul Nielsen, Regional Director at Danske Bank, and adds:

"But we also need investors. Investors help provide venture capital, but more importantly, they share their knowledge and insights with the companies that are able to create shortcuts to the next level in their growth journey."

Many thanks to Poul Nielsen for sharing his thoughts on this year's INCUBA awards, which will be presented at the Aarhus Investor Summit at Aarhus City Hall on October 6th. See which startups and investors are nominated for the awards here.