NYHED - 19 August 2022

INCUBA Award jury member Søren Boel Pedersen: "Even more focus on entrepreneurship in Aarhus"

As part of the jury, Manager of Business Aarhus Søren Boel Pedersen is helping to select the winners of 'Startup of the Year' and 'Investor of the Year' for the INCUBA Award 2022. Business Aarhus is part of Aarhus Municipality and acts as an entry point and link for companies and investors to Aarhus and the municipality. In its business plan 'Partnerships for sustainable growth', Aarhus Municipality has a strong focus on a strong startup and investor environment and is, therefore, a partner in the Aarhus Investor Summit, where the INCUBA award is presented.

It is of great importance to the startup and investor community when talented entrepreneurs and investors make a special effort or create results that open doors and show the way for others. The INCUBA award is presented in recognition of the enthusiasts who help pull the entire ecosystem forward and upwards. For Søren Boel Pedersen and the City of Aarhus, the INCUBA award helps put focus on entrepreneurship, which is essential for the city's growth and job creation:

"At the City of Aarhus, we are extremely committed to further developing many environments, platforms and offers for startups in Aarhus. The INCUBA Award and Aarhus Investor Summit are one of them," he says, adding:

"Aarhus' many talented entrepreneurs are of great importance to the city's growth and employment. A new analysis shows that every entrepreneurial cohort in Aarhus creates between 1,500 and 1,800 permanent jobs. So the more focus on entrepreneurship, the better. And the INCUBA award certainly helps to support that."

In fact, Aarhus' share of Denmark's total number of entrepreneurs has been steadily increasing over the last 20 years, and they have a very high survival rate. One of the challenges, however, is that too few entrepreneurs grow to scale. For Søren Boel Pedersen, it is therefore crucial that the startup of the year is both ambitious and scalable:

"To win the "Startup of the Year" award, it is an important criterion that the company and the team behind it show drive and scalable ambitions. We need more startups to become scaleups so that we can create new and exciting companies and jobs," says Søren Boel Pedersen and adds:

"If the startup has such a high level of innovation that its solutions can contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, then we have the best of all worlds. In this context, it's fantastic to see that many Aarhus startups have what it takes to contribute to a better world."

According to Søren Boel Pedersen, attracting venture capital is obviously necessary to meet this ambitious goal, and the INCUBA award also helps to highlight this:

"In Aarhus Municipality, we have a sharp focus on the business climate in Aarhus and how we can work in partnership to create an even better framework for the city's entrepreneurs. The INCUBA award is one of those partnerships, and I'm very much looking forward to seeing the nominated candidates for the investor of the year, who are essential for growth in the Aarhus ecosystem," he says.

Many thanks to Søren Boel Pedersen 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 6. You still have time to nominate your favourite candidates for "Startup of the Year" or "Investor of the Year".