Key takeaways from Aarhus Investor Summit 2024
Keynotes: Insights from a founder and an investor
- Geeta Schmidt, co-founder of Humio and partner at Seed Capital, opened the summit with her keynote on the startup perspective. She discussed the challenges of scaling a tech startup and how to navigate a competitive market while maintaining innovation and team cohesion.
- Peter Hede, partner at Nordic Eye Growth & Venture Capital, followed with the investor’s perspective, explaining what investors look for in scalable startups. His talk emphasized the importance of clear business models, strong leadership teams, and market adaptability.
Geeta Schmidt, co-founder of Humio and partner at Seed Capital
Peter Hede, partner in Nordic Eye Growth & Venture Capital
Scaling Dilemmas: A Panel of investor experts
The panel discussion, moderated by Stine Mølgaard Sørensen (partner at Alliance VC), dived into the do’s and don’ts of scaling a startup. Panelists included:
- Stefan Rosenlund (Dreamers Collective)
- Thomas Marschall (DanBan)
- Anders Thorup-Jensen (EIFO)
- Christian Vinther (Founderment)
- Louise Lachmann (Ugly Duckling Ventures)
- Magnus Stagsted (People Ventures)
These experienced experts shared practical advice on avoiding common pitfalls, with a focus on balancing ambition with sustainable growth, building the right team, and maintaining product-market fit.
Stefan Rosenlund, a strong advocate of responsible scaling, emphasized the importance of starting initiatives that can be paused or stopped before things go wrong. Drawing from his background in a non-venture-funded environment, Rosenlund explained: “I’m a big advocate of responsible scaling. It may be unpopular in the venture context, but it’s critical to only commit to actions you can unwind if needed.” As the founder of Zitcom Group and now head of Dreamers Collective, he explained how East Jutland has been the foundation of his entrepreneurial journey, including his 2022 exit, which secured most of the equity in his holding company. He also noted the ongoing paradigm shift in the IT industry post-COVID, driven by no-code solutions and AI, which have improved the quality of early-stage products, despite fewer startups overall.
Louise Lachmann, with a more traditional VC approach, shared her views on scaling once external capital is involved. “When you bring in capital, you have to shift from a bootstrapped mindset to a VC-fueled one. You’re no longer just growing to spend but aiming at a North Star – the ultimate goals shared by both investors and founders,” she explained. With her experience as co-founder of Mono Solutions and partner at Ugly Duckling Ventures, she advised founders to stay focused on the agreed goals, even as scaling brings growing pains.
Both Rosenlund and Lachmann are looking for founders who can balance ambition with sustainability, be it in the ‘Jutland’ responsible scaling or executing with a clear North Star vision in mind.
Stefan Rosenlund in the panel
Louise Lachmann in the panel
- When to Scale: Start scaling when your unit economics make sense, when sales transitions from founder-led to sales-led, and when your inbound marketing strategy gains traction.
- Key Metrics: Focus on your CAC payback (customer acquisition cost) and referrals to measure your scaling progress.
- Experimentation: Even during scaling, remember the Lean Startup principles and keep testing new strategies and ideas.
One Minute Madness and startup pitches
One of the most exciting parts of the summit was the rapid-fire One Minute Madness session, where each startup had just one minute to present their business to the audience. This led into more detailed startup pitches later in the day, moderated by Jacob Doktor Mogensen (Director of Communications, Community & Acceleration at INCUBA).
The startup pitches included:
- Kripthonite Therapeutics: Focused on developing a first-in-class small molecule therapy targeting hypoxic cancer cells, Kripthonite Therapeutics showcased promising data on reducing cancer relapse and improving survival rates through combination therapy.
- Attender: A gamified student attendance platform that not only registers attendance but also motivates students to avoid absences through a reward system. Already in use across six countries, Attender has been nominated by EY as Startup of the Year 2024.
- Cernel: A pioneering company in cellular agriculture, working to develop lab-grown meat alternatives.
- Fauna: Innovating in the animal health space, Fauna focuses on diagnostic tools for early disease detection in livestock.
- Grow Grounds: A sustainable startup focusing on urban agriculture and using data-driven approaches to optimize crop yields in urban environments.
- Zeta Diagnostics: A biotech startup developing cutting-edge diagnostic tools for cancer detection.
- MedicQuant: Focused on improving healthcare efficiency, MedicQuant introduced its solutions for real-time medical data management.
- Phonestamp: A digital verification solution that uses phone-based technology for secure and simplified authentication processes.
CEO & co-founder of Cernel, Andreas Busch, on the pitch stage
One of the standout presentations was given by Heine M. Jensen, co-founder of Attender, a three-year-old software company. In front of the audience of business angels, family offices, and venture funds, Heine introduced Attender as a digital platform designed to increase student attendance through gamification.
The platform allows schools to track absenteeism while motivating students with badges and digital coins, which can be exchanged for rewards like items from the school canteen. According to Heine M. Jensen, Attender is far beyond the MVP stage and ready for full-scale deployment.
"We are looking towards a pre-seed round and have found about half of the money. Now we're looking for the rest," said Heine M. Jensen, who revealed that Attender had already raised DKK 1 million and is seeking a total of DKK 2.5 million. The company currently serves 40,000 users across 17 paying customers in seven countries, including the US and UK, and generates an annual recurring revenue of DKK 400,000.
After facing delays due to the war in Ukraine, Attender decided to bootstrap until the market improved. Now, Heine M. Jensen is eager to find "smart money"—investors who can bring more than just capital and help scale the SaaS solution.
When asked about the Aarhus startup ecosystem, Heine responded: "People are super helpful and good at introducing each other. Aarhus is particularly advanced compared to other major cities."
Another company that captured attention at the summit was MedicQuant, a medtech startup founded in 2019 as a spinout from Aarhus University. CEO Line Debois presented MedicQuant’s digital solution, which is designed to measure drug levels in patients' blood quickly and accurately, providing doctors with critical data in urgent situations.
MedicQuant successfully closed its first capital round in March 2023, raising over DKK 12 million, with the Danish Export and Investment Fund becoming a co-owner. Line Debois explained that the company is now seeking between DKK 40 and 50 million to conduct clinical trials and secure regulatory approvals in both Europe and the US.
"We are looking for business angels with knowledge in this space, but also private equity funds. We're not just looking for money, but also knowledge," said Line Debois. She noted that the medtech and life science ecosystem in Aarhus has grown significantly since MedicQuant’s founding, largely thanks to initiatives from Aarhus University and INCUBA.
MedicQuant currently employs five people and sees significant potential in the expanding life science market in Aarhus, which has traditionally been centered in Copenhagen.
The INCUBA Awards
A highlight of the day was the presentation of the INCUBA Awards.
Startup of the Year 2024: Battman Energy has revolutionized cleantech with their sustainable energy storage solutions. They’ve made significant strides with partnerships, energy parks, and a strong growth trajectory. The company is developing energy storage solutions with innovative battery technology that aims to make renewable energy more accessible and efficient. Battman Energy’s work is seen as a game-changer in the sustainable energy sector.
Investor of the Year 2024: The Investor of the Year award went to Christian Vinther of Founderment. Vinther’s contributions to the startup ecosystem, particularly in nurturing and scaling promising new ventures, earned him this recognition. He has been instrumental in supporting scaling startups across multiple industries and the jury was particularly impressed by the many warm nominations coming from the startups Christian has helped, coached and invested in over the years.
Christian Vinther from Founderment, Jacob Mogensen from INCUBA & Alexander Kaae from Battman Energy
See you next year
Aarhus Investor Summit 2024 successfully highlighted the importance of collaboration between investors and startups. It showcased cutting-edge innovations from various industries and emphasized the challenges and opportunities of scaling in today’s dynamic market. The event underscored Aarhus' role as a key hub in the Danish startup ecosystem and we look forward to seeing the audience again next year.
