Cernel: One of Denmark’s most promising AI startups with roots in INCUBA
When Cernel moved into INCUBA StartupLab in January 2024, the team consisted of three founders with a shared ambition to change the way e-commerce companies work with content. They saw that many webshops were stuck in heavy, manual workflows and that the industry lacked a solution capable of lifting this work in a more intelligent way. With this challenge as their starting point, they began developing a platform that today supports product descriptions, category descriptions and product enrichment – all driven by advanced data analysis and automation.
The journey quickly gained momentum. In November 2024, Cernel raised five million DKK in an investment round led by Founderment, EIFO and a group of experienced business angels. The investment materialised after Cernel’s pitch at Aarhus Investor Summit 2024, which made a strong impression on investors and cemented the company’s potential. Since then, the team has grown to 18 employees, and the company’s development now points towards larger customers and new European markets.
Mathias Fenger-Eriksen, Andreas Busch & Magnus Bruun, co-founders in Cernel
Cernel’s ability to capture both the market and the momentum is clearly reflected in the recognitions they have received. In 2025 alone, they were nominated for EY Entrepreneur Of The Year in the Scaleup category, were finalists for the INCUBA Award as Startup of the Year, and won the Confederation of Danish Industry’s eCom Talent Award for eCommerce Innovation. Meanwhile, the co-founders are frequent speakers at major national conferences within AI, technology and e-commerce.
The three co-founders, Andreas, Mathias and Magnus, emphasise that their time in INCUBA has played an important role in their development – both personally and as a company.
“It means a great deal to build something in an environment where you constantly meet others who are on their own entrepreneurial journey. There’s an informal, everyday sparring that you simply can’t recreate on your own. It has made a big difference for us,” they say.
They describe their time in INCUBA as a place where you are both challenged and supported, and where you gain access to people, experience and networks that provide perspective and the courage to scale faster.
“We’ve experienced how being surrounded by other founders creates a very special kind of energy. When you work side-by-side with people who build, fail, test and succeed every single day, taking the next step yourself becomes much easier,” says Magnus Bruun Rasmussen.
For INCUBA, Cernel is a strong example of how the combination of talent, technology and the right environment can accelerate a company in a short time. INCUBA’s CEO, Jacob Doktor Mogensen, puts it this way:
“Cernel is one of the clearest examples of what a strong growth environment can achieve. They’ve gone from the idea stage to a recognised company with impressive speed, and at the same time contributed positively to the community around them. It has been a pleasure to follow their journey up close, and we look forward to seeing how far they will go.”
Cernel now continues its growth journey with high ambitions, a growing team and technology that sets a new standard for the future of e-commerce. Read more about Cernel here.