From the 28th to the 30th of June we celebrate our annual global event; BRIGHT. Join us for three days of innovation, creation, and knowledge when we bring together creative businesses and everyone with a passion for entrepreneurship and innovation – from all over the world. 

Learn more.

In this workshop, the two authors of the peer–reviewed research paper Celebrity Investors and the Success of Crowdfunding Campaigns invites us in for a conversation about the impact of getting a celebrity on board. Their findings point at, that even in times of crisis, companies that are backed by celebrities, are not punished as hard by their customers, as those who are not. Of course, not everyone is so lucky, that they can just get a famous face to tag along, but luckily, there are other tricks too. One of these tricks is by subtly collaborating with rising stars, and we have invited Creative Business Cup Denmark 2021 participant Nikolaj, from NIKOLAJ STORM COPENHAGEN, who did exactly that, to come share his considerations with us.  

STARTUP STORY: Nikolaj Storm Copenhagen

SPEAKERS:
Arpita Agnihotri & Saurabh Bhattacharya

In this workshop, we touch upon a topic that rarely is mentioned, but which we find not just interesting, but also extremely important. Why is it so hard to make that first call to an investor? We have Dr Ilham Sebah, and Dr Ines Mendes, Juha Merinen tuning in for a talk to make us all understand better the psychological barriers we set for ourselves, why we do it and how to overcome them.

Dr. Ilham Sebah is a Post Doc. Resilience Researcher, Consultant and Teaching Fellow at Royal Holloway, University of London, and have appeared as a speaker in House of Commons as well as TedX, with Google and for Soapbox Science. With her, she brings PhD and lecturer at Royal Holloway, University of London, Ines Mendes, and along with Jura Merinen, CEO, SMART Internationalization Oy and a sales strategist expert, we promise this workshop will contribute completely new, useful and hands-on tools for your toolkit.

SPEAKERS:
Juha Merinen, CEO, SMART Internationalization Oy
Dr. Ilham Sebah, Post Doc, Teaching Fellow at Royal Holloway, University of London
Dr Ines Ramos Sa Mendes, PhD, Lecturer  at Royal Holloway, University of London

It is great to get an investor on board, but what if you find out during your journey, that the investor is steering in a completely different direction than what you had planned, or what you had mutually agreed, or what if you are just not compatible as individuals? Strategic Business Architect, investor and Global Board Member of EO/Entrepreneurs’ Organization, Gilberto Crombre visits us for a workshop focused on the ethical side of investments and collaboration. With us, we also have Creative Business Cup Denmark 2020 participant and FlowRobe Founder Simon Tykgaard to share his own experiences. The workshop is created in partnership with the Green Tech startup AXUM. 

STARTUP CASE: FlowRobe

SPEAKER:
Gilberto Crombre,
Strategic Business Architect, EO 

CORPORATE VENTURE PARTNERSHIPS

In this workshop on open innovation partnerships with big corporations, we have invited now the Managing Director of Activ8, Lynn Yap, who for many years was in charge of this area for adidas, helping small companies building and developing their strategy.  Also stopping by to share some knowledge, is Henrik Røssel, Head of Alfa Laval Innovation House Copenhagen & Senior Project Manager, Alfa Laval Copenhagen A/S, and strategic marketing leader, business advisor, and former Head of Ideas at LEGO, Daiva Naldal. 

We are really looking forward to inviting you in for this workshop to learn about the opportunities of partnering up with big and established corporations. And do take advantage of this unique access to high ranking professional profiles, that are ready to answer all your questions. Come prepared to get the most out of this one.  

SPEAKERS:

Lynn Yap,
Managing Director of Activ8, Former Director, Brand Strategy Finance of adidas
Daiva Naldal,
Business & Product development, Former Head of Ideas at LEGO
Henrik Røssel,
Head of Alfa Laval Innovation House Copenhagen
& Senior Project Manager, Alfa Laval Copenhagen A/S

BANK FACILITY SCHEME WORKSHOP W. VÆKSTFONDEN

It’s that easy, right? All startups can just flock to the bank and get all the loans they want, anytime. Unfortunately, it is not that simple. Bank loans are never that that simple. 

Luckily, we have engaged Senior Portfolio Manager, Trine Løve Dahl Hede from Vaekstfonden, to come guide us through the different loan types and solutions startups and SMV’s have, and furthermore, to share some insights on how to assess if your startup is ready to take a loan. 

Vaekstfonden is an institution that In close collaboration with banks and domestic and international private investors, discover and develop the companies that Denmark just cannot afford to miss out on, and since 1992, Vaekstfonden has financed more than 10.000 companies for more than DKK 33.8 billion. 

Trine Løve Dahl Hede, Senior Porfolio Manager, Vækstfonden

CROWDFUNDING WORKSHOP

The global crowdfunding market size is expected to double up from $12.27bn in 2020 to $25.8bn within the next 6 years. That this will skyrocket, can’t surprise anyone, unless they have been living under a rock. Especially with the social media connectedness of today, engaging a worldwide audience to back you has never been easier. 

But is this solution the right one for everyone? In this workshop, we have Regional Development Manager, Mauricio O’Brien from the European Crowdfunding team with us to learn more about the topic. Also joining are is Sine Linderstrøm, Subject Leader, Startups & Entrepreneurship, Confederation of Danish Industry, Nicolai Jæpelt, Head of Crowdfunding, COOP, Rikke Nielsen, Project Manager, IDA Crowdfunding, and last but not least. Robin Gonzalez Kristensen from the startup ARYZE raised an astonishing  DKK 5.8 million in a hybrid 1 to 5 equity / STO token issuance. The funding round was 29% oversubscribed, and ARYZE is breaking the record as the fastest funding ever closed on the Danish Investor´s Network, KEYSTONES.

During this two-hour workshop, we will guide you through the do’s and don’t’s, the opportunities, and the obstacles.

STARTUP CASE: ARYZE 

SPEAKERS:
Mauricio O’Brien,
Regional Development Manager, European Crowdfunding
Nicolai Jæpelt,
Head of Crowdfunding, COOP
Rikke Nielsen,
Project Manager, IDA Crowdfunding
Sine Linderstrøm,
Subject Leader, Startups & Entrepreneurship, Confederation of Danish Industry, DI 

Tue, September 14 

11:30am – 12:30pm CEST 

How are cultural and creative industries reshaping the way we approach calamities, risk, and uncertainty, positively impacting society?  

Within the framework of the Creative Forum, organized by the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the EU 2021, on Tuesday 14 September from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. we will host a webinar presenting startups highlighting relevant social issues. 

By participating in the event you will have the chance to listen to a keynote speech and learn from several change-making case histories. 

Speakers 

Rasmus Wiinstedt Tscherning, Director at Creative Business Network 

Francis Obanijesu, Founder and CEO at The Ligthning Artz (Nigeria) 

Isabella Oriani, Founder and CEO at TAI / SafariSeat – Safari Seat 

Chris Richmond Nzi, Founder and CEO at Mygrants 

Bios 

Chris Richmond Nzi (Mygrants) – Graduated in International Rights and Diplomacy. From 2010 to 2015 he worked as Strategic Intelligence Analyst for Frontex and as Inspector and then Commissioner for EASO (European Asylum Support Office). As of 2017 he is Founder and CEO of Mygrants, as well as being on the Advisory Board of MUG and Associate Member of ActionAid Italia. 

SIGN UP HERE AS: 1. DANISH STARTUP | 2. STARTUPS FROM OTHER COUNTRY | 3. JUST INTERESTED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE EVENT

Tuesday, October 26

11:00am – 12:30am CEST

Would you like to internationalize your business? Meet ambitious and innovative companies into this webinar on internationalization in India. 

During the month of October 2021, we’re hosting a series of events focused on the different aspects of internationalization like the do’s and don’ts when entering a new market, legislation, business culture, work, and living conditions. These events are specifically designed for the needs of creative and innovative startups. We will go into depth on specific topics through active interaction between the participants and the experts.

By attending this webinar you will:

– get inspiration about what you can achieve by going abroad;

– connect with new markets and new stakeholders;

– participate in the discussion and raise interest in your project;

– find new opportunities for networking and cooperation.

SIGN UP HERE AS: 1. DANISH STARTUP | 2. STARTUP FROM OTHER COUNTRY | 3. JUST INTERESTED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE EVENT

SPEAKERS

Ismail Akbani – SCEI Symbiosis Technology Business Incubator

Juliane Frömmter – EU-India InnoCenter

Specialized in international business, Juliane is an accomplished Startup Ecosystem Builder and Enabler with years’ experience in building support programmes around International Expansion and Client Acquisition to and from India. Juliane supported more than 40 startups with India Market Entry Support and Access to Clients to accelerate their scaling and impact their bottom line.

Jaiminee Joshi – Empresario

Jaiminee is pursuing his major in the field of Ocean Engineering and Naval Architecture with a minor in Economics and a micro specialization in Entrepreneurship and Innovation from Indian Institute of Technology – IIT Kharagpur which boasts of having produced global leaders like Mr. Sundar Pichai, Mr. Arjun Malhotra and many more. Jaiminee has been a keen follower of the developments in the Indian Startup Ecosystem. He is working as an Investment Analyst at CENSIE Capital Partners which is a premier boutique investment firm and has had a great understanding of investor interests in the Indian Market. Jaiminee is also a Senior Manager at the Entrepreneurship Cell of IIT Kharagpur which is the oldest and largest student-run body promoting entrepreneurship across the country. Jaiminee has been part of various startups, few of them have been backed by Y-Combinator as well.

Amit Gupta – NCR Eduservices

Amit, the founder of NCR Eduservices, is a first-generation entrepreneur.
He worked for an IT Company in Noida (India) and Tokyo (Japan) for almost a decade, as his passion was always teaching so he left a job and joined NCREduservices full time. His vision is to organize this entire tutoring market and make it one of the organized sectors so that people should enjoy teaching as a passion and career, not just an option and learners should get real value from the eco-system.

Mohammed Riyas– Kerala Startup Mission

Mr. Riyas PM is an experienced Project Management professional with a demonstrated history of institution-building capabilities in Startup investment, Angel Investments, e-governance, Entertainment, and Skill Development sectors. Experience in developing and implementing high-impact social Projects. A result-oriented Professional having strong linkages with International and Corporate clients including Funding agencies.

Kunal Singla– COBO Consult

Thursday, October 21 

16:00am – 17:00am CEST 

Would you like to internationalize your business? Meet ambitious and innovative companies into this webinar on internationalization in the U.S.. 

During the month of October 2021, we’re hosting a series of events focused on the different aspects of internationalization like the do’s and don’ts when entering a new market, legislation, business culture, work, and living conditions. These events are specifically designed for the needs of creative and innovative startups. We will go into depth on specific topics through active interaction between the participants and the experts.    

By attending this webinar you will: 

 – get inspiration about what you can achieve by going abroad; 

– connect with new markets and new stakeholders; 

– participate in the discussion and raise interest in your project; 

– find new opportunities for networking and cooperation. 

It is important that cities and regions work with creatives and entrepreneurs when it comes to innovation and development of the public sector, but the involvement of creative entrepreneurs can be difficult. The Danish government’s latest growth teams and many other advisory committees before this directly recommend that the public sector should become better at working with creative entrepreneurs, so how can one work towards that goal?

On 14 October from kl. 9.30 – 12.30, we are giving you our take on this important agenda when we in collaboration with the City of Copenhagen open the doors to the conference “Innovation in the Public Sector” at Copenhagen City Hall.

You will experience:

Panel 1: How can the City of Copenhagen improve the collaboration with startups to encourage innovation and their participation in public projects – international public sector perspective

Panel 2: How can the City of Copenhagen improve the collaboration with startups to encourage innovation and their participation in public project – private sector perspective

Pitching competition – here, five entrepreneurs pitch their solutions on match-making unemployed with relevant companies in the City of Copenhagen.

We hope that you will contribute to the debate. On the day, we collect written input from the participants for our further work. At the same time, you also get ample opportunity to network with both speakers, entrepreneurs, and relevant actors in the Danish ecosystem

Speakers:

Kate Plaskonis, Adviser at Greater Copenhagen

Asbjørn Overgaard, CEO/Managing Director at Copenhagen Capacity

Santtu von Bruun, Head of Unit: Innovations and Urban Experimentation at the City of Helsinki

Taavi Rõivas, Chairman of Auve Tech and former Prime Minister

Stina Lantz, Program Manager at Ignite Sweden

Ivar Bjorkman, CEO of Open Lab

Johan Rosén, Strategic Adviser at City of Uppsala

Cecilia Lonning-Skovgaard, Employment and Integration Mayor of Copenhagen

Start-Ups:

No-CV UAB

The Seed

Sidejar

Scales Technologies

SkillLab

SIGN UP HERE AS: 1. DANISH STARTUP | 2. STARTUP FROM OTHER COUNTRY | 3. JUST INTERESTED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE EVENT

Thursday, October 7

10:00am – 12:00am CEST | 17:00 to 19:00 in Japan

Would you like to internationalize your business? Meet ambitious and innovative companies in this webinar on internationalization in Japan.

During the month of October 2021, we’re hosting a series of events focused on the different aspects of internationalization like the do’s and don’ts when entering a new market, legislation, business culture, work, and living conditions. These events are specifically designed for the needs of creative and innovative startups. We will go into depth on specific topics through active interaction between the participants and the experts.

By attending this webinar you will:

– get inspiration about what you can achieve by going abroad;

– connect with new markets and new stakeholders;

– participate in the discussion and raise interest in your project;

– find new opportunities for networking and cooperation.

SIGN UP HERE AS: 1. DANISH STARTUP | 2. STARTUP FROM OTHER COUNTRY | 3. JUST INTERESTED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE EVENT

SPEAKERS

Patricia Bader-Johnston – Silverbirch Associates Ltd

After a career in Public and Private sector leadership roles, Patricia moved into the entrepreneurial space founding a number of companies focused on various aspects of achieving the UN SDGs ranging from health science innovation to renewable energy development to the future of food and agriculture.

Masaaki Hasegawa – CX Lab

Masaaki is an artist, consultant, author, and speaker. He has been included in the Thinking Heads “Top 100 Speakers in Spain” and IE Business School “IE Knowledge.” Masaaki is a business advisor at Erretres Strategic Design Company, a researcher at Keio University Graduate School of Media Design, and a global committee member of the Asian Art Association.

Lisa Mallner – Asia Innovation Lab

Lisa is an AI and Startup Investment Manager at Copenhagen Capacity and focuses on supporting business development for high-tech companies. She has 10 years of experience in business development and commercial advisory helping companies scale globally across Europe, the US, and Asia. As part of Innovation Lab Asia and the Nordic Asia Venture Alliance, she helps facilitate investments and collaboration between Japan and Denmark.

Hiro Nishiguchi – Japan Innovation Network

Before co-founding Japan Innovation Network, Mr. Nishiguchi was an Executive Managing Director of Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (INCJ), Japan’s largest public-private investment fund with a $20 billion investment capacity. He worked as professional staff at the World Bank Group in Washington, DC. Mr. Nishiguchi is concurrently serving as Independent Director of PERSOL HOLDINGS, President of Japan Bosai Platform, Executive Senior Innovation Advisor of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and as a Professor at Sophia University, Tokyo.

Taisuke Alex Odajima – EDGEof INNOVATION

As a business incubation expert, Alex Odajima has engaged in the creation of numerous start-ups and business divisions of large companies. Through his company EDGEof INNOVATION, he is actively working on building bridges between Japanese and other countries’ innovation ecosystems. Currently working with embassies and other government entities of over 20 countries to support various initiatives on innovation. Providing mentorship for many global startup programs such as Canadian Technology Accelerator or German Startup Accelerator to help foreign startups to enter the Japanese market. He is also a selection committee member of the Japanese Ministry of Economy (METI) ‘s J-Startup program, the Global Ambassador of Shibuya city’s startup support program, a board member of La French Tech Tokyo.

Nousha Saint-Martin – F&JP BridgewithJapan

Nousha Saint-Martin is a strategic consultant with over 20 years of experience in Strategic & Operational Marketing, Brand Management, and Business Development both as a corporate and as an entrepreneur. Multicultural, highly adaptable, she has 20 years plus track record working with Japan, in diverse industries (Beauty& wellbeing, Luxury goods, Medical devices, Pharma logistics…). As founder and managing director of F&JP BridgewithJapan, Nousha Saint-Martin keeps a proactive strategic watch on new technologies & the changing environments of her clients to formulate bespoke strategies helping them to navigate market shifts & digital disruptions and to adapt with agility and creativity.

Yoshi Takahashi – Global Startup Centre – Fukuoka

Yoshi Takahashi is looking forward to helping Fukuoka become more international while simultaneously keeping traditional Japanese culture alive for future generations to learn from and appreciate. He has been already working in Global Startup Centre for more than 3 years and consulted with most of the startup visa applicants after the startup visa started in Fukuoka city. He knows the startup visa scheme well. He is willing to support the entrepreneurs who have a passion to penetrate the Japanese market with the new idea. Previously, he built a business from scratch while living abroad, so he knows what founders, visiting the Global Startup Centre, are going through. He can call on this experience to give startups practical advice that will allow them to see steady growth while always focusing on the bigger picture. This expertise also makes him the perfect person to help foreign startup founders find places to live and work in Fukuoka.

Trond Varlid – Japan Market Expansion Competition

Trond is a business executive with extensive international marketing and business development experience from Europe, the U.S., and Asia, including 18 years in Japan. MBA from Babson College, Boston. As Program Director of the JMEC Business Training Programme he is in charge of all aspects of managing and executing the programme, which is supported by 17 foreign chambers of commerce in Japan.

SIGN UP HERE AS: 1. DANISH STARTUP | 2. STARTUP FROM OTHER COUNTRY | 3. JUST INTERESTED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE EVENT

SIGN UP HERE AS: 1. DANISH STARTUP | 2. STARTUP FROM OTHER COUNTRY | 3. JUST INTERESTED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE EVENT

Tuesday, November 23

13:00am – 14:30am CEST

Would you like to internationalize your business? Meet ambitious and innovative companies into this webinar on internationalization in France.

At the Creative Business Network, we’re hosting a series of events focused on the different aspects of internationalization like the do’s and don’ts when entering a new market, legislation, business culture, work, and living conditions. These events are specifically designed for the needs of creative and innovative startups. We will go into depth on specific topics through active interaction between the participants and the experts.

By attending this webinar you will:

– get inspiration about what you can achieve by going abroad;

– connect with new markets and new stakeholders;

– participate in the discussion and raise interest in your project;

– find new opportunities for networking and cooperation.

SIGN UP HERE AS: 1. DANISH STARTUP | 2. STARTUP FROM OTHER COUNTRY | 3. JUST INTERESTED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE EVENT

SPEAKERS

Pia Abildgaard – Abildgaard Intercultural Training

Pia is specialized in the Nordic countries and offers intercultural training and coaching for communication in Denmark, Sweden and Norway. She was born in Denmark and have worked in international development consulting agencies for 22 years. Before that, she lived and worked in Denmark for more than 20 years and now lives and works in France for 38 years. She teaches courses on intercultural management in English, Danish, and French.

Isabelle Hoyaux – ScaleChanger

Founder of ScaleChanger, Isabelle Hoyaux supports the replication and scaling up of social innovations in Europe, Africa and Asia. With a background in statistics (Imperial College, UK) and MBA in Social entrepreneurship (ESSEC Business School, France), Isabelle has over 15 years’ work experience in social entrepreneurship. She started as business strategy consultant at L.E.K. in UK, then moved to the social entrepreneurship sector in France at Unis-Cité, and internationally, as executive director of CIDR (Centre International de Développement et de Recherche), and at Right To Sight. Today, with ScaleChanger, she supports the replication of projects with significant social impact, by providing strategic and operational support to social entrepreneurs, charities and NGOs as well as advising policymakers and companies on how to create an enabling environment for the scaling of successful models.

Lene Jacobsen – Freya & Co.

Originally from Denmark, Lene lives and works in France since her early twenties. She has a large international experience in HR, management and professional coaching. Convinced that French companies can learn a lot from the Nordic way of working, she founded Freya & Co. in 2017 in Angers (Loire valley). Innovative, inspiring and hands-on, Lene loves helping companies and individuals increasing their happiness at work. Her tailor-made approach includes team coaching, leading collective intelligence workshops, giving inspiring lectures and management training.

Olivia Hervy – WeWork

Olivia runs WeWork Labs and Growth Campus in Southern Europe for WeWork, the leading global flexible office space provider. In her daily role, she helps startups grow through space, mentorship, education, and community. Through this role, she has supported 100+ founders.

Rebecca Ravenni – Innovation and Startups Desk Manager at ITA – Italian Trade Agency

Passionate about innovation and policies, after having worked as an international program manager at Station F, the biggest startups campus in Europe, Rebecca is now based in Paris, where she is Innovation and Startups Desk Manager at the Italian Trade Agency. In this position, she is involved in assisting Italian SMEs and startups in the identification of economic opportunities, partners, and clients in France while pinpointing and analysing the major axes of cooperation, competition, and economic complementarity between Italian and French innovation ecosystems’ actors.

Garry Yankson – Co-founder & CEO at Hip Hop Community

A serial founder & serial hip hop projects creator, Garry has been evolving in the world of music, performing arts, and audiovisual as project manager, artistic director, producer, teacher, speaker, and more for 10 years. Expert in hip hop culture, entertainment, music tech, and marketing.

It can sometimes be a bit harder for creatives than other entrepreneurs to open doors to potential investments. However, creative innovations should be recognised as key solutions to a better and more sustainable future, and therefore there is nothing Creative Business Network would rather do than to help you kick in those doors. 

Supported by the City of Copenhagen and the Danish Business Authorities, Creative Business Network invites all Danish startups to an interactive event – “Investing in the Creative Industries” which is specially designed for creative entrepreneurs and investors to network in a fun interactive and informal setting.

The event is a chance for startups and investors to meet each other during a round of minigolf and other fun activities where the focus will be on making new connections, learning about investment opportunities as well as new products and services from the creative industries.

Join Creative Business Network for this insightful and fun day.

The cup takes place on May 2 in Copenhagen

We encourage all startups with great expectations to their own product or services, that are innovative and creative and ready to show the world, to apply for this competition for creative startups. This is is your chance shine.

Don’t miss out on the application window. Join Creative Business Cup Denmark 2022 now.

The winner receives 25.000 DKK, gains access to the Creative Business Cup Academy and gets to represent Denmark in the Creative Business Cup Global Finals 2022 in June.

You can learn more about Creative Business Cup here

Head over to F6S to start your application here