Photo: Morten Ugelvig Andersen, CEO of Venture Cup, Thomas Bernhard, Business Developer from SDU, Søren Land, Head of Division at SDU RIO, Pascal Gyldenberg, Business Developer from SDU and (in front) Mads Lorentzen founder of humAId
On the 21st and 22nd of June Venture Cup Denmark hosted both the category finals and the final Award Show of the National Startup Competition. Students, startups, and a large part of the entrepreneurial ecosystem came together at IDA to celebrate the announcement of Denmark’s best university startup 2022.
The overall winner and winner of the social category was humAId from Southern University of Denmark. The founders Mads Lorentzen and Mikkel Bytoft only started their journey in December 2021, but impressed both the judges and audience with how far they have come. humAId is a digital sign language translation service that will ease the daily lives of deaf and hearing impaired people. It is an app that translates sign language directly on your phone, allowing for many more hours of translation than deaf people get today, as well as flexibility and mobility. A solution that will make a true social impact by empowering people with hearing disabilities.
Stephan Christgau, Partner of Eir Ventures, Stine Mølgaard, co-founder of Radiobotics, and tech investor Sune Alstrup, co-founder of The Eye Tribe.
After winning the social category, Mads Lorentzen pitched in front of a crowded room and the VIP jury; Co-founder of Radiobotics, Stine Mølgaard, partner of Eir Ventures, Stephan Christgau, and tech investor and co-founder of The Eye Tribe, Sune Alstrup, on the night of the 22nd June.
Besides a lot of credit, humAId took home 100,000 DKK and can now look forward to strategy sessions with McKinsey & Co and a storytelling workshop with Copus, before they move on to participate in the University Startup World Cup, which they have also qualified for.
Christina Fleuron from Hempel Foundation, Cecilie Ploug Sarp from Azilis Advisory, Jon Sødergreen from StaySeat ApS, Marcus Vang from StaySeat ApS, Oliver Melot from StaySeat ApS
The Green Category winner was StaySeat ApS from the Technical University of Denmark. StaySeat produces energy efficient heated seats that can replace the heating lamps at restaurants and cafés. By heating up people and not entire eating areas with their seats, the founders Jon Sødergreen and Marcus Vang want to lower energy use, CO2-emissions and comfort the users at the same time.
Mikkel Diness Vindeløv from Hempel, Maj Brincker Højring from IDA, Iris M. Madsen from Hydrovertic, Jacob Copeland from Hydrovertic
The Product Category was won by Hydrovertic from Southern University of Denmark. The team consists of co-founders: Iris M. Madsen (CEO), Rudy Mandrup Cazelles (CFO/COO), Jacob Copeland (CTO) and Askarbek Pazylbekov (CPO). Hydrovertic develops systems for vertical farming. The unique design of the solution, makes it possible to adapt it to the exact needs and space that the buyers have. This both minimizes the entry costs within vertical farming and allows for a much higher yield.
Sara López from Yuman
The Health Category winner was Yuman from the Technical University of Denmark. The team behind Yuman, Sara Lopez, Andrei Chirtoaca and Tilia Hasselager, develop innovative robots that assist nurses as a transport buddy to facilitate delivery of food, laundry and medicine in hospital wards. The ambition of Yuman is to combat nurse burnouts by making more time for patient care and improving the nurses’ satisfaction.
Seeyar Amiri from Innolidix
Finally, the Digital Category was won by the startup Innolidix from the Technical University of Denmark. Innolidix participated with a strong team of four Diana Soots (CEO), Seeyar Amiri (COO), Niklas Karlin (CTO) and Jeppe Lynge (CPO). Innolidix is innovating the mining industry drilling and blasting operations with the application of sensory technology in combination with machine learning. The ambition is to provide clients with accurate mapping that will optimize their efficiency and reduce down-times in value chains.
All category winners won a prize of 10,000 DKK, a spot in the next University Startup World Cup and consultancy sessions with McKinsey.
Thanks to all startups teams who participated and to all who came and celebrated at the award show. Special thanks to our partners and sponsors: IDA, McKinsey & Co., Hempel Foundation, Innovation Foundation, Fonden for Entreprenørskab, Vækstfonden, Metro-Schrøder-Fonden.
And last but not least all the universities: Technical University of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen Business School, IT University of Copenhagen, University of Southern Denmark, Aalborg University and Aarhus University.
