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National Startup
Competition

National Startup Competition is a competition for the best and brightest university startups from the Danish Universities. All startups compete for cash prizes, receive feedback from experts on how to improve their startup, and become a part of a network of like-minded entrepreneurs! 

The National Startup Competition 2023 has already ended but sign up below to be notified when we open for applications in 2024.

National Startup
Competition

National Startup Competition is a competition for the best and brightest university startups from the Danish Universities. All startups compete for cash prizes, receive feedback from experts on how to improve their startup, and become a part of a network of like-minded entrepreneurs!

The National Startup Competition Award Show will take place on June 21st 2023. Read more about the Award Show below. The event is invite-only, but you have a chance to win tickets here!

Overall and Green Winner of the National Startup Competition 2023

Anemo Robotics

Anemo Robotics is a company specializing in assessing the effects of offshore activities on marine life and biodiversity.

Technical University of Denmark

Winner of:
10.000DKK for winning the Audience Favourite Prize
20.000DKK for winning the Green Category
100.000DKK for winning the Overall Prize

Category Winners of 2023

Linucare

Social

Social

Linucare is a free alarm app, with a panic button both physical and in the app that notifies and navigates your relatives to you, in an emergency.

Aalborg University

Winner of 20.000DKK for winning the Social Category.

Website

Drinksaver ApS

Product

Product

The innovative drinkware by Drinksaver minimizes spillage without impairing
the drinking experience. The aesthetic drinking glass and our hidden lid make it possible to drink as it is lid-less.

Technical University of Denmark | Copenhagen School of Design and Technology

Winner of 20.000DKK for winning the Product Category.

Website

EchoVice

Health

Health

Improving echocardiography images by stabilising ultrasound probes.

University of Southern Denmark


Winner of 20.000DKK for winning the Health Category.

Website

rapidcreative.io

Digital

Digital

Create video content with brand data straight from your website.

Technical University of Denmark

Winner of 20.000DKK for winning the Digital Category.

Website

Categories 2024

Making our planet and society more sustainable
and environmentally
friendly.

Solutions that help
people locally and
globally. Improving
society and our lives.

Everything from
softwares, financial
services, and new
platforms.

A physical device /
prototype that
improves functionality
or helps customers.

Optimizing health
industry, saving more
lives & creating better
well-being.

What's in it for you?​

Extensive Network

More than 50 university employees who work within innovation and entrepreneurship have already joined the DUEN

Knowledge Sharing

The network provides both online and physical options for knowledge sharing, network and sparring.

Celebrate University Entrepreneurship

All members of the network is invited to celebrate Denmark’s best startup teams at the National Startup Competition.

Sparring With Peers

Meet other business developers, innovation managers, consultants, project managers, head of departments and many more.

Diversity

All the Danish universities are represented in the network, making it an optimal platform for development of cross-disciplinary initiatives as well as diverse startups teams.
The network is exclusively for employees at the Danish universities who work within innovation and entrepreneurship

Category Winners 2023

Linucare

Social

Social

Linucare is a free alarm app, with a panic button both physical and in the app that notifies and navigates your relatives to you, in an emergency.

Aalborg University

Winner of 20.000DKK for winning the Social Category.

Website

DrinksaverApS

Product

Product

The innovative drinkware by Drinksaver minimizes spillage without impairing
the drinking experience. The aesthetic drinking glass and our hidden lid make it possible to drink as it is lid-less.

Technical University of Denmark | Copenhagen School of Design and Technology

Winner of 20.000DKK for winning the Product Category.

Website

EchoVice

Health

Health

Improving echocardiography images by stabilising ultrasound probes.

University of Southern Denmark

Winner of 20.000DKK for winning the Health Category.

Website

rapidcreative.io

Digital

Digital

Create video content with brand data straight from your website.

Technical University of Denmark

Winner of 20.000DKK for winning the Digital Category.

Website

Categories 2024

How can we optimize human’s health? The category Health covers everything from medical processes in the health sector or platforms that generate more awareness of diseases and symptoms among the general population. In other words, if your purpose is to save more lives or create better well-being, you have come to the right place.

Our world is changing and people are changing with it. What can we do to make our planet better for future generations? The category Green consists of ideas that make our planet and society become more sustainable and environmentally friendly. This could for example be in industries of Energy, Recycling, Packaging, Food and Beverage or other related industries.

Do you have a physical and tangible device, a sketch or prototype of a machine, robot, new component, or consumer product, that improves functionality or help reduce costs or time for your customers? If your answer is yes, then the Product category is for you.

The world is becoming more digitalized. The category Digital consists of ideas that are not specifically green or for health purposes, see green/health categories. Do you have an idea for a new platform that could make it easier for customers? Then this category covers everything from software as a service, financial services, and new platforms in all industries.

Globally, locally we all live side by side and we not only face environmental challenges but also societal challenges. Does your solution help people locally or globally? Does it improve society and our lives? Are humans centered around your solution? Then this is the category for you!

Category Finalists 2023

Green

OceanWide Seaweed

Team

We develop a novel growth-module for Dulse seaweed farming, using an unique
net-structure and a specialized hatchery technique, increasing yield per m2 and reducing farming space compared to existing options.

University of Southern Denmark 
LinkedIn

SeaSou

Food_April23_Food_486_LowRes

We provide greener food production system for a healthier and more sustainable food consumption with seaweed, a tasty, healthy and sustainable food resource from the ocean, into plant-based food products

University of Copenhagen
Website

AgroAnt

AgroAnt (10)1

AgroAnt sells ants to farmers, so they can protect their crops against pests and diseases – in short we use ants as a sustainable alternative to chemical pesticides.

Aarhus University
LinkedIn

Eseba ApS

Screenshot 2023-05-23 at 11.41.48

Upcycling textile waste to a hard and malleable material.

Technical University of Denmark
Website

Phytocuro

PhytoCuro_TeamPhoto

PhytoCuro is doing cultivation of micro-algae, utilizing a tailor-made photobioreactor that yields real-time data. This technology allows PhytoCuro to manufacture valuable antioxidant lipid extracts for use in cosmetics.

Technical University of Denmark
Website

Anemo Robotics

Anemo-team_07

Innovations for assessing marine biodiversity.

Technical University of Denmark
Website

Product

SenArch

20230501_175137

Our mission is to provide affordable and easy-to-deploy IoT gateway for smart cities and businesses, enabling data-driven decisions for a sustainable world.

Technical University of Denmark | University of Copenhagen

Website

Social Mirror

Screenshot 2023-05-09 at 12.58.53

Social Mirror elevates the brand of retailers and creates a memorable shopping experience, by connecting shoppers with their friends virtually in the fitting room.

IT University of Copenhagen

LinkedIn

Neo Truss System

Screenshot 2023-05-23 at 10.29.46

Rethinking old solutions in the event world with Neo – Fast, silent & simple.

Aalborg University

Drinksaver ApS

TeamDrinksaver

The innovative drinkware by Drinksaver minimizes spillage without impairing
the drinking experience. The aesthetic drinking glass and our hidden lid make it possible to drink as it is lid-less.

Technical University of Denmark | Copenhagen School of Design and Technology
Website

SeaBud

Screenshot 2023-05-23 at 14.07.31

We are SeaBud! We aim to produce an organic liquid fertilizer from washed-up seaweed collected from the Danish coast. We see it as a useful resource, often mistreated as waste.

University of Southern Denmark

Kidular

Kidular_logo

Kidular – innovative, adjustable, modular, and customizable glasses for children.

University of Southern Denmark

Social

NIFTY Nordic

reuse maler-gutter-kvadrat

Based on Craft Psychology, NIFTY wants to break the curve of mental health issues amongst Danes by making crafts more available by providing a national event calendar on our webpage.

Aarhus University 
Website

Contribe

IMG_0936 (2)

Contribe is a sustainability management tool, specifically designed for consumer-facing brands across various industries. Collaborations between companies and NGO’s now become easy, transparent and commercially valuable.

Aarhus University | Copenhagen Business School
Website

GenBro

Screenshot 2023-05-23 at 14.14.22

Platform provider for intergenerational housing between seniors and
students.

University of Southern Denmark

Citizen Project

IMG_7879

Citizen Project is a digital innovation bank, and crowd-innovation platform that re-imagines our way of thinking about innovation, citizen involvement and active entertainment within digital tech development.

Aarhus University

Website

Collective Disco

CD team venture

Collective Disco unites the soundscape on festivals campingsites by synchronizing private speakers using radio waves. The music is chosen democratically through our website, and distributed to all speakers participating.

University of Copenhagen | Roskilde University

Linucare

Linucare_Team_AAU

Linucare is a free alarm app, with a panic button both physical and in the app that notifies and navigates your relatives to you, in an emergency.

Aalborg University

Website

Health

EchoVice

EchoVice_team

Improving echocardiography images by stabilising ultrasound probes.

University of Southern Denmark
Website

PROBE

340801931_195990076119855_4566793184193257417_n

PROBE is developing an AI-powered recruitment platform for clinical trials. Our goal is to aid citizens in getting enrolled into trials, and strengthen clinical research in DK and EU.

Technical University of Denmark | University of Copenhagen

Website

Nordic Phantoms

343720453_1836561190053340_6058554113897331580_n

Nordic Phantoms wants to create an innovative healthcare system by developing anatomical models with critical bleedings to the healthcare industry.

University of Southern Denmark
Website

Zeta Diagnostics

Zeta Diagnostics Team_solidBG

Long-term monitoring of ears, with the worlds first in-ear earphone approved as a medical device. A faster, more accurate and cost-effective diagnostic tool for ENTs, and the +400.000.000 patients worldwide.

Aarhus University

Merodz

MerodzImage

We create affordable AI powered prosthetics for the over 2.200.000 below-the-elbow amputee patients worldwide.

Aalborg University

Website

DemensAI

DemensAI

A digital assessment tool, that can assess the cognitive state of a person based on a speech sample (1-2 min). It will notice when indications of Alzheimer’s Disease appear.

Technical University of Denmark

Website

Digital

DeepFeed

IMG_1250

DeepFeed utilizes AI to optimize social media management and content creation. This allows companies to benefit from marketing efficiently while allocating more time to focus on their core business.

University of Copenhagen
Website

AR-simply

team (1)

Save time and money by digitizing manuals and optimizing the workflow of
service technicians with AR-Simply, an augmented reality app for mobile and
tablet.

Aalborg University
Website

rapidcreative.io

Rapid_03

Create video content with brand data straight from your website.

Technical University of Denmark
Website

DockMe

Team photo

We digitalise recreational harbours with IoT in order to modernise the sailing tourism and improve efficiency of berth management.

Technical University of Denmark
Website

Thirsty

Thirsty

Thirsty is an app/website which will help you make drinks from home with what you have.

IT University of Copenhagen
LinkedIn

Affecture

Kortek- Team Pic

Affecture builds biometric analysis tools to improve the precision and speed of user research.

Aalborg University | Technical University of Denmark

Category Finals Judges

Product

Hans Christian
Lehmann Plett

Strategic Analyst, Airofit

LinkedIn

Niels
Buchholst

Bestyrelsesformand, Sparringspartnerne

LinkedIn

Alex Ribin

CEO @ ifs.aero

LinkedIn

Magnus Gary

Project Director at ShippingLab

LinkedIn

Lasse Alfastsen

Strategic director and co-founder / Partnerskabshuset Krydsfelt

LinkedIn

Digital

Frederik
Østergaard Neble

Tech Lead, GN Audio / Jabra

LinkedIn

Anette
Nørgaard

Relationship Director, Visma Dinero

LinkedIn

Torsten
Kolind

Co-Founder & Board Member, YouNoodle

LinkedIn

Richard
Kibrya

Director and Principal Consultant, Devote Consulting

LinkedIn

Health

Robert
Burger

Head of Product, gMendel

LinkedIn

Michael
Kock

Chief Executive Director, Careturner A/S

LinkedIn

Sandra Viig
Seitzberg

Business Owner, FReFo & DIWO

LinkedIn

Jonas
Jürgensen

Co-founder & CEO, VenomAid Diagnostics

LinkedIn

Zydrune Domarkaite

Senior Communication Project Manager, Novo Nordisk

LinkedIn

Green

Henrik Schiøtt
Sørensen

venture-cup-logo-denmark-white

Chief Data Officer, STAC TECHNOLOGY

LinkedIn

Maxime
Bauchau

General Partner Sustainability, 
Startup Wise Guys

LinkedIn

Cecilie Ploug
Sarp

CEO & Founder, Azilis Advisory

LinkedIn

Niels
Hermansen

Vissing Fonden

Social

Ole
Østergaard


LinkedIn

Pierce
Birk Ricketts

Senior Consultant,


LinkedIn

Hjörtur
Smárason

Founder & Lead Strategist, 
Saltworks

LinkedIn

Suzana
Barbosa

Business and Community Developer, Mind Future

LinkedIn

Anne-Marie
Hall

Founder & CEO, Amazing Hall

LinkedIn

"Winning Venture Cup was a huge boost for Blue Lobster."

Blue Lobster

Blue Lobster is an app that connects chefs with low impact fishermen, bringing you the best quality seafood straight from the harbor and paying the fishermen fairly. They were the overall winner of National Startup Competition in 2019 as well as the winner of the Digital category.

Overall and Social Winner of the National Startup Competition 2022

humAId

At humAId we translate deaf peoples lives. By providing a digital AI based sign language translation service which can be used directly on the deaf persons smartphone.

University of Southern Denmark

Overall winner 2021

AQfeed is able to convert unwanted sludge from aquacultures into a high-quality and sustainable fish feed. Team members are: Andreas Væring, Anton Krogh Petersen, Daria Zahaleanu, Jasmin Hyldborg, Joachim Rådstoga, Thomas Petersen

Technical University of Denmark
LinkedIn

 

F A Q

The application for 2023 will open 1st February, but fill in the pre-signup to get notified. 

All competition activities are hybrid for teams from SDU, AU, and AAU, except for the Award Show the 21st of June. Please note that category finalist must have at least one person attend the award show from the startup.

  • Product
    Do you have a physical and tangible device, a sketch or prototype of a machine, robot, new component, or consumer product, that improves functionality or help reduce costs or time for your customers? If your answer is yes, then the Product category is for you.

  • Digital
    The world is becoming more digitalized. The category Digital consists of ideas that are not specifically green or for health purposes, see green/health categories. Do you have an idea for a new platform that could make it easier for customers? Then this category covers everything from software as a service, financial services, and new platforms in all industries.

  • Health
    How can we optimize human’s health? The category Health covers everything from medical processes in the health sector or platforms that generate more awareness of diseases and symptoms among the general population. In other words, if your purpose is to save more lives or create better well-being, you have come to the right place.
  •  
  • Green
    Our world is changing and people are changing with it. What can we do to make our planet better for future generations? The category Green consists of ideas that make our planet and society become more sustainable and environmentally friendly. This could for example be in industries of Energy, Recycling, Packaging, Food and Beverage or other related industries.
  •  
  • Social
    Globally, locally we all live side by side and we not only face environmental challenges but also societal challenges. Does your solution help people locally or globally? Does it improve society and our lives? Are humans centered around your solution? Then this is the category for you!
  •  




  •  

The award show will take place at IDA, Kalvebod Brygge 31, 1560 Copenhagen.

The pitch will be 4 minutes followed by a 12 minute Q&A.

All pitches and all events take place in English.

You can add your budget and timeline in the appendix. 

We would recommend showing a timeline for the next 2-3 years, but it depends on your startup and how much time you need to develop your product/service, your time to market, etc. Think about what makes sense for you to show the judges. 

Please show your internal economy for the next couple of years. You do not need to include the prize money in your budget. 

You can add your appendix in the same document as your application. Indicate when the appendix starts. 

FAQ

All teams must have at least one cofounder who is a student, faculty member, or recent graduate (within 1 year from graduation) from one of the Danish universities (AAU, AU, CBS, DTU, KU, RUC, SDU, ITU) at the time of submission.

Full-time foreign students and diploma students are also welcome to apply as long as they otherwise comply with the rules.

All applicants participate by uploading their business plan on our submission platform, YouNoodle. 

All teams receive written feedback from our jury on their business plan, the Venture Cup Booster Pack (bundled offers and discounts relevant for Startups) and access to our mentor-programme, Venture Cup Experts.

Yes, you are allowed to participate in the same competition the following year, if you have developed your business considerably since you last participated. Former winners of the categories are not eligible to participate again.

The 5 highest ranked Startups in each category will be selected to participate in the Semifinals.

Semifinals will take place online on 2 and 3. of June. The Final Award Show will happen on the 24 of June. It is mandatory for each team to have one cofounder in the team present during this phase.

You fill in your application on YouNoodle and upload your business plan. The template can be found here.

Feel free to use the platform Jambo for the business plan. It’s free of charge and can help you develop your business plan through integrated helping modules. It is developed by a previous Project Manager for the Venture Cup competitions so it’s tailormade to help you accelerate! Check it out here.

Every university has a incubation hub, that you should contact if you need help with your application

Our judges have strict guidelines on how to judge the business plans. The parameters looked at: The Product/service description, Impact, Business plan feasibility, Team structure, and Implementation Plan.

You must upload your application on YouNoodle by 4. of May.

Timeline

"Winning Venture
Cup was a huge boost
for Blue Lobster."

Blue Lobster

Blue Lobster is an app that connects chefs with low impact fishermen, bringing you the best quality seafood straight from the harbor and paying the fishermen fairly. They were the overall winner of National Startup Competition in 2019 as well as the winner of the Digital category.

Copenhagen Business School

All teams must have at least one cofounder who is a student, faculty member, or recent graduate (within 1 year from graduation) from one of the Danish universities (AAU, AU, CBS, DTU, KU, RUC, SDU, ITU) at the time of submission.

Full-time foreign students and diploma students are also welcome to apply as long as they otherwise comply with the rules.

All applicants participate by uploading their business plan on our submission platform, YouNoodle. 

Early Bird special gives you an  access to a Venture Cup employee that will support you on your application for 15-20 minutes.

All teams receive written feedback from our jury on their business plan, the Venture Cup Booster Pack (bundled offers and discounts relevant for Startups) and access to our mentor-programme, Venture Cup Experts.

Yes, you are allowed to participate in the same competition the following year, if you have developed your business considerably since you last participated. Former winners of the categories are not eligible to participate again.

 

The 5 highest ranked Startups in each category will be selected to participate in the Semifinals.

Semifinals will take place online on 2 and 3. of June. The Final Award Show will happen on the 25 of June. It is mandatory for each team to have one cofounder in the team present during this phase.

You fill in your application on YouNoodle and upload your business plan. The template can be found here.

Every university has a incubation hub, that you should contact if you need help with your application

Our judges have strict guidelines on how to judge the business plans. The parameters looked at: The Product/service description, Impact, Business plan feasibility, Team structure, and Implementation Plan.

You must upload your application on YouNoodle by 4. of May.

F A Q

"This victory is key to opening doors."

humAId

At humAId we translate deaf peoples lives. By providing a digital AI based sign language translation service which can be used directly on the deaf persons smartphone. They were the overall winner of National Startup Competition in 2022 as well as the winner of the Social category.

University of Southern Denmark

Contact us

Simon_BnW
Simon Ringive,
Head of Projects 
[email protected]
LinkedIn
 

Contact

Simon Ringive,
Project Manager

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