The Danish Startup Ecosystem Guide - Magasin - Side 26
CO-WORKING SPACES + SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY & DEV. PARKS
Sponsored: This article is published in collaboration with TechStation
TechStation:
An old post office
has become an
innovation hub for
hard tech startups
At Hellerup station, a former post office has been
converted into a 2,300 square metre melting pot for
engineers, entrepreneurs and startups, all working to
develop the innovative solutions of the future.
I
t really looks like a postal building.
And indeed it is. But today, the former
post office has been transformed into
TechStation, an incubator and entrepreneurial community where stamps
and envelopes have been replaced by
highly specialised spaces for innovation
and development for hard tech startups.
The industrial premises are buzzing
with activity. On a daily basis, over 60
people work in the building, including 13
Mikkel Mørkegaard
Station manager,
TechStation
startups. There are engineers, entrepreneurs and investors running in and out
of workshops and offices with gadgets
and instruments in hand. And that is the
whole point, says Mikkel Mørkegaard,
the station manager.
“All our entrepreneurs are curious
about each other. They ask questions,
share their own solutions, ask the hard
questions and always help if they can.
It’s a place where committed people
come together to geek out on technical
solutions - and that gives a great energy,”
he says, while he shows around the large
dining room where the startups have left
their workstations for a while to have
lunch together.
The Postmaster General’s old home
Five years ago, construction of TechStation began in the old post office (built in
26
1922), which is why some of the startups
have their offices in the postmaster’s
apartment, while others are located in
the attic, in an open-plan office landscape built on the beautifully decorated
dry attic.
But it is not just the beautiful surroundings. As a transport hub that connects the researcher from DTU in Lyngby
with the commercial talents from CBS in
just a few minutes, it is an extraordinary
office community for many hard tech
companies .
“Most entrepreneurs are so focused
on their startup that they don’t want
to waste a lot of time travelling from
workshop to office. Here you can service
all parts of your business in one place.
It creates a synergy in the building that
is difficult to find in a large industrial
neighbourhood,” says Mikkel Mørke- g-
The Guide