The Danish Startup Ecosystem Guide - Magasin - Side 76
STARTUP COMMUNITIES, MEDIA & RESSOURCES + MISCELLANEOUS
Sponsored: This article is published in collaboration with Dansk Industri
The Confederation of Danish
Industry wants entrepreneurship
on politicians’ radar
The startup ecosystem is invited when the Confederation of Danish Industry is shaping
the future of entrepreneurship i Denmark. A strategy that will translate challenges in
the ecosystem into concrete policies that can make life easier for startups.
A
round 200 entrepreneurs, investors, universities, ecosystem
people and politicians were
present when the Confederation of Danish Industry (DI) organised
the kick-off for Denmark’s new entrepreneurship strategy at the beginning of
the year. Input that will be presented to
the government during its work with a
new policy in this field. This is why DI
gathered the startup ecosystem to make
sure that their voices are heard.
“A new entrepreneurship strategy is
a top priority for us. There is a need to
create better conditions for entrepreneurs
in Denmark. Denmark is not creating
enough scalable businesses, which is a
problem: new technologies come from
this segment. Other countries have a better understanding that the startup ecosystem creates the companies of the future,
and there is global competition to attract
the best minds. That’s why we need to
raise the bar and increase our ambitions
so that Denmark’s strategy is as ambitious as possible,” says Sine Linderstrøm,
Head of SMEs and Entrepreneurship at DI.
In 2021, DI developed an entrepreneurship policy with 25 concrete proposals,
but at that time the government did
not fulfil its promised entrepreneurship
package. This time, entrepreneurship is
written into the government’s constitution, and by inviting the ecosystem to the
drawing board, DI will bring the ecosys-
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tem’s concrete wishes to the table.
“There are still challenges that have not
been solved, including the areas of tax,
investment and talent attraction. We are
very aware and we listen to the ecosystem - both to confirm the problems we
already know about, but also to bring in
new input,” says Linderstrøm.
“As Denmark’s largest business organization, it is a top priority to create better
conditions when starting and scaling a
business in Denmark. That’s why we offer
several services to help them on their
way,and we have them right at the heart
of our entrepreneurship policy. We do a lot
to create a community around entrepreneurship because as a startup founder,
Entrepreneurs’ meeting place
DI currently organises almost 20,000
companies representing more than 10 sectors and 100 member associations. From
small, new startups to large international
enterprises. The business community
is thus broadly represented in DI, but in
recent years, efforts have been stepped up
in favour of startups.
Sine Linderstrøm
Head of SMEs and
Entrepreneurship
at DI
How DI helps startups:
•
Get a year‘s free membership as an
entrepreneur, giving you access to all
DI‘s services
•
Join DI‘s Scaleup network with other
founders on a growth journey
•
Make use of DI‘s 11 international offices
in the USA, China, Germany, India and
elsewhere
•
Call our lawyers when you need help
with your employment contract, GDPR,
etc.
•
Join us for our numerous courses
and events on entrepreneurship,
sales, sustainability, digitalisation,
internationalisation and much more
•
Reduce your costs for employees during
maternity leave and pregnancy through
Industriens Barselsfond
•
Meet other companies in your sector
through DI‘s 11 sectoral communities
•
Get your voice heard. DI‘s main focus
points of a new entrepreneurship
strategy is to get more startup-friendly
tax rules, a stronger investment and
shareholding culture in Denmark, more
spinouts from the universities and a
more diverse startup environment.
The Guide