Spinouts Denmark

Turning

research to

impact

About Spin-outs Denmark

Spin-outs Denmark is a unique and unprecedented collaboration between all eight universities in the country to deliver concrete value by lifting both the number and quality of research-based companies and thus promoting the business creations (spin-outs) originating from the Danish universities.

Purpose

There are several purposes of the project among which it helps to put both academic innovation and research-based entrepreneurship on the national agenda.

The three main purposes are:

To raise the number and quality of those research and technology based companies from universities.
To create even more academics entrepreneurs.
To support the development of a national ecosystem of academic entrepreneurs.

Support for researchers

They get their time funded for up to one year.
They are given the means to develop their ideas or technologies with commercial potential.
They are assisted by experienced mentors to develop both personal and commercial competencies.
They get access to activities and a network that can help them further on.

Ambitions

Significantly more sustainable research and technology-based Danish spin-outs.
Significantly more employees in these spin-outs with a highly valued market value.
A cohesive national ecosystem for academic entrepreneurship and innovation.

Economy

The project is generously funded by VILLUM FONDEN with a 5-year grant of DKK 75 millions. The project’s resources are spent on three instruments:

Capacity and competence building of university technology transfer.
Professional and financial support for researchers who have the potential to become an entrepreneur.
Building a strong and well-functioning entrepreneurial community.

Background

An international study has revealed that Denmark falls behind the European countries in which we usually compare ourselves when it comes to converting research into business. There is a need to strengthen the universities’ capacity and competences in technology transfer, to strengthen entrepreneurial culture in universities and to strengthen the cohesion of the Danish ecosystem for innovation.

Stakeholders

All eight universities in the country, as well as a steering committee and an Advisory Board consisting of key figures, actors, experts and advisors from Europe and the United States, do this. The project is coordinated from the University of Southern Denmark (SDU) in Odense.

Organisation

Steering Committee

The Steering Committee consists of the Head of TTO’s or similar functions with operational responsibility for knowledge – and technology transfer activities within each of the eight universities. See the members below. The Project Owner chairs the Committee. Furthermore, it is supported in its work by the Project Coordinator and Project Administrator. The overall task of the Steering Committee is to supervise the economy, internally evaluate the progress of Spin-outs Denmark and be the line of communication to the Villum Foundation.

Søren E. Frandsen

Chairman, Director of Research & Innovation Organisation at SDU

Anette Poulsen Miltoft

Head of Technology Transfer at Aarhus University

Peter Rasmussen

Head of Technology Transfer at Aalborg University

Karen Laigaard

Head of Technology Transfer at Copenhagen University

Mikkel Sørensen

Managing Director at DTU Skylab

Jane Finnerup Johnsen

Head of Research Support Office at CBS

Peter Ibsen

Senior Collaboration Manager at IT-University of Copenhagen

Kirsten Dybvad Mikkelsen

Chief legal counsel at Roskilde University

Thomas Schmidt

Head of Technology Transfer at SDU

Advisory Board

The overall task of the Advisory Board will be to advise on how to improve the quality, the sustainability and the scalability of Spin-outs as well as how to improve the ecosystem coherence and spin-out support. It will also be to advise on how to improve the quality, the sustainability and the scalability of Spin-outs as well as how to improve the ecosystem coherence and spin-out support. Lastly, the task of the Advisory Board will be to advise on how to improve the quality, the sustainability and the scalability of Spin-outs as well as how to improve the ecosystem coherence and spin-out support.