Spin-outs Denmark is a unique collaboration between all eight universities. Supported from 2021–2026 by Villum Foundation, the programme has delivered value and societal impact by increasing the number and quality of research-based companies originating from the Danish research base.
In 2026, the programme entered a new five-year funding period, backed by both Villum Foundation and Innovation Fund Denmark through 2031.
Research drives knowledge and innovation, and to address societal challenges and create impact, translation into real-world solutions is key.
One way to accelerate this transformation is by supporting inventors, helping them develop their ideas, become entrepreneurs, and establish spin-out companies that bring solutions to market. We support this entrepreneurial journey through funding, training, mentoring, networks, and access to a strong innovation ecosystem.
This is the ambition of Spin-outs Denmark.
The project is funded by Villum Foundation and Innovation Fund Denmark from 2026-2031.
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.
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.
