A quick Q&A with Mille Munksgaard, a sustainability professional with experience in international business development and strategic partnerships within the cleantech sector. Mille joined Dansk Industri's office in New York City in August 2019 where she serves as Senior Advisor. She advises Danish companies on strategy and business development on the North American market and...

A quick Q&A with Sheryl Owen, Founder & CEO at Surrounded by Opportunities  What is your most surprising prediction about cities? Cities will have to embrace utilizing material passports to address their waste generated. Who is the person that most influenced the way you think about cities and technology? There is not a specific person...

A quick Q&A with Lea Jordan, Programme Manager at Cross Innovation Hub (Hamburg Kreativ Gesellschaft).   What is your most surprising prediction about cities? Lea Jordan I feel like there are certain predictions that many of us can agree on, such as huge changes in terms of mobility (car-free cities, 15-minute-cities, etc.). As well as the...

A quick Q&A with Kaisa Ahonen, Urban Tech Helsinki Project Manager at Aalto University Startup Center.   What is your most surprising prediction about cities? Kaisa Ahonen I see cities becoming more and more independent from state governments. Their meaning and influence is growing, so we might see more city-states in the future, or at least...

A quick Q&A with Robert Heinecke, Founder & CEO, Breeze Technologies (Urbantech 2020)   When and why did you start your company? Back in 2014, I was living and working in Istanbul. For me this was the very first time when I experienced heavy smog. During some parts of my stay there, I could barely see...

A quick Q&A with Jakob Stoumann, Hub Director at PropTech Denmark and proptech ecosystem builder   What is your most surprising prediction about cities? Jakob Stoumann I believe that very soon 'noise' will be seen as one of the major challenges that we have to solve as our cities grow and become denser. While climate problems...

A quick Q&A with Claus A. Foss Rosenstand PhD - Digital Hub Denmark Professor   What is your most surprising prediction about cities? Claus A. Foss Rosenstand, PhD I predict that we will see more convergence of urban technologies than expected in 10 years; however, it will be less than expected in the next 4-5 years....

A quick Q&A with Michael Johansen, Head of Business Development at CLEAN What do you think the cities of the future will look like? Michael Johansen Cities of the future will be more clean, green and sustainable - and first and foremost more liveable. Citizens will experience this directly due to cleaner air, fewer cars...

A quick Q&A with Brian Lim, Country Manager for Rainmaking in Japan. Brian operates the Startupbootcamp Scale Osaka program, focused on growing the Smart Cities & Living sector in Osaka. The program provides international scaleups with the opportunity to expand in Japan and to collaborate with corporate partners such as Hankyu Hanshin Properties Group, JR...

A quick Q&A with Jakob Stolt, Senior Project Manager at EIT Climate-KIC  What is your most surprising prediction about cities? Jakob Stolt In the future, development in cities is equal to sustainable and inclusive programmes involving the citizens on a broader scale. The quality of living is not just a phrase for suburbs and areas...

A quick Q&A with Taylor Rowe, Director of Partnerships, The Clean Fight New York What is your most surprising prediction about cities? Taylor Rowe I’m not sure I have a surprising prediction, but it has been fascinating to be in NYC during COVID. Many people left the city last Spring, but those of us who...

Akshat is co-founder and CEO of OrxaGrid – an analytics platform for optimising energy which helps companies to optimise assets, reduce energy losses, and reduce CO2 emissions. Through IoT sensors, AI and industry-specific knowledge they deliver value to a range of stakeholders across the sector. As part of the Urbantech 2019 Cohort, Akshat worked with...

Event purpose As we work towards a sustainable urban future, there is a blossoming of urbantech startups. And greater focus from both companies and governments on green transitions research. Everyone wants action here and now. At the same time, industrial research and entrepreneurship share similar challenges, particularly regarding innovation, communication, and implementation. Could researchers and…

Eithne is the Programme Director for the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership and responsible for the strategic development and delivery of the Accelerator Programme for entrepreneurs and SMEs. The University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL) is a globally influential institute developing leadership and solutions for a sustainable economy. After co-founding the first Impact...

Marius is Director of Smart Cities at Copenhagen Solutions Lab, overseeing the development of smart and sustainable city solutions to realize the goal of becoming the world’s first CO2 neutral capital city by 2025. Copenhagen Solutions Lab is the City of Copenhagen’s incubator for smart city initiatives working cross-sector. Prior to joining Copenhagen Solutions Lab,...

We had an opportunity to check back in with Christina Haupt Toft - who is helping one of the startups in the 2021 Urbantech Mentoring Program. How do you wish your field of expertise would look like in 10 years? I wish to see my future field of expertise as someone who can communicate strategy...

Emilie is the Deputy Director of Global Initiatives and Climate Partnership at C40 – a network of the world’s megacities committed to addressing climate change. C40 supports cities to collaborate effectively, share knowledge, and drive meaningful, measurable, and sustainable action on climate change. Prior to joining C40, Emilie worked on cities and climate action in...

A quick Q&A with Nyla Mabro, Head of Strategy and Marketing at The Clean Fight New York What is your most surprising prediction about cities? Nyla Mabro Maybe not a prediction, but this is my hope: That we put as much investment and enthusiasm into finding nature-based solutions for the cities of the future as...

A quick Q&A with Roi Rodríguez de Bernardo, Program Manager at FundingBox What is your most surprising prediction about cities? Roi Rodríguez de Bernardo What Alex McDowell did on the production design of Minority Report is just outstanding. Many of the technologies that appear in the film are today a reality, like driverless cars, wearable...

A quick Q&A with Palle Riismoller, Managing Director of CONNECT Denmark, Entrepreneur and Mentor  What do you think the cities of the future will look like? Palle Riismoller Cities will become increasingly green and will spread out to have access to light, better air and space for community. There will be a larger number of...

A quick Q&A with Anders Sloth, Senior Investment Manager - Head of Smart City Section at Copenhagen Capacity  What is your most surprising prediction about cities?' Anders Sloth Urbanization is increasing as 55% of the world's population live in cities, which is expected to reach 70% by 2050. My prediction would be that this number...

A quick Q&A with Grace Aranow, Program Associate at The Clean Fight NY  What is your most surprising prediction about cities? Grace Aranow Perhaps not a surprise, but the widespread adoption of a Circular Economy mindset, where the life cycle of every resource is reimagined using a systematic approach. Europe is ahead of the US...

Christian is former Director in NREP, the leading Nordic private equity real estate manager. He recently co- founded 2150, a European sustainable venture capital fund focused on urbantech. Previously Christian co-founded and served as chairman for SYNERGI. Christian focuses on developing new business opportunities to enrich people’s lives in the built environment. Urbantech: Tell us...

A quick Q&A with Sophie Mølgård Hansen, Head of Partnerships at TechBBQ  What is your most surprising prediction about cities? Sophie Mølgård Hansen I think that with the past chaotic year in mind, with a full-blown pandemic and lockdown, people have found back to nature and the appreciation of it. When cities were shut down,...

A quick Q&A with Karl Fjelde Nevland, Head of Nordic Edge Innoasis  What is your most surprising prediction about cities? Karl Fjelde Nevland Not sure if it is super surprising, but here it goes. In practical and political discussions about the future of our cities, we often tend to put viable cities equal to profitable...

A quick Q&A with Irene Arias Hofman, CEO, IDB Lab.  What is your most surprising prediction about cities and sustainability? Irene Arias Hofman First, at this time of extreme inter-connectedness, I’m optimistic about the potential for emerging ecosystems and platforms, such as D-Local, an all-in-one payment platform for global merchants and emerging markets, which is...

A quick Q&A with Ylva Lidin, Executive Director at VentureLab by Lund University Where is the best place for new ideas? Ylva Lidin It is perhaps not so much about the place but the people? It is in meetings with people from different backgrounds great ideas can grow. At VentureLab we do several events during...

On January 21st we hosted the 2021 Ecosystem Kick-off and Support Event together with BLOXHUB, Tech Nordic Advocates, and Proptech Denmark. The event aimed to inform startups and ecosystem members about opportunities and support available in 2021, as well as to answer specific questions around the support opportunities available. It included both signposting and the…

A quick Q&A with Mariann Xie Nouredinne, Business Manager at BLOX GLOBAL  What is your most surprising prediction about cities? Mariann Xie Noureddine The role (power) of cities is changing and growing in importance. There are many examples already of how cities are increasingly beginning to work strategically with long-term goals. Cities are solving societal...

Nordic Fund Day is an interactive virtual event aimed at connecting start-ups with compatible investors. Up to 16 start-ups will get the opportunity to present their business idea to the collected international investor network of Microsoft for Startups, Telia Startups, Urbantech and Nordic Edge Innoasis. Apply now to join the event and get:  Pre-matched meetings with the most relevant investors Prep...

A quick Q&A with Dr. Claus Springborg, Executive coach at CoCreation and Lecturer at CBS How can co-creation and community make cities more sustainable? Dr. Claus Springborg Making cities more sustainable is a complex task. To engage successfully with this task, people from many different professional and social backgrounds need to work together. Such collaboration...

A quick Q&A with Pia Thomsen, Partner at ArkiTours. What is your most surprising prediction about cities and sustainability? Pia Thomsen We believe that the importance of nature for our well-being will be enhanced. More people will leave the big cities and move to smaller towns, perhaps in flexible ways, just for 4-6 months of...

A quick Q&A with Matthew Delany, previously Head of Cleantech & Sustainable Urban Development at Copenhagen Capacity and now International Programme Director at Bech-Bruun. What is your most surprising prediction about cities and sustainability? Matthew Delany Cities will be controlled by Artificial Intelligence and begin to think like a human brain. CO2 will be sucked...

We just reached a key milestone: Demo Day. On November 26, our second program cohort, partners, and the wider ecosystem, celebrated the acceleration of the development of sustainable cities – together in a hybrid format. 50 people attended live from the Danish Architecture Center whilst 100+ others watched the live broadcast on Hopin. Here's a...

Happy Women's Entrepreneurship Day 2020! Did you know that only around 16% of entrepreneurs in Europe are female (Statista)? In addition, female-founded digital startups outperform male-founded ones and yet VCs are more likely to invest in male-founded start-ups (Forbes)   The data, makes one thing clear: We need to encourage more females to become entrepreneurs...

A quick Q&A with Lars Sønderskov, Head of Secretariat at Byggesocietetet. What is your most surprising prediction about cities and sustainability? Lars Sønderskov It's not really surprising but I feel certain that technology will play a huge part in our efforts to reach a sustainable world and sustainable communities. Bigger than we expect. Solutions will...

A quick Q&A with Nadim Stub, Managing Director & Proptech Innovation Evangelist @Proptech Denmark What is your most surprising prediction about cities and sustainability? Nadim Stub Consider what our cities looked like just 100 years ago, then go back 500 - and relatively to today, not much has changed. Going forward we are going to...

A quick Q&A with Christina Haupt Toft, Head of ConTech Lab, Molio What is your most surprising prediction about cities and sustainability? Christina Haupt Toft It must be a reinvention of how and where we work and live. Disruptive technologies have the potential to transform the way cities currently operate and boost everything from the...

The latest numbers from OECD indicate that pension funds hold investments surpassing almost €30 trillion. And the priorities are shifting on how they and where they are allocated. To that end we checked in with Anne-Marie Gillon, a Chartered Financial Analyst and veteran investment professional and pension fund trustee. In her role at IC Select, Anne-Marie...

A quick Q&A with Frederik van Deurs, CEO at GREEN INNOVATION GROUP A/S How do you define green innovation? Great question - it can get mindbogglingly complex, but to me, it's pretty simple - it's everything that's doing more with less. If you could only recommend one thing Danish, what would it be? Frederik van...

A quick Q&A with Nicola Tollin, Professor wsr in Urban Resilience SDU Civil and Architectural Engineering, Department of Technology and Innovation, University of Southern Denmark What is your most surprising prediction about cities? Nicola Tollin Today 50% of the world population lives in urban areas, consuming 60-80% consumption of energy and producing 60-80% greenhouse gas...

Who is the person who has most influenced the way you think about cities and technology? Jan Gehl’s humanistic city planning approach. What is your most surprising prediction? Upcycled materials (perhaps not too surprising)! Several firms are already investing heavily in such business models and in research & development of upcycled materials. Yet, there is...

A Quick Q&A with Katherine Richardson, Professor at Københavns Universitet and Leader of the Sustainability Science Center. What is the most important research you have been working on? Earth System Science – It’s about seeing the Earth as one system, and understanding the interactions between biological, geophysical, chemical and human activities in the system. I…

Returning to the office is as good an excuse as any to take a fresh look at the calendar for the rest of the year. With so many events switching to virtual, will you attend more, or less? Here’s a quick look at some of the interesting events coming up – here, there and around…

Sustainability has shifted from being a societal talking point – to a core business focus for a range of organisations. This is true for startups all the way to large corporates.  We gathered some of the latest data on how different businesses are approaching the subject. It is a quick snapshot, and if you have…

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought a lot of changes. And one thing is certain: it left us with uncertainty. How will society and economy change, and which post-COVID trends will emerge? We wanted to try to draw a picture of how the Urbantech industry might be affected, speaking to practitioners in the field. ___________________ Perspective…

A Quick Q&A with Tasha Tolmacheva, Co-Founder & Community Services at PropTech Finland Who is the person who has most influenced the way you think about cities and technology? I guess what influenced my view on technology most, was during my Ph.D. when I stumbled upon  ‘An Economic Theory of Technological Change’ by William D….

Tools for traction DDC's Toolbox can help you use design strategically - and our friends at Kvadrant has a range of hand-picked key insights to help you boost your solutions sales capability. Funding to help you extend your impact For Nordic funding opportunities, have a look at The Hub - they can also help you...

The Economist: 'A new opportunity to tackle climate change: Countries should seize the moment to flatten the climate curve' COVID-19 has not made Climate Change go away. That said, the lockdown of cities has had an immediate effect on our climate: Production slowed down. Traffic on the streets vanished. Planes grounded. Satellite pictures over China...

Here’s some of the feedback we shared with the 10 startups that pitched as part of a pre-WDBE event organized and hosted by KIRAhub. It was great to be part of the jury alongside Anna Hyrske and Eero Sihvonen. Unfold this thread to get 5 fairly timeless ideas for your next presentation… This was super…

200+ applications from almost 20 countries around the world came in, vying for a place in the 2020 Urbantech program. An impressive haul during these testing times. Thank you to all who helped spread the word. And especially of course to those who threw their proverbial hat in the ring. So many great startups have...

The new post-Covid world boosts the challenges of climate change, but many of those challenges that we have seen before the Corona crisis arose, have been left for us to solve. That doesn’t decrease the complexity, it doesn’t decrease the need of public-private collaboration, it only adds to that equation - Torben Klitgaard Listen to the...

Another in a series of espresso-sized Urbantech insights coming from the Global Denmark. This episode features a wide-ranging conversation with Julia Gerbert, Founder and CEO of RYSTA, where they talk about how they approached sensors designed for indoor and outdoor environments, the UrbanTech experience, partnering with EWII, and the elimination of mold. Be sure to…

Timm Beyer, Managing Director of Powerfox, talks about their mission, the essence of capturing and managing energy data – and the journey with Urbantech, and what the Danish market can teach German companies.  Another in a series of espresso-sized Urbantech insights coming from the Global Denmark. Be sure to subscribe (and share).

A Quick Q&A with Kaidi Ruusalepp CEO of Funderbeam  Who is the person who has most influenced the way you think about cities and technology? It actually goes back to 1996 when I worked as the first IT lawyer of Estonia. We had the youngest Prime Minister back then and he had an information and…

Given the developments in the last couple of weeks, one question rises to the top: ‘how can we develop resilient cities?’ Cities have to be prepared for health crises like pandemics, but also other threats like climate change, natural disasters or cyber attacks in the future. Resilience is defined as the ability to adapt, transform…

154 attendees from 33 countries convened for #HACKBLOXHUB2020 – and we were proud to lend the Urbantech space to one of the 22 groups working on knotty problems and interesting challenges. The focus was exploration of the unique issues related to urban environments. And practical hacks to address them. Having such a critical mass of…

A 100 year shift More and more people live in cities. According to the United Nations’ research, only around one third of the world’s population lived in cities in 1950. In 2007, for the first time in history, the global urban population exceeded the rural population. By 2050, more than two thirds (68%) are expected…

How might one explore a topic in some depth, yet at incredible speed? This week, we hosted a series of workshop sprints at BLOXHUB for 60 lecturers from KEA who work and teach in architecture and building industry. We got involved because we love to spark discussions about the built environment, get minds thinking –…

TOP 5 URBANTECH COUNTRIES We looked through 2.660 urbantech startups – and cross-referenced them with where they were founded, investment stage etc. Here is what we found:  -North America, India and Europe lead the way for Urbantech investments and startup density at a regional level. -USA, Canada, India, United Kingdom and Germany are the top…

That’s one of the many interesting questions Tina Mayn, Senior Vice President at Velux, answers in this interview with Thomas Mulhern on the Global Denmark podcast. She also talks about the value of collaboration across the partners in the Urbantech program. Listen in below [the Urbantech segment starts at 14:32], get the shownotes, and be…

November 14, DAC hosted Urbantech Session #2. Through talks and workshops guests and speakers explored how new digital practices and technologies are changing efficiency, sustainability and creativity in building design and construction processes. Digital technologies are rapidly evolving and implementation of new digital tools is key to increased productivity, sustainable production and value creation. Yet,…

We just reached a key milestone: Demo Day. November 8, our program cohort, partners, and the wider eco-system, celebrated the acceleration of the development of sustainable cities – together with 200 attendees at the Danish Architecture Center. Here’s a quick recap of the event The 2019 Urbantech Cohort And here’s the programme in numbers. 12…

The 2019 Urbantech cohort, selected through a rigorous process in the first half of the year, are now building up to Demo Day. On November 8, 10 cutting-edge startups will celebrate that they have been hard at work for 12 intense weeks. At the Danish Architecture Center the cohort will showcase their latest Urbantech innovation…

November 14, DAC is hosting Urbantech Session #2. Talks and workshops will explore how new digital practices and technologies are changing efficiency, sustainability and creativity in building design and construction processes – and how it will completely change the way we work.  Digital technologies are rapidly evolving and implementation of new digital tools is key…

The C40 Mayors Summit 2019 takes place in Copenhagen next week. We will be present around town to join the conversation on how we can take bold climate action and build a healthier and more sustainable future together. “We are thrilled to see C40 Mayors Summit come to Denmark. We seek to connect Danish strengths and…

September 12, Danish Architecture Center (DAC) and the Urbantech program, shared new insights as part of the event series: Urbantech Sessions. The premise for these events are that new urban technologies will change the way we design cities and change the way you work with them. Through a series of sessions, we will guide you through…

From optimism to dystopia and back again. All in the space of an afternoon. Smart Cities vs. Urbantech During the first of six Urbantech sessions with the Danish Architecture Centre (DAC) we talked about the future of cities. Morten Skov from the Alexandra Institute opened with a sweeping review of the emergence of Smart City…

New urban technologies will completely change the way we design cities and change the way you work with them. Through a series of sessions hosted by the Danish Architecture Centre, we will guide you through new requirements and show you opportunities that will come with these highly innovative urban technologies. The first Urbantech session will…

The 10 startups are arriving in Copenhagen to kick-off the Urbantech program together with the partner companies. We asked RYSTA and Powerfox a few questions about what goes through their minds as we start this process. First, meet Julia Gebert, Founder and CEO of RYSTA: What do you expect from the first weeks of the…

A Quick Q&A with Nikolaj Sveistrup Head of Programme, Danish Architecture Center (DAC) Tell me more about the work you do at DAC – and what you’re the most excited about I am Head of the Sector Programme at DAC and lead DAC’s activities for professionals within architecture, urban planning and the building industry. This…

A quick Q&A with Monica Maria Moeskær, Design anthropologist & Senior Project Manager at the Danish Design Centre (DDC). Tell me more about DDC – and what you’re most excited about… At the moment we are very excited about startups hacking, rethinking and challenging the status quo – especially when looking into design solutions that…

A quick Q&A with Torben Klitgaard, the director of BLOXHUB (home of the Urbantech program).  Tell me more about BLOXHUB – and what you’re the most excited about Together with Rainmaking I’ve been working for a couple of years to get the Urbantech program up and running. We are finally here, and have the pleasure…

Expert mentors will be joining the Urbantech program to support startups in their collaboration with the program partners. Mentors are being added continuously during the 3-year program, including internal champions from COWI, EWII and VKR/VELUX. The mentors are all contributing pro-bono to the acceleration of pilot projects and corporate-startup engagement. Follow along on the mentor…

Ten startups have now been selected, by some of the leading Danish companies within sustainable urban development, to join the Urbantech innovation- and accelerator program. From energy-producing windows to geotechnical analysis systems, the ideas range widely among ten startups selected to take part in the 2019 Urbantech Program. All have one thing in common: they…

Urbantech is a new Danish accelerator, for the newest, most promising and innovative tech companies, Urbantech, will attempt to strengthen the development of tech based solutions for sustainable construction and urban development. Both Danish and international tech startups are invited to apply to be part of the new program. Startups are now able to submit…