A small country can also think BIG

Trustpilot and Endomondo are commercially successful companies exemplifying that Denmark is able to compete with bigger countries on delivering innovative tech startups

Denmark is a small country and a small market. That’s a fact!
BUT that the size of the country resembles the size of the ideas and ambition is not something we at SEED Capital would consider a fact at all — It’s more likely the opposite! For every passing year we see stronger and more ambitious Danish entrepreneurs.

Instead of focusing on the bad things, why don’t we then talk about the Danish entrepreneurs that have gone beyond national borders and are becoming important global players? Those entrepreneurs equipped with excellent skills to exploit global trends and technology and thereby put Denmark on the map for the whole world to see!

Trustpilot is a good example. They are setting the global standard for service-rating of companies. As a consumer you ask yourself if noname.com is a trustworthy company. Trustpilot gives you and millions of other users the answer. Their concept is based on user-generated content and social credibility from their users — two of today’s society’s megatrends! Today, Trustpilot is the world’s biggest review-site and the founder, he is called Peter and is born and raised in Århus.

Vivino is founded in Amager by two Danish serial entrepreneurs who couldn’t understand why it had to be so difficult to find a good wine to drink. In a market that is twice as big as the music- and book industry combined, Vivino from little Denmark, is now without a doubt the leading wine-app in the world. Two million wine labels are scanned every month by wine-lovers from all over the world and Vivino can proudly boast of having over 13 million users.

These are only two of many interesting and aspirational starups, who take part in creating a great technological entrepreneurial environment in Denmark. Endomondo, Autobutler, Tradeshift, Mofibo, Gomore and Templafy are also worth mentioning. Even Zendesk and Unity, which on their journey of growth left Denmark, have returned, and now have big divisions in Denmark. The ‘Mass of Talent’ has certainly evolved and we frequently see teams with, not only the competence and experience, but also the will to work extremely hard to make it on a global scale.

As the Danish ecosystem matures, foreign investors are beginning to notice Denmark’s booming entrepreneurial environment.

Both Vivino and Trustpilot has raised large rounds of foreign funding. At SEED Capital we see how Denmark — regardless of size — is starting to appear on the radar of the biggest foreign capital funds. And that’s good news for Denmark! We may be a small country with a cloudy weather, but the future seems brighter than ever!

Oversat fra dansk. Original bragt på Finans.dk