StartUp Hub is very successful: Eight out of ten companies manage very well

As many as eight out of ten companies from Odense Robotics StartUp Hub at the Danish Technological Institute (DTI) in Odense are bursting at the seams after leaving the innovative robot start-up incubator, show new figures from Odense Robotics.

The five-year anniversary of the first robot and technology company receiving help in the StartUp Hub has given rise to an assessment of how start-up companies perform after their progress through the hub.

- Our new figures show unequivocally that the unique setup of Odense Robotics StartUp Hub works. Eight out of ten companies continue to develop their product or business when they leave the hub. It is a high success rate that we can be proud of, says Mikkel Christoffersen, CEO of Odense Robotics, in a press release.

Director at DTI, Kurt Nielsen, is in no doubt about what the StartUp Hub means when it comes to putting robot technology and Odense on the world map.

- The StartUp Hub is a unique opportunity for the most innovative robot start-up companies both nationally and internationally. We help them take their best ideas through the challenging start-up phase so that they are ready for the global world market, where we still see a huge potential for Danish robot technology, he says.

Great development in small companies

Since 2016, the StartUp Hub has welcomed 25 companies to an accelerator course for start-up companies with special potential.

Most of the companies have developed a lot since they entered DTI's innovative robot halls for the first time, when most of them had very few employees. In fact, it has gone so well that the 25 companies now employ a total of more than 150 full-time employees. In addition, the companies have secured more than 25 million euros in external investments since StartUp Hub's start in 2015.

This great success has been noticed by the mayor of Odense.

- In just a few years, Odense has been recognized as one of the world's leading robot cities. Many successful robot and drone start-ups have been part of Odense Robotics' StartUp Hub, and the majority have been based in the Odense area. Here, they have developed their business further, creating growth companies and jobs for Odense, says the major of Odense, Peter Rahbæk Juel, to Odense Robotics.

Odense Robotics StartUp Hub is financed directly with a grant from the European Social Fund, administered by the Danish Board of Business Development, with a financial contribution from Odense.