Scale up your fintech startup
Copenhagen Fintech Lab (the leading Nordic fintech co-working space and incubator), Accelerace (the leading Nordic accelerator) and The Danish Industry Foundation have joined forces to establish a dedicated fintech accelerator that can strengthen the positive development and help to innovate and develop new sustainable strong commercial fintech companies.
By combining knowledge, resources, mentoring and business acceleration capabilities with venture capital, strong Nordic corporate business partners such as Danske Bank, Nykredit and co-working facilities, we establish a foundation for developing successful fintech companies as well as attracting international start-ups to the ecosystem.
What you get
What are we looking for
Copenhagen Fintech Accelerator is for all kinds of fintech startups, but we are especially looking for the following six categories of fintech startups.
Personal Banking
Neobanking
Business Solutions
Payments
Insurance
Real Estate
WHAT IT TAKES
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, you can attach documents to your application. If you scroll down the application page (For startups/Apply) you will be able to attach files. All your documents and other details will be kept confidential.
It depends a little on technology and market, but from the level of MVP, prototype or more. Our focus is market development.
Our program is 100% flexible, individualized and efficient and designed around the challenges that companies at your stage experience. The content is centered around learning labs, workshops, mentoring and coaching that are tailored to your needs. We’re a specialized scaling platform rather than a traditional acceleration program.
No. You don’t necessarily need to relocate since we can do the mentoring remotely. However, you do need to register your company in Denmark (CVR number) and have some activity here e.g. participating in camps and client or investor meetings.
If you do wish to relocate to Copenhagen, we will help you with administrative tasks, logistics, discounts and help you get in touch with the right people.
Well, it’s up to you – however here are the most obvious 5 reasons:
1) We focus on late stage startups that are already on the market and we help them scale. Most other programs are incubators or early stage accelerators.
2) We match you directly with our leading corporate partners that are interested in your technology and which in return will offer your know-how, insights and expertise.
3) You’ll get an extra ressource on your team and not just a mentor giving you ad hoc advices. Our business accelerators & investors spend 180 hours with your startup. Now that’s really something.
4) Think of it as a shortcut to the Northern European markets. Not only is our startup tech scene vibrant and booming, but we also offer a hotbed for clean tech, food and life science and a gateway to the Nordic countries. Denmark is home to 22% of the scaleups in the Nordics – and together the Nordic countries have almost 6 times as many scaleups as the average country in continental Europe, and 9 times more than in Southern Europe.
5) Denmark is one of the most digitalized and innovative countries in Europe. Our bustling, creative startup scene has fostered some of the world’s most successful tech companies and disruptive startups within AI, big data, block chain, healthtech and IoT.
We don’t take equity in your startup. What we ask for however, is your full commitment to the program throughout the 6-8 months period. Easy peasy.
Our program is partly funded by the Danish Government and leading Danish and International corporates with the goal to attract startup talents and create growth.
Our program is designed around challenges that companies at your stage experiences. Consider spending about 4-8 hours per week in average, plus time do business development related efforts with the corporate partners. This factor varies from company to company.
Donkey Republic
"Months after graduating the Accelerace programme, we experienced strong growth, got a seed investment, grew our team and certainly expanded the number of bikes in the streets counting 2000 now in 40+ locations. The key learning from the Accelerace program was the how to focus on your beachhead and kill your darlings that are outside the focus."
Erdem Ovacik, CEO, DonkeyRepublic
Transporteca
"The program was an effective accelerator and a good introduction to relevant business partners and approaches. In particular, the dedicated mentor and the structured approach to testing commercial hypothesis during the program were key for the breakthrough of Transporteca."
Morten Lærkholm, CEO Transporteca.
Graduateland
"Accelerace helped us optimize our business model and scale our sales process. We grew from 10 to 25 employees, and we have tripled our revenues. We could never have done this without the help from Accelerace!”
Jens Reimer, Co-founder, Graduateland
Sproom
“We have been really pleased with our participation in Accelerace and the strategic counseling which have proven to be crucial in raising capital to make our visions come true and to meet the expectations of our owners.”
Thomas Permin Berger CEO of Sproom
Templafy
“Above all, being part of the Accelerace program helped us understand how investors think. That’s basically why we were able to refine our business model, nail our pitch and eventually secure substantial venture funding to develop and grow our business."
Christian Lund, CEO, Templafy
Praice
"The Accelerace program has helped us with our strategic priorities in reaching product-market-fit. We have saved time and boosted our progress as a direct result of the advice we received from our Accelerace mentors and at their workshops. We are deeply grateful for the personal and professional way that the program has been executed and we do not hesitate to recommend Accelerace to other SaaS startups."
Andreas D. Christiansen, CEO & Co-founder at Praice
Partners and sponsors
Copenhagen Fintech Accelerator is backed by the best in class to establish a dedicated fintech accelerator that can strengthen the positive development and help to innovate and develop new sustainable strong commercial fintech companies.
Has accelerated +500 start-ups over the last 9 years and one of the leading accelerators in Europe.
Also, they have invested in +70 start-ups and have helped leading international corporates in open innovation and start-up engagement.
Situated in the heart of Copenhagen with more than 40 Fintech start-ups residents.
The first dedicated Scandinavian Fintech co-working space linking the entire ecosystem together and with an immense global network to support start-up growth.
Danske Bank is a Nordic bank with strong local roots and bridges to the rest of the world. For more than 145 years, they have helped people and businesses in the Nordics realise their ambitions. Today, they serve personal, business and institutional customers and in addition to banking services, they offer life insurance and pension, mortgage credit, wealth management, real estate and leasing services.
Danske Bank aim to create long-term value for all their stakeholders – their customers, shareholders and the societies they are part of – and their vision is to be recognised as the most trusted financial partner by making important financial decisions and daily banking easy.
Nykredit is one of Denmark’s leading financial services groups activities ranging from mortgage lending and banking to insurance, pension, estate agency.
For more than 165 years, Nykredit has helped Danish families buy their homes and Danish businesses grow. Nykredit is created by the customer – for the customers. And as something truly special, Nykredit is predominantly owned by a union representing the customers.
The newest unit in Nykredit is the Digital Innovation unit working in the crossroads of IT, digital, and marketing. Here, the interdisciplinary team keeps a close eye on the newest trends within technology and collaborates with Copenhagen FinTech.
