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Financial boost for The Kitchen, Diversity on the agenda & Meet'N'Match coming up 

Hi Nina

In this newsletter, you can explore awesome news from the biggest startup hub at Aarhus University. The list includes:
 

• A big donation to the entrepreneurial community at Aarhus University
• The opportunity for students and startups to connect
• A new initiative putting diversity on the agenda in The Kitchen
• How professor Karin Lykke-Hartmann became 50% entrepreneur
• An invitation to our next Morning Talk with an unlikely entrepreneur
• New workshops with tools to build your startup

Salling Foundations donate millions to The Kitchen

The entrepreneurial community at Aarhus University is getting a significant boost.

Købmand Herman Salling Foundations have donated DKK 6 million to the university's startup hub The Kitchen to support the development of innovative business ideas among the university's researchers and students.

Part of the donation will be invested in the launch of a new entrepreneurship program that will help transform complex research project and heavy technological solutions into viable businesses and engage experienced entrepreneurs from the business community.

The grant AU Launch will also receive a financial boost that will strengthen the financing of new startups at the university.

"We need to put diversity on the agenda if we want to solve the world's wild problems"

Greater diversity among ideas as well as entrepreneurs is the goal of a new initiative launched by The Kitchen, which is supported by the Tuborg Foundation and Otto Mønsted's Foundation.

"We need diversity in entrepreneurial environments like The Kitchen, because when diversity is missing among entrepreneurs, the diversity is also missing among the ideas that are developed. In other words, diversity ensures that we come up with different solutions to society's big and small problems," says Marie Kjølhede, project manager in The Kitchen and one of the driving forces behind the new initiative: 'The Kitchen Diversified'.

Through events, mentor networks and workshops, the two-year project will challenge conventional perceptions of entrepreneurship and break down barriers in order to attract a wider range of founders and startup projects.
 

Half researcher, half entreprenuer: "If you told me five years ago that I would be an entrepreneur today, I wouldn't believe it"

Karin Lykke-Hartmann is professor of Reproductive Medicine at Aarhus University and founder and CEO of Notify Therapeutics that has developed a non-hormonal fertility treatment.

From the moment she received a patent, her inner entrepreneur has grown gradually. She has tried everything from pitch training, acquisition of legal language and building a commercial network. And to her surprise, she enjoys it.

At the same time, the professor stresses that her profile today is 50% researcher and 50% entrepreneur. "I haven't abandoned my academic standards. I've just added something new that I enjoy developing in a different way."

You can become an intern in your own startup?

If you have an idea for a business you would like to test or an existing business you want to develop further, The Kitchen's internship program is an opportunity to get hands-on experience testing and building your startup while using your academic skills and getting ECTS-credits. 

You will become part of a cohort of students from the entire university, who all participate in the same program consisting of workshops, business development and peer-to-peer sessions.

> Learn more about the Internship program

Meet'N'Match 2024: Connecting students and startups

Are you a student eager to dive into an exciting internship or job? Or, perhaps, a startup searching for fresh, innovative talent? If so, brace yourself for a great opportunity at Meet’n’Match 2024 on March 12 from 16:00-18:00 in Stakladen. 

Meet’n’Match is a dynamic matchmaking experience designed for students and startups, looking internships and new connections. 

So bring you enthusiasm and get ready to mingle - maybe you will go home with new career opportunities or new talent for your startup!

Morning Talk: An unlikely entrepreneur

How do you go from being an engineer student to inventing a process to recycle mixed fabrics – which potentially can have an impact on one of the world’s most pollutive industries?

Find out on March 20 from 8.15-9.15 when co-founder of Textile Change Ditte Højland joins us for a Morning Talk in the Kitchen.

February 29, 10:00-12:00

Capital Connect - get feedback from investors

Capital Connect is your chance to meet the investor ecosystem of private and public funding facilities
in Aarhus. You get access to 1:1 sparring sessions and have the chance to test your pitch and seek investment opportunities.

March 4, 14:00-15:30

Founders' Entry – become part of The Kitchen

Do you dream of launching a startup? Then join the community of founders at The Kitchen and get help with your entrepreneurial journey. First, you need to register for Founders' Entry – a mandatory intro meeting for all new members.

April 11, 16:15-18:00

Start your own business as an international student

Are you an aspiring entrepreneur looking to turn your ideas into reality? Join us for an exciting introduction event at the university incubator The Kitchen and get to know the buffet of services available to you as a student at Aarhus University.

Get tools for building your startup with our fresh batch of workshops 

We are ready with a new batch of Toolbox workshops in the spring semester.

You can learn more about the financial ecosystem, branding, sales strategy and much more.

As a new partner at The Kitchen, the lawfirm Viggers Eriksen provides legal sparring and counseling to the many startups at The Kitchen within their legal key competencies: capital structure, contracts, and investments.

Viggers Eriksen is a boutique lawfirm providing highly specialized legal services in selected commercial law practice areas.

Each month, you can find them at The Kitchen for our Open Desk sessions. 

> See all upcoming Open Desk sessions

Big investment for IT startup from Aarhus University

Congratulations to Coana who have raised $1.6 million in a preseed round led by Sequoia Capital.

Coana was founded by researchers from the Department of Computer Science at Aarhus University: professor Anders Møller, PhD Benjamin Barslev Nielsen and PhD Martin Torp. They have developed an IT technology that can improve how companies detect and correct vulnerabilities in their security system.

Debate: We must strengthen university innovation

Denmark is facing a challenge: We have not managed to support young companies sufficiently to contribute to economic growth.

Fortunately, there is hope and solutions in our academic institutions, says Director of Enterprise and Innovation Lone Ryg Olsen and Sine Linderstrøm, Head of SME and Entrepreneurship at DI - Confederation of Danish Industry. They argue that the government's upcoming entrepreneurial strategy must create an environment for world-class innovation and business development.

Debate: How do we safeguard the health research that creates inventions, companies and new medicines?

.

Since 2015, spinout companies from Department of Biomedicine at Aarhus University have been raising external investments of more than DKK 2 billion. If this development is to continue, we must safeguard freedom of research.

This is emphasized by researchers from 

Department of Biomecine where a number of promising spinouts have taken their first steps.

As electrical bike owners, Justin Falk, Daniel Borch-Olsen, Frederik Ulbæk and Maxim Christiansen wanted a better solution for storage and charging of their batteries.

The four electrical engineering students started developing a solution to their problem - and turned it into the startup Battery Park.

Their main advice for other aspiring entrepreneurs is to identify a real problem you’re passionate about solving.

> Get their advice for entrepreneurs-to-be

FEB 27
How can the Danish chip ecosystem win in the future?

Workshop at the Department of Computer Science at Aarhus University.

Encouraging collaboration between academia and industry.

Read more and sign up

MAR 13
Deadline: Innovator Grants

Novo Nordisk Foundation grants for commercialization of research within sustainability or health.

Read more and apply for the Pioneer Innovator Grant

Read more and apply for the Distinguished Innovator Grant

APRIL 3
Deadline: Venture Cup Funding

Soft funding opportunity for knowledge-based startups working within sustainability.

Read more and apply

APRIL 4
Deadline: SPARK Denmark

Mentoring program that supports academic inventions within life science.

Read more and apply

MAY 6
Deadline: Bio Studio Program

Program from BioInnovation Institute supporting commercialization of research within cardiometabolic diseases, women’s health, and planetary health.

Read more and apply

MAY 15
Deadline: Micro Grant

The Danish Foundation for Entrepreneurship's micro grant for students and PhD students with early stage startups.

Read more and apply

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Name: Nina Heiberg Lyhne

Position: Kommunikationsmedarbejder

​Company: Erhverv og Innovation, Aarhus Universitet​

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The Kitchen, Aarhus University

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