Philip Tees
December 27th, 2015

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Danish diligence paying off

Denmark’s status as a hotspot for startups was confirmed when Copenhagen hosted the first ever University Startup World Cup in September.

Crown Princess Mary and Troels Lund Poulsen, the business and growth minister, were there in person to promote the country to the visiting teams of entrepreneurs.

Here are some startups that have caught our attention this year. Watch out for them in 2016.

5/ Maelk
The brainchild of a Danish brother and sister team, this is a new social picture-sharing app that promises to turn things around and direct the focus towards others instead of yourself. Users request photos to see a moment from the life of friends and family. The app will be available from early 2016.

4/ Plane
of particular interest to the international community, this social icebreaker app is designed for expats to connect with new people around them. Users send out ‘signals’ that others can respond to in order to access their ‘social card’, meaning that there is interaction before fully sharing.

3/ Grip
launched as a new professional networking app earlier this year, it allows users to join communities that interest them and make connections unlimited by their existing network or location, giving the opportunity for instant interaction with peers to share ideas, collaborate and start projects together.

2/ Nustay
This Danish luxury hotel booking startup launched this year with the goal of revolutionising the online hotel booking industry by using an advanced algorithm to scan for the best deals. It caught the attention of financial backers early on and has a growing network of four and five star hotels on board.

1/ Be My Eyes
This not-for-profit app connects blind people with volunteer helpers who can assist them with tasks that require normal vision, such as reading product labels. Within ten days of launching on January 15, the app had already helped visually-impaired people close to 20,000 times.