CBS takes the lead in this year’s Venture Cup

New record in the entrepreneurship competition Venture Cup

In spite of the crisis, ambitious entrepreneurship dreams and plans are beginning to grow at Danish universities. Venture Cup has just had the deadline for submission of business plans, and as opposed to the gloomy world situation, there was a clear growth in the number of business plans. This makes 2009 a record year for the number of submissions.

Tine Thygesen, Director of Venture Cup, is very happy with the result.

- We are incredibly pleased to see our efforts with entrepreneurship at the Danish universities result in even more students wanting to take steps to opening new businesses. In times of crisis, innovation and growth entrepreneurship must be in focus, as creation of new businesses has a positive impact on economic growth and new jobs. The increase in the number of business plans shows that the will to make progress and create growth is in bloom despite the crisis, she says.

More women are entering the scene

The number of participating women has also increased significantly with more than a 100 % compared to last year.

Especially at CBS, the entrepreneurial environment is in bloom. Once again, CBS has represented a huge increase in the number of participants in Venture Cup, which makes CBS the most represented university in Denmark – CBS can take the credit for more than 30 % of all submitted business plans on a national basis.

- The opening of Copenhagen School of Entrepreneurship has made entrepreneurship and innovation genuine focus areas at CBS. That is why we are proud to contribute to the very positive development in the number of students who are considering starting a business as an alternative to a traditional career, says Mette Mønsted, Vice Dean of Entrepreneurship at CBS.

Venture Cup

Venture Cup is the universities’ joint competition for ideas and research with business potential. The competition is organised by six Danish universities (Aarhus University, CBS, the Technical University of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Roskilde University and the University of Southern Denmark) and takes place every year. The participants help each other develop their ideas into business plans ready for investment through a series of seminars and workshops as well as individual coaching and feedback from a professional jury. Cash prizes at the amount of more than half a million kroner are awarded during the competition. More than 50 businesses have been established since the first Venture Cup in 2000.