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At Copenhagen School of Entrepreneurship, more students than ever are connected to the Danish catalyst for entrepreneurial ideas.
It takes a Swiss Army knife of interdisciplinary skills to develop a sustainable business idea and then turn it into a commercial success in practice. For a number of years, the Otto Mønsted Foundation has therefore supported the Copenhagen School of Entrepreneurship (CSE), which acts as a catalyst for translating theory into practice and maturing students.
The foundation has recently supported CSE with a donation to hire a scale-up officer who can carry the torch in the development journey CSE is on. Among other things, the aim is to strengthen the students’ ability to get sparring and help them gain access to financing in all phases of the company and show them the way to other resources they can draw on – during and after the CSE programme. There will also be an increased focus on creating connections and networks among students and investors and making CSE a proactive part of the known entrepreneurship ecosystem. This will naturally involve closer collaboration with another important entrepreneurial science centre, SkyLab, at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), which the Otto Mønsted Foundation also supports financially.
Catalyst for the holistic
For Andreas Gjede, Director of CSE, it is important to emphasise that the CSE offerings are aimed at students and are part of a learning process.
“In our world, it can easily become very ‘The Lion’s Den’-like. It quickly creates a performance culture that is too monotonous. At CSE, we must not forget our strong educational background and our essential role in the education system, which is why we must always make sure to support the students’ learning journey and balance between profit, purpose and personal development. Of course, we want to support the creation of sustainable, strong companies, but also to qualify and inspire students in their transformative journey from being a student to being an entrepreneur,” says Andreas Gjede.
He knows first-hand how to pack for such a journey. Andreas Gjede was co-founder and CEO of Student & Innovation House (now Station) before joining CSE as CEO. Over five years and with DKK 60 million, primarily from foundations, the old police station in Frederiksberg has been transformed into a base for students interested in interdisciplinary innovation projects for the benefit of society. Andreas Gjede is still on the board of Station and can look back on many years of learning.
FACTS:
Copenhagen School of Entrepreneurship (CSE) is one of the largest Danish centres for student entrepreneurship, where students and recent graduates from universities around the world can test the viability of theoretical business ideas and put them into practice. In the past year alone, 268 students with startup ideas have gained access to the free and multidisciplinary expertise built around CSE since the organisation was established in 2007 with roots in Copenhagen Business School.
CSE offers a well-developed incubation programme, acceleration programmes, educational programmes, events, workshops, match-making with more than 150 specialised mentors, open advice and much more. CSE is housed in a large building close to CBS in Frederiksberg.