UCPH student wins pitch competition at Yonsei
UCPH student Christian Elkrog Hansen, CEO of the start-up company Harba, won first prize at a pitch competition in Seoul. Danish students travelled to Seoul in connection with Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen’s official visit to South Korea and to Yonsei University.
The company that won the first prize, Harba, has developed a platform and an app to help sailboats. With the app, sailors can reserve a spot at a marina, pay for berth or mooring, and get easy access to information about the harbour. So far, the start-up has partnership agreements with marinas in Denmark, Germany, Poland and Lithuania, and the app is available in several languages.
Danish inclination for innovation
The business idea and Christian Elkrog Hansen’s presentation at the pitch competition in Seoul were strong enough to secure him and Harba the first prize. The runner-up award went to another Danish start-up, Bundl. Bundl is a platform allowing companies working with textile, furniture and industrial design to monitor orders from partners.
UCPH Innovation Hub
At UCPH, students like Christian Elkrog Hansen, who dream of starting their own business, are able to make use of the UCPH Innovation Hub. The Hub is available free of charge and all students can use it to gain access to office space as well as advice from mentors, fellow students, researchers, companies and a range of stakeholders. The Hub also offers workshops where students can work on their business ideas while being guided through the initial steps towards realising the potential of their idea.
Student Entrepreneurship Seminar in Seoul
During the week-long Student Entrepreneurship Seminar in Seoul leading up to the pitch competition, Danish and South Korean students had the opportunity to develop their start-up business ideas together, meet stakeholders, business people and professors as well as make international business connections and get feedback to help them adjust their products to Asian and European markets.
“The trip to South Korea has brought the University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen Business School and Yonsei University in Seoul closer together – and not least, created value by contributing to the innovation journey which the University of Copenhagen has embarked on,” says Associate Dean Erik Bisgaard Madsen, Faculty of Science, who was part of the UCPH delegation in Seoul.