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From Startup to Scaleup 2025 (EIFO - Export and Investment Fund of Denmark)

ReportEIFO - Export and Investment Fund of DenmarkJanuary 202530 pages45 min readOriginal source
Key number
more than EUR 3 billion EUR
Danish venture capital investments (2022–2024) p.14
Largest segment
62% %
Life Science share of total Danish VC invested in H1 2025 p.17

Summary

  • Danish real GDP rebounded to 3.5 percent in 2024, with expectations to reach 3.0 percent growth in 2025.p.7
  • State-backed grants provided EUR 44 million in non-dilutive funding to more than 500 entrepreneurs and SMEs in 2024.p.10
  • Danish crowdfunding volume declined by 45% in 2024 to just above EUR 24 million across 292 projects.p.11
  • DanBAN members invested EUR 38.8 million across 232 investments in 2024, representing an 18 percent drop in invested capital compared to 2023.p.12
  • Danish VC investment volumes declined 44 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2025 to EUR 332 million across 55 transactions.p.15
  • Add-on transactions represented a record high 65 percent of all Danish buyout investments in 2024 as private equity firms focused on scaling existing assets.p.22
  • Danish corporate bank lending returned to growth, increasing 6.2 percent year-on-year by May 2025.p.25

Key insights

  1. Danish real GDP growth rebounded to 3.5 percent in 2024, supported significantly by the pharmaceutical sector.p.7
  2. Danish crowdfunding activity experienced a 45% drop in total capital raised during 2024, falling to just above EUR 24 million.p.11
  3. Between 2022 and 2024, Denmark attracted more than EUR 3 billion in venture capital, ranking as Europe's fifth-largest VC market relative to GDP.p.14
  4. In the first half of 2025, Danish venture capital invested fell by 44 percent compared to H1 2024, reaching EUR 332 million.p.15
  5. Life Science dominated Danish venture capital in H1 2025, attracting EUR 207 million or 62 percent of total invested VC.p.17
  6. Danish green venture investments reached a record EUR 269 million across 33 rounds in 2024 before slowing sharply in H1 2025.p.18
  7. Defence, security, and resilience venture investments in Denmark accounted for 7,4 percent of total invested VC capital in H1 2025.p.20
  8. Corporate lending by Danish credit institutions rebounded to 6.2 percent year-on-year growth by May 2025.p.25
  9. Danish IPO activity remained completely stalled with zero listings completed in 2024 and the first half of 2025.p.28

Topics and entities

EuropeNordicsBusiness angelsCrowdfunding and crowdinvestingIPOs and listingsPrivate equityPublic funding and grantsSME finance and lendingStartup fundingVenture capitalDanBANDanish Foundation for EntrepreneurshipDanmarks NationalbankEIFOEuropean Central BankFederal ReserveInnovation Fund DenmarkOrbis MedicinesSaildroneSparrow Quantum

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