Denmark unveils FinTech hub

Denmark has opened its own FinTech hub, Copenhagen FinTech, in a joint initiative between the Financial Services Union of Denmark, the City of Copenhagen and the Danish Bankers Association.

The hub opened its doors at a reception in Copenhagen today and has been billed as “Scandinavia’s first co-working space dedicated to FinTech entrepreneurs.”

Initially established in September, Copenhagen FinTech aims to create an ecosystem to support Denmark’s position within the development of digital financial solutions to further develop FinTech in the country.

In the same month, former development and digitisation director at Nordea Liv & Pension, Thomas Krogh Jensen was hired as Copenhagen FinTech’s CEO and will take up his new role from 1 December.

“With Thomas, we are getting a visionary and dynamic CEO with the right competences and the drive that is needed to realise Copenhagen FinTech’s ambitions of establishing strong ties between entrepreneurs, the financial sector and the research world,” says Vibeke Rittmann from Financial Services Union Denmark.

Global Custodian recently investigated the growth of FinTech hubs around the world and revealed that FinTech hubs within Europe must produce on a business scale if they are to be part of the market.

David Dab, chief innovation officer, ING Belgium, highlighted the importance of FinTech firms having a key business criteria when approaching the larger traditional financial institutions in EMEA.

“For a FinTech start-up to succeed, they need a great idea which is of use, a fantastic team, there must be strategic idea, you need to find a senior sponsor/executive within a bank, who says ‘if this start up works’ it will create a solution for a problem,” he said.