Danish students turn entrepreneurs to make a difference

During her medical studies, Christina Gravgaard Andersen interned in a hospital's pediatric surgery ward and realised that many of the children were terrified because they did not understand what was going to happen. This gave her the idea to start her own company, providing patient communication solutions for the healthcare system.

“The children on the ward knew that they were going to be cut and that they would be sedated first, and they were very scared. This made a huge impression on me and I wanted to give both the children and their parents more information in a format they could understand." 

Wants to make a difference

She produced a video for the pediatric ward with easy-to-understand information about the operation. When she later on studied the effect, it turned out that children who had seen her video were less afraid and knew more about what would happen.

Aarhus University also holds meetings for students where entrepreneurs from The Kitchen talk about being an intern or student assistant in a startup. (Photo: Private)

This resulted in other hospital wards asking for similar videos, and on this basis, she and her brother Thomas Gravgaard Andersen founded Klinikken, a company that produces short videos with patient information. 

Contributing to making something better for someone is the main driver for the two young entrepreneurs.

“To make a difference for people and society makes it meaningful for me to be a doctor and now also an entrepreneur. I could not see myself in a job or creating a company where making the most money possible was the main thing,” says Christina Gravgaard Andersen.

She is not an entrepreneur to make money:

“Both I and my brother have chosen educations with fairly good job security prospects, so we did not start a company because of the money. I am primarily an entrepreneur because I saw a need to change something for the better. That is an important quality to me.”

Help from the university

The siblings did not know anything about entrepreneurship and asked for help and still receive it from The Kitchen, Aarhus University’s startup incubator. Its task is to create a dynamic entrepreneurial environment and support university students’ and researchers’ innovative ideas. 

At The Kitchen, Christina Gravgaard Andersen and her brother have access to a free office. They have also participated in workshops and have had a personal advisor who helped them turn their idea into a product and take the concrete steps needed to establish a company.

“Help from the university has been invaluable because neither of us had any experience with start-ups. We have benefited greatly from our advisor and from being in an environment with other entrepreneurs. 

“Among other doctors I encounter understanding but also curiosity about why I became an entrepreneur when I could easily make a living from being a doctor.”

The Kitchen has existed for four years and has so far helped more than 1,000 students and staff at Aarhus University establish their own companies or in other ways turn ideas into reality. 

Right now, some 250 companies are part of the programme and the number of new companies is climbing, explains Aarhus University’s head of innovation Jeppe Dørup Olesen.

“We see a significant increase in the interest in entrepreneurship and creating your own company among our students and staff. Today, The Kitchen is helping far more students and staff create their own companies compared to just a few years ago.”

Impact and freedom

Students and staff who bring an idea to The Kitchen are typically driven by a desire to make a difference for society, explains the head of innovation.

“Some are driven by a desire to make money, but in my experience, there is considerable interest in creating companies or solutions that address important social challenges. Entrepreneurs, and especially young entrepreneurs, are very focused on impact. They want to make a difference in the world." 

Jeppe Dørup Olesen is head of innovation at  Aarhus University, (Photo:  Aarhus University) 

According to Jeppe Dørup Olesen, the increased desire to be an entrepreneur is also linked to the fact that today’s young people want something more out of working life than earlier generations.

“Some young people want to be part of making decisions and not simply be small cogs in a large machine. Many want a working life with many elements rather than just one job. They desire freedom, flexibility and space to do other things than just work.

“This is a part of the zeitgeist, which also boosts people’s desire to start their own business.”

A change is coming

The startup only means more work for Christina Gravgaard Andersen, however – at least in the short term. This past year, she has been able to work full-time at Klinikken thanks to a grant from the Innovation Fund Denmark. But now that money has been spent, and in future, she has to look after the company while working full-time as a doctor. 

“The company cannot pay us founders a salary yet, but the aim is to create a large enough turnover to hire staff who can produce the videos, and then I can take a leadership position and share my time between the company and my job as a doctor.” 

Christina Gravgaard Andersen still has not figured out how she will find time for all this, but she remains optimistic.

“The medical profession has a tradition of working a lot and many workplaces expect student and junior doctors to work far more than the 37 hours a week we are being paid for. But my generation doesn’t want to work that much, and I feel a change is coming. So I reckon I will get enough spare time to also run my own company.”

A path to working life

Offering students help to set up their own company is a multi-year initiative for Aarhus University, which has received financial backing from several non-profit foundations. These foundations support The Kitchen with the primary goal of providing young people with more pathways into working life.  

Meanwhile, young entrepreneurs at The Kitchen are part of promoting the innovation that is necessary to solve major social challenges. They develop solutions that help solve important societal problems, points out Jeppe Dørup Olesen. 

The Danish parliament has set aside nearly 100 million kroner (€13.5m) to promote research-based innovation at Danish universities.