Last week Peergrade had the pleasure of participating in TechBBQ 2016. For those of you who have not heard of TechBBQ before, it “…is the quintessential and largest startup and innovation summit in Denmark and Greater Copenhagen …”. Recognising the need to gather Danish tech startups, the first TechBBQ happened in 2012 and has since grown from 300 to over 2000 participants according to some accounts.
It was a much needed event connecting startups and great ideas!
The Recap
This year was without a doubt the largest TechBBQ to date and the program was impressive. The Danish startup environment is truly buzzing and we heard some very interesting talks and presentations during the one day conference. There were also some very important discussions were taken up in the panel talks on topics such as: what an accelator or incubator can do for a startup (if anything), if VC money is always the answer or what the future of work is, to name a few.
While it is difficult to mention one single highlight from the day, we have tried to gather some of the talks and companies that we found most memorable.
Sli.do
This year’s TechBBQ teamed up with Sli.do which offers “live Q&A, polls and slide-sharing at events”. Seeing the tool in action for the first time, we were rather impressed how easy it made interacting with and involving the audience. People could send in general questions about the Copenhagen tech and startup scene or specific questions to the speakers and panelists. These questions could then be upvoted by others and asked during the panels. Similarly, Sli.do offers the option to easily answer polls and see the results as they are answered.
Want to know more? Check out www.sli.do
Spiri
Amongst one of the highlights (for us) from this year’s TechBBQ was the exclusive world premiere of Spiri, an electric vehicle that aims to change transportation by offering simple, environmentally friendly and affordable means of transport. Due to launch in 2017, check out Spiri’s first prototype.
Want to know more? Check out www.spiri.io
The Hygge
One of our favorite things about the TechBBQ was seeing all our startup friends and family. In true Danish form the whole day was very hygge, catching up with old friends and connecting with new people in a truly beautiful place.
While the Danish startup scene is growing, attending the TechBBQ reminded us of the small and tight knit community we have built as Danish Tech. This included getting to see our good friend Laila Pawlak host the whole event.
During the day, we were also lucky enough to go over some nitty-gritty business details with both David Helgasson, the opening keynote speaker and man behind Unity, as well as get a brief chat with our always busy investor Hampus Jakobsson, one of the co-founders of Nordic Makers.
Where are all the edtech startups?
As the Danish startup environment is expanding more rapidly than ever, we were hoping to meet some fellow edtech startups to share experiences. One of the people that we met and had a great talk with was Domenic Liechti from Khan Lab Schools. As one of the keynote speakers, he talked about how we could use the power of technology to humanize classrooms. The goal of Khan Lab School is to develop “new, personalized practices that center around the student” (from K-12). Without grade levels, it is the students that are in charge of their learning more.
Check out their website to learn more and see the number of free videos they offer for learning.
However, we were a little disappointed to not meet more fellow edtech startups. Perhaps with the exponential growth of the Danish startup scene, we can look forward to a meeting more edtechs at next years event. If there are other edtechs feeling a little lonely like us, come join us at the Nordic Edtech Conference in Copenhagen in December!
See you next year TechBBQ!
If you want to see more from the TechBBQ check out our pictures on Instagram or Facebook!
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