The vibrant scene for sports tech and sports innovation in Denmark can look forward to finally get an inspiring physical base in Copenhagen as ‘Sports Lab Copenhagen’ takes shape in attractive facilities in the vibrant Holmen-area in Copenhagen.
Denmark is already known for award winning sports architecture like ‘Konditaget Lüders’ in Copenhagen. Denmark has a lot more to offer in sports innovation and sports related start-ups, who are now getting a centre of gravity at the new Sports Lab Copenhagen. Foto: Lokale og Anlægsfonden
The initiator, Carsten Couchouron, has great ambitions to create a dynamic base for sports related start-ups and entrepreneurs in the Danish capital, which is already internationally known as a metropolitan city with innovative sports architecture and a very movement-friendly infrastructure.
So far one can only see the contours of the vibrant new environment where approximately 50 of the Danish sports sector's brightest brains in technology, movement and sports development are expected to staff the desks and create a common hub in the best entrepreneurial spirit to realize their dreams of creating exactly the product or service that the world of sports is calling for. Some desks are already occupied in the 450 square meter lease at the Arsenaløen island in a former naval area. From their desks in the bright and attractive office environment some of the residents of Sports Lab Copenhagen will have a view of green football fields and the brand new sports hall, Hal C.
Carten Couchouron in the offices of the upcoming Copenhagen Sports Lab at Holmen in Copenhagen. The upcoming centre of gravity for Danish sports tech and sports innovation. Foto. Henrik H. Brandt
Promising Danish start-ups like Jabii, Hubbster, Klubmodul and Målaktier/ Pecasu have already joined. Several start-ups are strongly underway. The interest in the first of several upcoming sports-related start-up hubs in Copenhagen has been great since the publication of the initiative early November.
The man behind it all, German / French Carsten Couchouron, declares himself 'cautiously optimistic' about quickly filling all the desks in the upcoming co-working space for sports start-ups and sports entrepreneurs of all kinds.
The conditions for renting a desk in the upcoming Danish centre of gravity for sports innovation are extremely favorable and flexible. Up to 50 sports-passionate entrepreneurs will soon blend into the diverse field of bohemians, architects, musicians, actors and theatre professionals, who are already creating a creative and exciting environment at Holmen as inhabitants of the old, often beautifully modernized former military buildings in the area.
“It's not just about filling the desks, but also about attracting the right companies and people to the Sports Lab Copenhagen environment. You have to have a mindset where you are willing to share success and failure with the other start-ups, and you have to be ambitious with a global outlook, ” says Carsten Couchouron.
Technology and entrepreneurial spirit renew the sport
The sports sector in Denmark and all over the world is generally changing rapidly these years.
Much of the renewal comes from new technology and from new entrepreneurs, organisations and networks who are often working outside the traditional structures of the sports sector.
In many ways the location of Sports Lab Copenhagen is a symbol of this rapid development in itself:
Who is in for a lunch time jog from Sports lab Copenhagen to the top of Copenhill? - The amazing running and skiing slopes on top of a giant incinerator. Foto Henrik H. Brandt
If you enter the roof terrace of Sports Lab Copenhagen's new premises, you will have a brilliant view of the 'madness project' Amager Bakke (Copenhill) with artificial ski slope and a public running or walking route on the roof of a giant incinerator.
If you jump on the floor, the customers training in the Fitness World gym in the ground floor of the building can probably hear it. Fitness World is intself one of the most entrepreneurial success stories in the Danish sports sector growing from nothing to almost 500.000 members in less than 15 years.
If you look to the opposite side of the building, you have a view of some of the club organised sport's traditional strongholds with football and rugby pitches and Christianshavn's newly built sports hall, Hal C.
Soon an iconic new ‘Water Culture House’ (swimming and wellness) will open in the area and If the inhabitants of Sports Lab Copenhagen want a cheap and healthy lunch they could choose to mix up with the young architect students and hipsters who occupy the cafeteria of the Royal Danish School of Architecture just around the corner. This school and the nearby Danish Foundation for Sports and Culture Facilities have been fostering a large range of innovative and award winning sports facilities in recent years.
The diverse environments of the Danish sports sector complement and enrich each other. Exactly that experience brings Carsten Couchouron to Denmark after 18 years of employment in various sports marketing agencies, international sports federations and organizations in the international sports Olympic capital Lausanne in Switzerland.
“I have worked on all sides of the table both as a sports provider and as a buyer of rights. Much of the growth comes from new technology. The traditional structures are rarely leading in stimulating innovation. In my years as a commercial director of the International Equestrian Federation (FEI), I experienced that federations are often very reactive. Innovation and new ways of doing things come from the outside, ”says Carsten Couchouron.
As a foreigner, Carsten Couchouron himself comes from the outside. He is married to a Danish women and has been commuting for some years with plans to settle permanently with his family in Copenhagen. Through contact with the Danish start-up, Airofit, he gained insight into both the environment and the strengths and weaknesses of the sport-related Danish entrepreneurial environment. The idea to do something about it with the creation of Sports Lab Copenhagen was born.
The strength positions for sports-related start-ups in Copenhagen can quickly be called upon by Carsten Couchouron: Technology, the IT sector, education, sports participation, infrastructure etc. point in the right direction. It is first and foremost about tying the ends together and creating a targeted environment.
“There are various initiatives underway. They are scattered and not very well funded, but if we work together, we really have a fruitful basis for making sports tech and sports innovation prosper in Denmark, ”says Carsten Couchouron.
Inspiration from other start-up environments
In recent months he has been with some start-ups in the Danish entrepreneurial environment at Pier 47 at Langelinie in Copenhagen. Other Danish clusters such as fintech and medtech are growing. Carsten Couchouron had the opportunity to see the latter at the nearest while at Pier 47, where the healthtech hub, with some synergy with sport and fitness, grew month by month. The Pier 47 building has been rented out to the Danish National Bank and must therefore be abandoned. That's why Carsten Couchouron decided to go solo and work for a sports hub in independent premises. The initiative has recently changed its name from Sports Tech Copenhagen to Sports Lab Copenhagen to signal that sport-related start-ups can also rely on broader services and methods than just technology.
“I hope we can help create new professions in sports. We already see how students are looking for fintech, healthtech and medtech and want to work in these environments. Here you can create similar opportunities in sports. We want to be the launch pad for start-ups with ambitions for international growth, and we must also be a natural landing spot for international start-ups with ambitions to enter the Nordic market, ”says Carsten Couchouron.
Companies such as Endomondo, Tonsser, Veo and Trackman and many more have already documented that Danish sports-related start-ups can achieve great international success. The environment has begun to unite, and the potential for innovation clearly stands for ever more players in the Danish sports sector with several exciting new initiatives underway.
“Many start-ups have the same challenges. We must work on these challenges together and be able to assist with the necessary expertise in all areas. At the same time, we can become an entry point for investors and a hub that can offer the right sparring and the right 'ecosystem' to create growth, ”says Carsten Couchouron.
The dreams are big, but so far the interest in Sports Lab Copenhagen indicates that Carsten Couchouron is on to something big. Like other start-ups, he has big dreams about what the future will bring:
“I actually have a dream that within a few years we will grow out of this location. We are already looking for new places with the potential to become truly iconic environments in sports, technology and innovation. We want to be an international reference in sports-related innovation, ” says Carsten Couchouron.
Practical information:
The price for renting a desk in Sports Lab Copenhagen is DKK 1,875 + VAT. The leases can be terminated at short notice.
Contact:
Carsten Couchouron, carsten@sportslab.sport
Founder & CEO, Sports Lab Copenhagen
Danneskiold-Samsøes Allé 24, 1434 Copenhagen
Tel: +45 21 52 01 26 / +41 79 823 39 18
If you want to know more about the Danish sports sector in general, don’t hesitate to contact the author of this article, Henrik H. Brandt, idkon.dk, henrik.brandt@idkon.dk
