Fully 26 companies have been spun out from DTU Nanotech over the past 20 years—and 21 of them are still going strong.
To mark its 25th anniversary, DTU Nanotech has looked into how the 26 companies spun off from the department have fared since going their own way. And the answer is ‘remarkably well’. Twenty-one of them are still going strong, almost their entire combined annual turnover (valued at DKK 500 million) comes from exports, they have jointly attracted more than DKK 1.5 billion from investors, and they expect growth to continue over the coming years.
According to Rolf Henrik Berg, Professor in Nanotechnology and Innovation, the department was well aware that the companies were thriving, but even so, he was a little surprised to find they were making such a huge contribution to society.
“We focus heavily on identifying and developing the best ideas, and researchers have ready access to expert consultancy; the path from invention to commercialization is short—and it pays dividends,” he says.
Together, the 21 enterprises are generating an annual turnover of DKK 500 million, of which exports account for more than 98 per cent. The companies currently employ 430 people, which is twice the number of employees at DTU Nanotech today. Over the past 20 years, investors have ploughed a total of DKK 1.5 billion into DTU Nanotech spin-outs.
Widely different sectors
Flemming Larsen, Business Developer, was responsible for the survey of the 21 companies, and he explains how it is possible to be so innovative in so many different business areas as follows:
"We focus heavily on identifying and developing the best ideas, and researchers have ready access to expert consultancy."
Professor Rolf Henrik Berg, DTU Nanotech
“The years we have spent working closely with industry have provided us with fundamental knowledge about the different business areas. As a result, we are in a position to identify commercial opportunities in the broad range of inventions and discoveries made at the department.”
The 21 spin-outs are operating in widely different and highly specialized business areas that reflect the sheer breadth of the fields in which nanotechnology has a role to play. For example, the company Plastisens is developing sensors to spot antimicrobial agents in milk, Silmeco is working with ultra-sensitive molecules to identify explosives, and CEKO Sensors manufactures products that to measure the load on wind turbine blades and thus help prevent breakdowns.
DTU Nanotech was founded in 1990 under the name of MIC—Mikroelektronik Centret (The Microelectronics Centre) on the initiative of Bertel Haarder, the Danish Minister for Education and Research at that time. On its foundation, the centre was unusual in that its board featured a majority of external members.
DTU Nanotech celebrated its 25th anniversary on 14 December 2015.