At the innovation hub DTU Skylab on Lyngby Campus, the auditorium, arena and Developer Hall buzzed with conversations, prototypes and new connections. At the stands, the technology-based startups demonstrated solutions within areas such as green technology, health and AI. On stage, they pitched their business cases to close to 1,000 attendees.
DTU President Anders Bjarklev opened the day by highlighting how the meeting between tech entrepreneurs, investors and partners is essential for bringing new technology into the world.
"Ideas are never enough in themselves. They need to be developed, tested, built, financed and scaled. That is why early-stage risk capital is so important. And it is even more important that the capital is located close to where the ideas emerge. Innovation thrives when students, researchers, entrepreneurs and investors are part of the same ecosystem—in the same room," said the president into the microphone.
His words carried from the stage to the blue-lit headsets worn by the participants—headsets that effectively blocked out the constant background buzz while the speech was underway.
Robots for the construction industry
One of the startups using the day to showcase its technology was ERLEtek. The startup develops robotics technology for the construction industry and brought an automated robot capable of building walls for, among other things, climate adaptation and infrastructure.
"The problem we are solving is the shortage of labour in the construction industry," said Lasse Olsen, COO at ERLEtek.
According to ERLEtek, the robot can automate heavy and repetitive tasks on construction sites—for example work involving formwork, installation and concrete casting. The goal is not to replace workers, but to enable them to produce more while reducing physical strain.
"At ERLEtek, we believe that we need to upskill workers so that we can produce more and keep up with the demands and construction projects ahead. Instead of having many construction workers build the formwork, install it and cast the concrete, we can use the robot to carry out the manual work," said Lasse Olsen.
For ERLEtek, DTU Startup Day is first and foremost about meeting the people who can help move the company forward.
"We are mainly looking for business angels who can help us move on to the next phase, where we become more attractive to, for example, venture capital funds. And we are also looking for board members who can help us with the company's strategy," he said.
Investors can contribute more than capital
Among the participants at DTU Startup Day were both private investors and companies looking for new technologies, collaboration opportunities and startups with potential.
Private investor Poul Ruben Andersen attended with a particular interest in areas such as biotech and food. He is open to both very early-stage ideas and more mature startups, and for him the unresolved potential is what makes it interesting.
He also pointed out that investors can contribute more than capital. For some startups, sparring, networks and board experience can be just as important as the first investment.
The same point was highlighted by private investor Trine Finneman, who invests through her private portfolio and is particularly interested in life science, medtech and the green transition.
"I invest in places where I can see a future, but also where I am passionate about making a difference," said Trine Finneman.
With many years of experience from the medtech industry, she can contribute knowledge about scaling, structure and business development.
When industry becomes the first customer
Large companies also play an important role in the innovation ecosystem. Sebastian Dreßen, Head of Research and Innovation at Siemens, did not attend as a traditional investor, but works strategically to identify collaborations between startups, a global industrial company and its customers.
"For us, it is about identifying startups we can collaborate with at an early stage and potentially become a customer of by implementing their solutions," said Sebastian Dreßen.
Collaboration with Siemens gives startups access to industrial experience, technology, test environments and a global customer base.
An ecosystem designed to shorten the path to market
DTU Startup Day 2026 also marked 25 years since DTU became the first university in Denmark to establish its own investment company—the organization now known as PreSeed Ventures. PreSeed Ventures invests in tech-driven startups at the earliest stages of growth and is a central part of DTU's innovation ecosystem.
For DTU, innovation is not only about creating more startups. It is also about helping startups scale their solutions.
"Too often, we still struggle to transform groundbreaking research into globally competitive companies. This is one of Europe's major challenges—and one that DTU is determined to help solve. That is also why we have established DTU SkyFactory: to help more startups become scaleups—in Europe," Anders Bjarklev pointed out in his welcome speech.
With PreSeed Ventures, DTU Skylab, DTU Science Park and DTU SkyFactory, DTU has an innovation environment that not only looks back on 25 years of experience investing in early-stage startups, but also looks ahead to creating more companies working with critical technologies that can secure global impact.
