Press Release

Copenhagen Fintech Marks 10 Years

Fintech Has Become Denmark's Strongest Tech Sector and a Key to the Future of Financial Infrastructure

Copenhagen, 12 May 2026

Copenhagen Fintech marks its 10-year anniversary this year. Since its establishment in 2016, the organisation has helped build and accelerate the fintech ecosystem in Denmark and across the Nordics, from an emerging startup environment into Denmark's most prominent technology position.

Over the past ten years, Copenhagen Fintech Lab and the Aarhus office have hosted more than 1,550 residents across more than 280 companies, while more than 630 companies have taken part in Copenhagen Fintech's programmes and received support on their journey.

Since 2016, the organisation has also brought together more than 430 members, 80 Danish and international financial institutions, 25 scale-up fintech companies and 15 university and R&D partners around the development of the financial sector of the future. Copenhagen Fintech also has more than 100 investors in its network.

Today, Denmark is home to approximately 450 fintech startups employing around 6,400 people in total, and Danish fintech founders have raised around DKK 28 billion in capital since 2016. This makes fintech Denmark's most significant growth and technology sector.

This development comes as the global financial sector is undergoing a historic transformation. Artificial intelligence, new data models, geopolitical uncertainty, changing customer expectations, digital sovereignty and competition from both fintechs and big tech companies are reshaping the conditions for banking, payments, capital markets, pensions, insurance and financial infrastructure.

"When Copenhagen Fintech was established in 2016, fintech was, for many, about startups, apps and new digital user experiences. Today, fintech is about much more. It is about growth, jobs, competitiveness, digital financial infrastructure and strategic autonomy for Denmark, the Nordics and Europe. Fintech has become a central part of the financial sector of the future," says Thomas Krogh Jensen, CEO of Copenhagen Fintech.

The development across Europe underlines the importance of the sector. An analysis of Europe's unicorn ecosystem shows that fintech is the largest sector measured by capital raised among European unicorns, with 52 companies raising EUR 28.6 billion, equivalent to 27.6 percent of all capital in the analysis. Together with enterprise software/SaaS, fintech accounts for almost half of all capital raised among European unicorns. The analysis also highlights that Denmark is "heavily concentrated in fintech", and that Danish unicorns have raised a total of EUR 2.5 billion, with fintech as the largest sector.

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Need for a National Strategy and More Risk-Tolerant Capital

In September last year, Copenhagen Fintech launched its recommendations for a national fintech strategy for Denmark. The message was clear: Denmark has built a strong position, but the next phase requires a more coordinated national effort, better conditions for scaling and access to risk-tolerant capital that matches the ambitions of the ecosystem.

Several Danish and Danish-founded fintech companies have already shown the potential. Companies such as Lunar, Pleo, Flatpay, Banking Circle, SimCorp and Saxo Bank are examples of how fintech can create jobs, international growth, exports and technological renewal in the financial sector.

"Denmark has a fintech position that reaches far beyond our size as a country. But we cannot take that position for granted. If we want to create more international growth companies, we need to strengthen access to capital, attract talent, build closer bridges between research and industry, and ensure that regulation, infrastructure and public initiatives pull in the same direction," says Thomas Krogh Jensen.
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Fintech as Infrastructure for the Financial Sector of the Future

Copenhagen Fintech points to fintech increasingly needing to be understood as critical growth and innovation infrastructure, not only as a startup category. Financial companies are among the world's largest investors in technology, and AI, cloud, cybersecurity, data, blockchain, digital money and new payment infrastructures will be decisive for Denmark's and the sector's future competitiveness.

"The financial sector is one of the sectors where technological development is hitting fastest and deepest. That places major demands on established financial companies, fintechs, authorities and investors alike. For ten years, Copenhagen Fintech has played an important role as a gathering point for the ecosystem, and that role will only become more important in the years ahead," says Lars Gert Lose, Chair of the Board of Copenhagen Fintech and CEO of Finance Denmark.

He continues:

"Fintech is not only about new companies. It is about the entire financial sector's ability to renew itself, create better solutions for customers and maintain a strong Danish and European position in a world where financial infrastructure has also become a question of security, resilience and strategic autonomy."

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10 Years as a Nordic Gathering Point

Since 2016, Copenhagen Fintech has worked to connect startups, financial companies, investors, authorities, universities and international partners. Today, the organisation hosts more than 120 events annually and runs the largest conference on finance and technology in the Nordics, Nordic Fintech Week. It also operates Copenhagen Fintech Lab as a central environment for fintech entrepreneurship, collaboration and ecosystem development.

The anniversary marks not only ten years of ecosystem building, but also the beginning of a new phase in which fintech is expected to play an even greater role in Denmark's and the Nordics' growth, innovation and competitiveness.

"The next ten years will be even more decisive than the first. The question is no longer whether fintech will change finance. That has already happened. The question is whether Denmark and the Nordics can turn our strong starting point into global relevance, new growth companies and even more resilient financial infrastructure," says Thomas Krogh Jensen.

Key Figures

Copenhagen Fintech Since 2016

• 1,550+ residents in Copenhagen Fintech Lab
• 280+ companies in Copenhagen Fintech Lab
• 630+ companies in programmes
• 430+ members
• 80+ institutional partners
• 100+ active investors in Denmark and internationally
• 25+ scale-up fintech companies
• 15+ university and R&D partners
• 120+ events annually

The Danish Fintech Ecosystem in 2026

• Approximately 450 fintech startups/scale-ups in Denmark
• Approximately 6,400 employees
• Approximately DKK 28 billion raised by Danish fintech founders since 2016, including companies headquartered both inside and outside Denmark

About Copenhagen Fintech

Copenhagen Fintech is Denmark's national fintech cluster and a gathering point for startups, financial companies, investors, authorities, universities and international partners. The organisation works to strengthen innovation, growth and internationalisation in the Danish and Nordic fintech ecosystem, and to position fintech as a central driver in the development of the financial sector of the future.

Press Contact

Thomas Krogh Jensen
CEO, Copenhagen Fintech
Send a connection request to Corinna Covini for booking an interview with Thomas Krogh Jensen, at cco[@]copenhagenfintech.dk

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