The Global Grand Finale 2023 in Copenhagen
Welcome to the Kingdom of Denmark
The Global Startup Awards is proud to have collaborated with the Danish government to bring our prestigious event to Copenhagen.
This partnership underscored a shared commitment to positioning Denmark as a global hub for innovation and entrepreneurship. Together, we highlighted Copenhagen’s thriving startup ecosystem, leveraging the city’s forward-thinking approach to attract international attention and foster global connections.
Through this collaboration, we celebrated Denmark’s innovation leadership and connected local entrepreneurs and ecosystem players with the global startup scene, paving the way for cross-border opportunities and partnerships.
Edition 9 in numbers
- 28,000+ nominations
- 70,800+ public votes
- 120 countries
After-event video
Special guest
Morten Bødskov, the Danish Minister for Industry, Business and Financial Affairs, marked his presence by giving a speech and handing out an award at the Global Grand Finale.
Global winners 2023
Kubik
Startup of the Year · Kenya
Kubik wants to remove millions of tons of plastic from the environment by turning them into low-carbon buildings of the future. Their buildings are more durable and affordable than the old way of making buildings – and it’s less polluting. From schools to clinics, homes to warehouses, Kubik is bringing environmental dignity to how countries grow and urbanize.
Emata
Best Newcomer · Uganda
Emata offers a compelling and scalable solution to some of the world’s most underserved demographics. It seeks to disrupt and retake a broken financing system, to support both cooperatives and farmers, and already boasts massive growth. It helps all sides, and there’s nothing not to like about this initiative.
Avila Spaces
Best Co-working Space · Portugal
Avila Spaces is the most awarded business center in Portugal and is the innovation leader in the flexible workspaces market in the country. Coworking and Business Lounge offer a premium, state-of-the-art environment where businesses can grow sustainably and dynamically.
Magdalena Linke-Koszek
Diversity Role Model of the Year · Poland
Magdalena founded Her Impact in 2019, a women’s career platform, using her leadership skills and community-building talents. Holding a law degree from Warsaw University and studies in Art History in Paris, she independently secured seed funding and grew a community of 30,000 within a year. Her passion is in connecting with people. Outside Her Impact, Magdalena engages in new projects, writes articles, and volunteers.
Spirii
Best GreenTech · Denmark
At Spirii, we strive to provide high-quality, innovative software that allows companies, municipalities, real-estate developers and facility owners to build and deploy their EV charging business within months and not years. Electrifying the speed for change within adoption to EVs.
Bower
People’s Choice · Sweden
Bower’s vision is to make recycling a rewarding no-brainer and create a world free from trash. That’s why we’ve developed a world-unique mobile app that rewards recycling of all consumer packaging at regular recycling bins.
Sarah Qureshi
Founder of the Year · Pakistan
Aero Engine Craft Private Limited is developing the first generation of environment-friendly contrail-free aircraft engines for the global aviation industry. The product aims to address aviation-induced global warming due to contrails, a non-carbon engine emission from aircraft.
Startup Wise Guys
Best Accelerator/Incubator Program · Lithuania
With 250+ investments in early stage startups, Startup Wise Guys is one of the most active investors in Europe. To help techy startup founders become entrepreneurs, they have been running a world-class startup accelerator since 2012.
Draper B1
VC of the Year · Spain
A venture capital management entity, Draper B1 was founded in 2010 and has since invested in more than 100 startups. It was promoted by a team of entrepreneurs and investors who, in turn, founded the first Spanish accelerator specialized in promoting innovative business ideas.
Cerebra.ai
Best VerTech · Kazakhstan
CEREBRA is an AI-powered software for early stroke detection for faster and more accurate treatment, available as a cloud platform on a PC and a mobile application.
Petra Wolkenstein
Ecosystem Hero of the Year · Austria
Petra Wolkenstein has been working for seven years with national and international startups and entrepreneurs on go-to-market strategies, cooperation and investor access. She heads Konsultori, the Viennese boutique consultancy specialising in scaling projects. In 2018 she founded the platform key2investors, which supports startups in their investor search. Her experience comes from 10 years of corporate M&A in the telecommunications industry in Eastern Europe and business development in the TMT sector, and from training and consulting projects on negotiation tactics, investor search, cooperation and business development for Austrian and international projects and accelerators.
The venue
Right in the heart of Copenhagen, we found one of the city’s most emblematic places: the Circus Building (Cirkusbygningen).
The oldest of its kind in Europe, the Circus Building has been a Danish cultural icon since 1886. In this magical setting, we celebrated an award show mixed with the essence of a traditional circus show.
The hosts
The programme
- 17:00 Welcome
- 17:15 Pre-networking
- 18:30 Award show, part 1
- 19:45 Break and dinner
- 20:30 Award show, part 2
Welcome, and doors open!
Welcoming music was waiting right at the door, with an easy check-in that took seconds.
A short pause to smile and pose!
Starting from the entrance, guests had the chance to network with each other.
The Grand Finale stage!
The moment everyone was waiting for: finding out the global finalists and winners of the night, along with insightful interviews, funny host sketches and a lot of dancing at the GSA nightclub.
An excellent delight of food and entertainment!
The real show started with three different entertainment acts and breathtaking acrobatic performances, while our guests enjoyed a delicious 3-course menu with wine.
We finished the night dancing our shoes off to the familiar hits of our DJ.
A journey towards a greener world
The Global Startup Awards wants to keep empowering the entrepreneurial community in its commitment to progress and innovation, which is why this year’s Global Grand Finale embraced core values that align with a greener and more sustainable world! Part of GSA’s agenda was to contribute towards “achieving a better and more sustainable future for all”, the goal set by the United Nations General Assembly to be achieved by 2030. GSA has therefore created a new category at the global level: Best Green Tech Startup.
To celebrate GSA’s first region ever created (back in 2012), the Global Grand Finale Days were held in Copenhagen, Denmark, with full support from the Danish Business Authority, which aims to make Denmark an easy and attractive place to run a responsible business and create development throughout the country. All in all, the Global Grand Finale Days are run from Denmark, with a global taste.
Event gallery
