The Copenhagen-based startup, Labster, recently received an investment of DKK 65 million ($10 million). The main portion of the capital injection came from the British VC Balderton Capital. However, other investors such as the Nordic VC Northzone and David Helgason, Founder and Board Member of Unity, have also contributed to the investment.
Labster has created an educational tool which allows students to interact with virtual laboratories. Labster enables students to do research and perform experiments in realistic settings. By including Labster in their educational program, institutions avoiding the dangers and costs of actual research facilities. The company was founded in 2012 by Mads Tvillinggaard Bonde and Michael Bodekær Jensen.
“In recent years, we have spent a lot of money on insurance and development but we are no ready to bring the tool to the people. The money will, therefore, primarily be invested in sales and marketing,” Says Mads Bonde in an interview with Computerworld.
Mads Bonde has a background in research and holds a Ph.D. in Biotechnology. It was after arriving at Harvard University in the USA and experiencing the same educational challenges that Danish universities are dealing with that Mads realized that there was room for improvement.
Picking the right investors
Labster has received wide acclaim for their virtual laboratories and when looking for funding they found themselves able to pick between different prospects.
“The interest was quite simply enormous and we were able to pick between five different proposals from renowned investors. We chose the investors with whom we saw the best conditions for collaboration and the investors best suited to help us reach the next stage,” says Mads.
One of the investors, David Helgason, has acted as an advisor for Labster through close to two years.
David Helgason has vast experience from Unity, which he helped develop into an enormous company of over 1.000 employees. This is, of cause, something that we would like to learn from,” says Mad
Today, Labster is in collaboration with some of the most renowned universities in the world to improve the educational level in natural science. The tool is sold to educational institutions all over the world who pays through yearly subscriptions.
