The GEN Policy team was in Copenhagen this week to participate in the EU's flagship annual SME event and Danish Entrepreneurs' 'Scale-up Europe' event on the eve of Global Entrepreneurship Week.
GEN Vice President Matt Smith and Program Director Cristina Fernandez travelled to Denmark for the SME Assembly, the European Commission's flagship annual event that convenes EU SME Envoys from across member states alongside policy experts and business groups. Hosted by the Danish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the event gathered 600 delegates in Copenhagen under the theme "Successful SMEs. Competitive Europe".
The event's annual 'Schumpeter Innovation in Enterprise Lecture' was delivered by Prof Frederike Welter of IfM Bonn, who called for renewed focus on "everyday entrepreneurship", encouraging a shift away from picking winners towards creating enabling conditions for all forms of entrepreneurship.
The event also featured the 14th European Enterprise Promotion Awards, with Ireland's AIM Innovation Centre, the Netherlands' Startup in Residence scheme, the City of Antwerp, and France's Young and Bold scheme winning awards for their innovative approaches.
GEW Denmark, led by Danish Entrepreneurs, also used the opportunity on the eve of Global Entrepreneurship Week to host 'Scale-up Europe', a high-level conference to explore how Europe can better support its scale-ups through smarter innovation, improved access to capital, and stronger cross-border collaboration. The event featured three Danish government ministers, the Mayor of Copenhagen, alongside leading European founders and investors.