FinTech exchange program

Entrepreneurship education

Over the past few years, the financial industry has witnessed unprecedented developments in FinTech, including innovation in mobile payments, digital currencies, blockchain, and more. Fintech innovations have grown enormously and are expected to continue to rise as new players challenge the traditional financial and banking system. 

In the past five years, global investments in FinTech rose from USD 65 billion to 200 billion. Similarly, venture capital investments have risen from 17 billion to 37 billion in the same period, and there are 66 FinTech unicorns today valued at USD 248 billion.

Sponsored by and in partnership with Spar Nord Fonden, ICDK developed a six-month exchange programme for Danish students, giving them a unique opportunity to study FinTech at one of the world’s leading universities, UC Berkeley in California, as students in Denmark do not have access to the same educational opportunities and offerings within Fintech as American students at leading US universities do.

While the students study at Berkeley, they also benefit from exposure to the outstanding Silicon Valley entrepreneurship ecosystem and take part in an intensive entrepreneurship programme — the SPARK program — designed and organized by Innovations Centre Denmark in close collaboration with local entrepreneurship gurus and FinTech industry leaders. The programme brings the students from early idea to a fully fledged business concept.

The programme has become very attractive to students, and the outcome of the current four cohorts has been a great success. Several of the former students are today working for innovative Fintech companies or have secured prestigious jobs in large corporations.