Apply for a spot in Below Zero if you want to create green solutions for the future - or even your own startup!
What is Below Zero?
Below Zero equips you with the right tools to create a climate startup, to understand and act on sustainability, and develop innovative solutions to help the world reduce its carbon footprint.
In Below Zero you can bring zero carbon products to the market or even develop a breakthrough green technology. The possibilities are endless.
We have built a hands-on programme where you will go through all the steps of developing a sustainable startup business. You will start this entrepreneurial journey in a cross-disciplinary team where you’ll ideate, develop prototypes, learn how to pitch, how to raise capital, and how to bring your green idea to market.”
Work for the future of the planet and your future, from day one!
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Create an impactful green startup
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Work with a like-minded team
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Have access to a budget of 2000 DKK for prototyping
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Expand your valuable network
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Graduate with 20 extracurricular ECTS
- Become an excellent employable graduate, with newly acquired competences in entrepreneurship and sustainability
Who can apply
- Are you a 3rd year bachelor student or a master student?
- Are you ambitious, dedicated and ready to take on 20 ECTS points alongside your studies?
- Are you interested in developing a green business idea together with a multidisciplinary team?
- SDU students from all fields of study and all campuses, with no delays in their studies.
- The programme is taught in English.
"We are the first generation to feel the effect of climate change and the last generation who can do something about it."
Barack Obama
How will we help you
- We have put together a team of national and international industry experts, scientists, ecologists, researchers, and business developers, to guide you through the venture creation process during a series of weekend workshops.
- You don’t need to have a business idea to start with. During this talent programme you will learn how to become an entrepreneur and how to discover opportunities within the field of climate change, through coaching, mentoring and business development.
- Below Zero takes place at the Odense campus. For students from other campuses, Below Zero will cover travel and accommodation.
- Each Below Zero team will have a budget of 2000 DKK for prototyping and other needs.
- Be prepared for everything: success, failure, start over from scratch, develop a state-of-the-art green solution, create a highly impactful business case.
- At the end of the programme, you will have the mindset of an entrepreneur, the knowledge, and a team to pursue your own green business case. You will have built a valuable network and gained a strong insight into green growth, sustainability, and climate change.
Startups from Below Zero
Four startups from Below Zero have been selected for the most prestigious university Startup competition in Denmark, Venture Cup.
Seabud
Organic liquid fertilizer from washed-up seaweed collected from the Danish coast.
GenBro
Platform provider for intergenerational housing between seniors and students.
Kidular
Glasses that grow with the kids reduce substitution and, therefore, plastic waste.
ReThrive
Waste management mobile trolley for hospitals.
Below Zero start
Mewalli and Hydrovertic successfully joined the GreenUp Accelerator, Denmark’s most ambitious acceleration program for climate startups working with CO2 reduction. What did they have in common? Both began their journey in the program from which Below Zero originated.
Hydrovertic - Winner of VentureCup Category: Product 2022'
"Being able to create and work as a team across educations and campuses really allowed us to connect around the passion for creation and sustainability, and it meant that we could expand our horizons immensely."
Jacob Høj Copeland, Founder of Hydrovertic, Engineering, Innovation & Business student at TEK
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MEWALII - winner of 'Climate Entrepreneur of the Year', 'KlimaBoost 2021'
“Frederikke and I met at the Talent programme in 2018. That was the beginning of our amazing journey where we started Mewalii. We develop sustainable and biodegradable sanitary pads, we got an investor, we won the title of climate entrepreneurs of the year, in the KlimaBoost 2021 (250.000 kr.) and we went to the final of the TV2 program “Min Idé - Vores Mission”.”
Simone Westergaard, Mewalii Founder, Sports Science and Health student at SUND
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FAQ Below Zero
We are looking for applicants that, in October 2023, will be in the 3rd year of their Bachelor’s degree or who will be doing their Master’s Degree. Moreover, we are looking for students who are passionate about Entrepreneurship, climate change and sustainability, and who have great potential and ambitions to start a new venture. Students cannot have a delay in their studies and it is important that students will be able to attend all activities. Therefore, students with a semester abroad for studies or internship will not be allowed to participate.
The SDU Talent Programme in Green Entrepreneurship takes place from October to June and is an extracurricular programme. This means that the activities for the programme will be executed in addition to the courses in the study curriculum for the students. Workshops’ hours are scheduled in weekends, and additional work can be scheduled by the student startups at their own leisure.
We usually start at 9.30 with some breakfast at end at around 17/ 18 both on Saturdays and Sundays. The workshops take place at Cortex Park/ Videnbyen next to Odense Campus. Students from outside SDU Odense will get their travel expenses reimbursed as well as get a hotel room booked and paid for the workshop weekends.
Workshop weekends
| 2023/2024 | October | November | December | January | February | March | April | May | June |
| Saturday | 7 | 11 | 9 | Individual sessions | 10 | 16 | 13 | 4 | - |
| Sunday | 8 | 12 | 10 | - | 11 | 17 | 14 | 5 | 9 |
| This workshop will be on your own and not facilitated | |||||||||
| Saturday | 28 | 25 | |||||||
| Sunday | 29 | 26 | |||||||
| Monday | 10 |
This year, our application deadline is at September 16th. Right after, our board of judges will look at the applications and will select 50 students to have an intake conversation with. After the intake conversation with the managers of the programme, the final 35 participants are selected. The selection will be done in two steps. First, candidates need to meet basic requirements (no study delay, passed 2nd year bachelor, and present in Denmark). Second, we will look at experience, ambition, and potential of the candidates to start a startup during the programme.
During the Talent Programme activities, we will facilitate the rapid creation of green startups. In order to do this successfully, we teach to develop competences and skills in a range of activities like: Ideation, Business Development, Rapid Prototyping, Co-creation, Growth Hacking, Marketing, Sales.
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“What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.”
Jane Goodall
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Make the world cool, again!
