If you are a startup and have a really good idea for your business, you should visit the Otto Mønsted stand when you come to Digital Tech Summit. Here you can get updated on how to apply and which demands to meet. Pitch your idea or project in January and get ready for next year's Bright Idea Award show on 25 May 2022.

Last year in May it was the third time that Otto Mønsted's Foundation presented the award ' The bright Idea ' of DKK half a million.

The entrepreneur Otto Mønsted has become one of the most important in the history of Denmark, because he was able to develop innovative products for both national and international commercial success.

In the same spirit Otto Mønsted's foundation has now launched the award ' the bright Idea ' as a tribute to some of Denmark's great research talents and a financial helping hand in the continued development of their ideas.

The award ' The Bright Idea 2021 ' falls in two categories – the best Late-stage idea and Early-stage idea of the year. Last years winners of the two categories each received DKK 250,000 for their ideas, which you can read about below.


Award winners in 2021

The best Late-stage idea of the year was presented to engineering students at Aarhus University, Emma Hostrup, who received the award on behalf of the team behind Textile Change. The startup has developed a technological solution that can separate, decolour and recycle textile waste into new, clean, textile raw materials. With their invention, Textile Change has created the opportunity to solve a fundamental environmental problem for the textile industry, which occupies second place as the world's most polluting industry. The method is, therefore, expected to have major industrial and commercial potential when the EU in 2025 bans the burning of textiles.

In the category Early stage, the winner was Yong Liu, PhD student at DTU, for his invention of an OPA chip for LIDAR systems, which function as, among other things, distance assessment ' laser vision ' for use in robots, self-propelled cars, drones and sensors in general. The Yong Lius OPA chip proves the potential to be a cheaper, smaller and more robust unit with more applications than the systems we know today. "It's fantastic to be able to see the many bright ideas that are being developed at the universities in Denmark and have the opportunity to support the best. This year, this may be either ideas in the early stage or ideas in which a test system or a prototype has been established, and the first customers have been found. In both cases, we know that the money will make a difference in terms of creating a burgeoning potential to grow strong and contribute to Denmark's development and trade, which was one of the things Otto Mønsted burnt so strongly, "says Nina Movin, managing director of Otto Mønsted Foundation and A/S. ' The bright idea 2021 ' was handed out by the foundation's chairman Bo Stærmose on the anniversary of MADE (Manufacturing Academy Denmark), which this year was held as an online event on 19 May in Copenhagen.

The winners ' bright ideas can contribute to retaining Denmark's leading role within sustainability and robotics.