Press release: Cadpeople and Fonden for Entreprenørskab develop a new digital universe to give young people the courage to become entrepreneurs
How can Denmark encourage more young people to take the leap and start their own businesses?
That question is at the heart of a new collaboration between Cadpeople and Fonden for Entreprenørskab. Together, they are developing a digital, gamified learning universe that aims to give young people the desire, courage, and skills to try entrepreneurship for real. The universe launches in late 2027, and the project is co-funded by the European Union.
“The purpose of the project is to develop and roll out a digital universe where young people with an interest in entrepreneurship can try starting a business in an interactive, realistic, and educational environment. The game should be playful and fun, but also realistic enough that players gain useful experience of entrepreneurship that can inform their own start-up projects and business plans,” says Anders Rasmussen, Head of Education and Development at Fonden for Entreprenørskab.
When courage is missing
Many young Danes dream of starting their own business, but something seems to make the road from idea to action impassable: Denmark’s entrepreneurship rate has stagnated for many years.
That is why Cadpeople and Fonden for Entreprenørskab are currently investigating young people’s drivers, ambitions, and barriers regarding entrepreneurship. Young people, experienced entrepreneurs, teachers, foundations, networks, and entrepreneurial ecosystems are all part of the study, which combines data collection, interviews, workshops, and hypothesis testing. The aim is to understand what keeps young people from starting their own business, and how they can be helped to overcome those barriers.
The studies make clear how complex life as your own boss is: the breadth of skills required, the sense of being overwhelmed, the uncertainty, the consequences. But the findings also point towards one particularly important barrier: courage.
That is why the aim of the digital universe from Cadpeople and Fonden for Entreprenørskab is not only to teach young people how to build and run a business. It is just as much to help them overcome the personal barriers that stand in the way of getting started: the courage to try, doubts about their own abilities, and the fear of failing.
A universe about the person behind the business
While many entrepreneurship games focus on growth, revenue, and financial success, the new universe starts with the person behind the business.
Players reflect on their own values, drivers, ambitions, and ideas about working life. Through choices, dilemmas, exercises, and actions, they gradually practise navigating the processes, decisions, challenges, and consequences that entrepreneurs meet in real life.
“For us, it is not about building the most impressive learning universe or the most entertaining game. It is about moving people. If we are really going to make a difference, we need to create a universe that understands young people, motivates them, and helps them move forward when they run into challenges. We need to start from the target group’s reality and needs - otherwise, in my opinion, we have not solved the task we set ourselves,” says Claus Riekehr Møller, CEO of Cadpeople.
The focus is therefore not on building the biggest business, but on building courage and understanding that mistakes and setbacks are not signs of failure but a natural part of every entrepreneurial journey.
About the project
The Danish Business Authority has granted DKK 1,857,520 from the European Regional Development Fund and DKK 2,482,480 from the decentralised business development funds, following a recommendation from the Danish Board of Business Development.
