Symbion

What Symbion does

Symbion is Denmark's largest startup and entrepreneurial ecosystem, operating five coworking and laboratory locations across Copenhagen with approximately 44,000 m² of total space housing 647+ member companies. Founded in 1984 by three researchers from the University of Copenhagen as a non-profit foundation, the company provides flexible workspace solutions including private offices (from 6,273 DKK/month), dedicated desks (from 3,100 DKK/month), flexible memberships (from 1,650 DKK/month), virtual offices (from 670 DKK/month), private laboratories (from 8,662 DKK/month), and a shared laboratory with BSL1/GMO1/BSL2-compliant environments featuring centrifuges, incubators, LAF benches, fume cupboards, spectrophotometers, and thermocyclers. Verticals served span biotech, life science, AI/IoT, greentech, quantum technology, IT, software/SaaS, foodtech, medtech, and sound/audio, with each location specialized toward particular clusters — Østerbro (20,000 m²) for general IT/biotech, Frederiksberg (13,500 m², opened 2024) for life science/greentech/quantum, Univate at KU South Campus (5,500 m²) for AI/IoT/legaltech, COBIS Tagensvej (2,200 m²) for biotech near Rigshospitalet, and Vesterbro Lydens Hus (2,750 m²) for sound/tech with podcast studios.

Symbion operates on a non-profit basis under ownership of Symbion Fonden, the University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen Business School, Nordea Bank Denmark, Lønmodtagernes Dyrtidsfond, AkademikerPension, and approximately 30 private shareholders. Revenue is generated primarily through monthly recurring subscription rentals for workspace products, supplemented by ancillary services (telephone answering at 425 DKK/month, furniture rental at 195 DKK/month, mail handling, fitness, catering, lab coat service) and pay-as-you-go conference and event space rentals at Østerbro and Vesterbro (hourly 200-260 DKK for small meeting rooms up to 12,000 DKK/half-day for the 400 m² Atrium). The community platform mit.symbion.dk facilitates member engagement, meeting room booking, and event coordination across all five locations.

The company's go-to-market combines community-led acquisition through its dense entrepreneurial network and partnerships with universities and innovation districts (Innovation District Copenhagen, Copenhagen Science City) with direct-to-consumer channels including online inquiry forms and on-site reception. Geographic expansion has progressed from a single 1988 location to five specialized sites over 40 years.

Name

Symbion

Legal name

Symbion A/S

Website

https://symbion.dk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1984

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Symbion is Denmark's largest startup ecosystem, operating five coworking and laboratory locations across Copenhagen serving 647+ companies with workspace, shared labs, and community programs since 1984.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Coworking and Flexible Workspace

NAICS

Facilities Support Services (561210)

SIC

Services-Facilities Support Management Services (8744)

akta.pro primary industry

Meeting & Conference Planning & Coordination (HSACADAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Virtual/Hybrid Conference Production & Platform Management (THAHACAM), Home Services Coordination & Vendor Management (HSACAIAI)

Keywords

• Coworking spaces
• Shared laboratories
• Flexible office rentals
• Startup incubation
• Entrepreneurship ecosystem

Headquarters

HQ city

Københoved

HQ country

Denmark

HQ region

Europe

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Office and Workspace Rental: Symbion generates the majority of its revenue through renting physical workspace including private offices, dedicated desks, memberships, virtual offices, and laboratory spaces. Revenue is recurring (monthly rent) with contract terms of 1 month (desk/membership/virtual) or 3 months (private office/lab). The company has historically operated as non-profit, with all surplus reinvested into facilities and community.
2. Conference and Event Space Rental: Meeting and conference room rentals at Østerbro and Vesterbro locations. Rooms range from hourly (DKK 200-260/hour for small meeting rooms) to half-day packages (DKK 2,560-6,800/half-day for conference rooms). Event spaces include K1 (up to 150 persons, 160 m2), Atrium (400 m2), and multiple smaller meeting rooms.
3. Ancillary Services: Additional revenue from ancillary services such as telephone answering (425 DKK/month), furniture rental (195 DKK/month for office set), post/package handling, printing, fitness access, catering, and lab coat service.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Core offering

Symbion (Symbion A/S) provides flexible workspace, laboratory, and virtual office products for startups and growth companies from five specialized Copenhagen locations. Its portfolio spans private offices (Eget kontor), dedicated desks (Kontorplads), flexible membership coworking (Fleksplads), virtual offices (Virtuelt kontor), dedicated laboratories, and a shared BSL1/GMO1/BSL2-compliant laboratory (Dele-laboratorium), supplemented by hourly meeting and event space rentals. All offerings are bundled with 24/7 reception, meeting room booking, community networking, and access to the mit.symbion.dk community platform.

Product overview

Symbion is Denmark's largest startup and entrepreneurial ecosystem offering a portfolio of flexible workspace solutions across five Copenhagen locations. The core offering includes Private Offices, Dedicated Desks, Membership flexible workspaces, Virtual Offices, Laboratories, and Shared Labs—all designed to support startups and growth companies at various stages. Add-on services include Conference and Event Spaces. The products share a unified community platform (mit.symbion.dk) for networking, meeting room booking, and event access, creating an integrated ecosystem for entrepreneurs across industries including IT, biotech, life science, greentech, AI, and audio tech.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• COBIS Tagensvej: A specialized life science and biotech coworking environment centrally located in Copenhagen N, part of the Symbion network.
• Univate
• Lydens Hus
• Symbion Østerbro
• Symbion Frederiksberg
• Symbion Vesterbro

Products and services

• Eget kontor (Private Office) Private, lockable office space for 1 to 50+ people located within Symbion's startup and entrepreneurial environments, bundled with community amenities, daily cleaning, 24/7 access, fitness (at Østerbro/Frederiksberg), coffee/tea, meeting rooms, parking, events, power, and Wi-Fi. Priced from 6,273 DKK/month excl. VAT on a monthly subscription with a 3-month notice period.
• Kontorplads (Dedicated Desk) Fixed, dedicated desk in a shared office environment including a height-adjustable desk, office chair, locker, and access to shared amenities. Priced from 3,100 DKK/month excl. VAT on a monthly subscription with a 1-month notice period.
• Membership (Flexible Co-working) Flexible co-working access allowing one person to work from any Symbion location using available desks, high tables, and lounge areas, including 10 hours/month of meeting room booking. Priced from 1,650 DKK/month excl. VAT on a monthly subscription with a 1-month notice period.
• Virtuelt kontor (Virtual Office) Professional Copenhagen business address with weekly mail scanning and forwarding, plus access to open professional events, without physical workspace access. Priced from 670 DKK/month excl. VAT on a monthly subscription with a 1-month notice period.
• Laboratorium (Private Laboratory) Private, dedicated laboratory space for scientific, technical, and medical research in controlled environments, with specialized equipment including autoclaving, -80°C freezers, and GMO labs (Frederiksberg), as well as lab coat service. Electricity is charged separately. Priced from 8,662 DKK/month excl. VAT with a 3-month notice period.
• Dele-laboratorium (Shared Lab) Denmark's first shared laboratory offering a lab bench in a compliant shared environment with shared scientific equipment (centrifuges, incubators, LAF benches, fume cupboards, spectrophotometers, thermocyclers, balances, pH meters), BSL1 biosafety compliance from 4,500 DKK/month and GMO1/BSL2 compliance from 5,500 DKK/month excl. VAT, plus membership flex space access.
• Konference- og Eventspace (Conference and Event Space) Meeting rooms and conference and event facilities for gatherings of 2 to 150+ people, available for rent at Østerbro and Vesterbro. Pricing ranges from DKK 200–260/hour for small meeting rooms (M5–M9) up to DKK 12,000/half-day for the 400 m² Atrium, with large conference rooms (K1, 160 m²) at DKK 6,800/half-day.

Named customers11 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Innovation District CopenhagencoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSymbion is part of Innovation District Copenhagen, a geographic area linking Rigshospitalet, Det Sundhedsvidenskabelige Fakultet, and Det Farmaceutiske Fakultet from Københavns Universitet. This partnership provides community companies with access to research infrastructure, clinical environments, and a cluster of innovative life science companies in Copenhagen.
• Københavns Universitet (KU)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStrategic partnership for career fairs, academic events, and student projects. Symbion locations on KU's Nørre Campus (COBIS) and Søndre Campus (Univate) enable deep integration with university life. KU is a major shareholder in Symbion A/S alongside Symbion Fonden, CBS, and financial institutions.
• Copenhagen Business School (CBS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with CBS for student recruitment, career fairs, and collaborative events. CBS campus hosts a Symbion location. CBS is also a shareholder in Symbion A/S, alongside KU, Symbion Fonden, and financial institutions.
• AcceleracecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAccelerace is listed as a key collaborator providing startups in the Symbion community with access to accelerator programs, mentorship, and startup development resources.
• REBBLSminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerListed as a collaborator partner for the Symbion community, providing startups with access to industry expertise and networking opportunities.
• Food & Bio ClusterminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerListed as a collaborator partner, connecting foodtech and biotech startups in the Symbion community with the broader food and bio innovation ecosystem in Denmark.
• Novo NordiskminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPlayed a critical founding role in Symbion's early development in the 1980s. While no longer an owner or formal partner, Novo Nordisk's early involvement helped establish Symbion's biotech identity and provided financial support and tenant commitment in Symbion's early years.
• Bioinnovation Institute (BII)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBII is a key tenant at the former COBIS building (Nørre Campus), which Symbion had operated. BII focuses on helping life science and biotech startups commercialize research. BII's CEO Jens Nielsen emphasized the location's importance for Danish life science entrepreneurship.
• Copenhagen Science CitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSymbion Frederiksberg is part of Copenhagen Science City, an innovation ecosystem providing access to cutting-edge research, highly educated students, and a cluster of innovative companies.
• TechBBQminorGTM or Marketing PartnerSymbion maintains a booth at TechBBQ (annual tech conference at Bella Center, Copenhagen) in the Life Science & Deep Tech area. The partnership provides visibility for Symbion and its startups, and allows community companies to participate and showcase their innovations.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves13 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• WeWork: WeWork is the global benchmark for flexible, community-led coworking space marketed to startups, scale-ups, and enterprises. Same core product (private offices, dedicated desks, membership), same community platform play, comparable pricing. WeWork is the primary direct competitor in the flexible-workspace category Symbion occupies.
• MaRS Discovery District: MaRS operates an innovation hub in Toronto hosting startups across health, cleantech, fintech, and life science with shared lab, office, and event infrastructure. Same multi-vertical startup incubator model, same university-district location (downtown Toronto near UofT), same nonprofit/social-mission orientation. One of the closest conceptual peers to Symbion.
• Station F: Station F is the world's largest startup campus in Paris (34,000 m2, hosting 1,000+ startups) with desks, private offices, labs, event spaces, and on-site accelerators. Same physical scale of operations, same startup community platform (Facebook), same industry-vertical programs. Direct peer in the urban mega-hub category.
• Rainmaking Loft: Rainmaking Loft was a Copenhagen-based coworking space for startups, operated by the Rainmaking venture firm. Same local Copenhagen market, same startup-focused offering, same community/networking programming. Closest direct competitor for Symbion's Copenhagen home turf, though Rainmaking Loft scaled back its physical footprint in recent years.
• Mindspace: Mindspace operates design-forward flexible workspaces across Europe and Israel, targeting startups and growth-stage companies. Same membership/office pricing tiers, same community-events model, similar positioning on aesthetics and curated tenant mix. Direct competitor for Symbion's office and event-space product lines.
• Cambridge Innovation Center (CIC): CIC operates innovation campuses in Cambridge (MA), Rotterdam, Warsaw, Tokyo, and Miami, providing shared wet-lab and office space for science and tech startups. Same shared-lab + office + community model, same university-adjacent locations, same mission of supporting early-stage innovation. Direct peer for Symbion's biotech-tenant focus.

Emerging players

• BioInnovation Institute (BII): BII is a Novo Nordisk Foundation-funded life science incubator that took over the COBIS building from Symbion in 2024. Focused exclusively on biotech/health startups with lab infrastructure, BII is an emerging competitor in Copenhagen's life science incubation market and directly displaced Symbion from a flagship site.

Broad incumbents

• Industrious: Industrious operates premium flexible workspaces across North America and Europe with enterprise-grade office suites, meeting rooms, and amenities. Same premium private-office product targeting higher-end tenants and corporate clients. Positions as a higher-end, less startup-focused broad incumbent.
• IWG (Regus, Spaces): IWG is the world's largest flexible workspace operator (3,500+ locations under brands including Regus, Spaces, HQ). Same office and coworking product portfolio at scale, same enterprise and SME customer base. Operates in Copenhagen as a broad incumbent offering overlapping but less startup-tailored services than Symbion.

Others

• Antler: Antler is a global early-stage venture investor that combines residency programs with shared workspace in multiple cities (including Copenhagen). Not a direct workspace competitor, but an adjacent participant in the same startup-incubation and community-building value chain that Symbion supports with mit.symbion.dk.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCZ3aJ4qB-6aN-xeRbL4C9QA
• Facebookfacebook.com/SymbionDK
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/symbiondk

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments1 record

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Symbion