Participants at the “2026 R&D Special Zone–Denmark Cluster-Based Business Meetup” pose for a commemorative photo. Photo courtesy of the Innopolis Foundation.
Danish innovation clusters seeking technology met with Korean special zone companies seeking markets.
The Innopolis Foundation said Thursday it hosted the “2026 INNOPOLIS-Denmark Cluster to Cluster Business Meetup” at the D-Unicorn Lounge in the Daejeon Science Complex, together with representatives of major Danish innovation clusters.
This year, industry, academia and research delegations in advanced manufacturing revisited the special zones alongside the existing energy sector, broadening the scope of cooperation.
The Innopolis Foundation focused on directly connecting deep-tech companies within the special zones seeking to enter the European market with Danish institutions and companies searching for innovative technologies.
About 40 participants from both countries attended, including a delegation of some 20 members centered on MADE (Manufacturing Academy of Denmark), Denmark’s national manufacturing innovation cluster. The delegation also included global companies such as Danfoss A/S and FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies, along with major universities and research institutions including the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) and Aarhus University.
In the first session, four promising companies from the special zones introduced their technologies and explored cooperation needs and linkage plans with Danish companies and clusters through one-on-one business matching. The participating companies were Advanced Lab (silicon nitride-based advanced ceramic materials and components), Acromet (soft magnetic material-based power conversion components), WIM (physical AI-based robot control and automation solutions), and Posol Innotec (highly corrosion-resistant coatings that control metal corrosion mechanisms).
In the second session, the delegation visited Narma, the first research institute-based company spun off from the Korea Aerospace Research Institute, to examine its tilt-rotor-based Urban Air Mobility (UAM) technology, which can operate in urban, mountainous and island areas without runways. Discussions also covered proof-of-concept (PoC) testing and commercialization linkages within Danish industry.
The Innopolis Foundation plans to continue expanding cooperation between industry, academia and research clusters in both countries to actively support the global expansion of special zone companies.
“Korea’s R&D special zones are a highly competitive innovation ecosystem where technology-based companies are concentrated,” MADE CEO Nigel Edmondson said. “We will expand various technology cooperation opportunities applicable to Korean companies and industrial sites.”
“We will continue to connect with Danish innovation clusters, which have world-class competitiveness in fields such as energy and advanced manufacturing,” Innopolis Foundation Chairman Jeong Hee-kwon said. “This can serve as a stepping stone for special zone companies to enter the European market.”