Joo Runge has a solid blend of law, finance, and business experience, having earned a Graduate Certificate in Business Administration (HD part 1) from Copenhagen Business School and a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from the University of Copenhagen. She is a co-founder and partner of InTech Founders, as well as the founder of two other businesses: Black Panther Consulting, and Women in Tech Switzerland.
Below are highlights of the interview:
Tell us about yourself and your story before founding InTech Founders.
I moved away from home when I was 15 years old to a boarding school, and then, right after, at the age of 18, I started to study law. Already in the first year of law school, I knew that it was not the right fit, but I decided to finish 5.5 years of law school anyway and, in addition, 3 years as an assistant attorney to become an M&A lawyer. Why? because it was not an option to quit. That is how I was raised. Even though I knew law was not my thing because I, early on, became very interested in the commercial side of working with companies, I worked for approximately 8 years in top-tier law firms. However, in 2013, I decided to change careers and quit as a lawyer. I followed my gut feeling and started working as a board member and have since worked with management, sales, business development, marketing, internalization, investors, finance, and debt.
Why did you choose law and finance to specialize in?
I chose law because it was the most sensible course of study at the time. While I was on maternity leave, I finished the financial part of my education. I knew that I needed the finance part in order to be really good at working with companies.
Tell us more about InTech Founders.
InTech Founders is a growth accelerator for diverse tech scaleups with international potential, with a focus on scaling and fundraising. InTech Founders is backed by, among others, the Danish Growth Fund, Nordea Startup & Growth, The Danish Chamber of Commerce and many others.
Based on our pilot project in 2021 and our test accelerator in the period March – May 2022 where we have received more than +100 applications, it is clear that there is a need for programs with a focus on scaling and fundraising that create opportunities for scaling internationally. This need has also been confirmed by the ecosystem.
InTech Founders’ long-term goals are:
- to improve the opportunities for tech startups focusing on diversity and sustainability to scale abroad and attract more capital.
- to close the gender gap in relation to capital raising for male and female entrepreneurs. Per point, less than 1% of funding is allocated to female entrepreneurs, even though it has been documented that they perform better and create better returns for investors.
InTech Founders would like to increase the likelihood of more women among the next generation of scaleups, unicorns, and IPOs. This should create more entrepreneurial success stories.
In order to achieve our goals, we are going to raise a fund so we can co-invest in the companies in our accelerator program.
InTech Founders have achieved since 2021, when we founded InTech Founders:
- 16 participants with growth potential selected by our external investment committee in our first cohort.
- Featured in Berlingske, TechSavvy, Bootstrapping and many other media
- Commitment from investors to invest in the participants
- Social Media reach of 30,000+ followers, including personal accounts
- 3x award nominations
- Podcasts with Iværkstterhistorier, Vækstrejsen, etc.
- Accomplished MasterClass speakers
- Supported by influential corporates, organisations, and other change makers
- Demo day with +70 in-person investors
- Already secured funding for 8 out of the 16 participants from our first cohort.
- All participants in our second cohort this spring 2022 are in active dialogue with investors.
- Ready to publish findings based on data collection together with The Danish Technical University on diversity in the startup environment
- Extension of the program this fall covering Europe
What have you failed at and how do you overcome challenges?
I have noticed that whether we succeed or fail depends mostly on our own expectations. Let’s take running a marathon as an example. Someone runs a marathon with the goal of winning it, or finishing in the top 10. Some want to beat the four hour mark, and others want to finish the race. We all have our own level of ambition. I have failed both in my corporate and personal life. However, I always overcome it by thinking positively, taking responsibility, learning from my mistakes, and just keeping going until something good happens! And it will if you surround yourself with good people.
Kindly describe how you will specifically know what success looks like for you.
Success looks different for every one of us because there are many types of success. For me, success is a mix of being healthy, being grounded, and a good person to my co-workers, friends, and family, staying positive, open-minded, and fun, and knowing that I am adding value to my work and, in consideration, getting a good return.
What advice would you give to the next generation of women business leaders?
My first advice is that networking is key. Start early to build your network, because you are ahead if you have a good network. My second piece of advice is: that you don’t get it unless you ask for it. Be bold and ask for a raise, promotion, etc. My last piece of advice is that you are going to make a lot of mistakes. Learn from it quickly and move on! See your mistakes as good learning.
What are your future plans to sustain the company’s and your success?
InTech Founders is going to extend its program to become pan European in the fall 2022 and become the accelerator that increases the likelihood of more women among the next generation of scaleups, unicorns and IPOs. In addition, we are going to raise a fund so we can co-invest in the companies in our accelerator program.
Website: www.intechfounders.com
