“…I had started working at BLOC, located in the Copenhagen Fintech Lab. The Fintech Lab is a co-working space for startups, situated in Christianhavn. There I met CEO and co-founder of BLOC, Deanna MacDonald — an inspiring woman and entrepreneur with a passion for sustainability, social justice and technology. She is a Canadian living in Copenhagen, with a Master’s degree in international business and politics from Copenhagen Business School.
As Deanna and I discussed current and upcoming projects, I realized I had just entered a very fast-pace world in which the projects were being designed and augmented on a day by day basis – sometimes even in the course of a high-level conversation. My excitement for the summer could barely be contained as I realized that I could directly help craft what we were doing and how we would do it.” (Excerpt taken from the prior post, “Summer in Copenhagen, Part 3: Housing & Internship”)
While working out of the Copenhagen Fintech Lab, I fell in love with the startup and co-working scene. BLOC had its own room to comfortably seat about 9 team members, enclosed by glass walls. We would often draw diagrams on the glass during brainstorming sessions. While the glass walls did cut down on noise, they also provided the benefit of an open, connected feeling with the rest of the Fintech Lab. People from different startups would constantly intermingle, pushing idea development beyond what one would typically imagine in an office space. Chainalysis, another company working in the blockchain space, was right next to us, sharing one of our glass walls. Two other glass sides faced a larger shared space, and the fourth side was a regular wall with a couple windows overlooking the canal in Christianhavn, where boat tours and fun-loving groups would frequent. Occasionally music and/or singing would waft in through the windows from the boats, especially during jazz week and opera week. Eventually, we would be one of those boats!
On each floor of the Fintech Lab, there were open social areas and a kitchen. Next to our floor’s kitchen was a large space with tables that could be moved – either to facilitate seated chats over food, or sometimes the evening video gaming session – FIFA soccer matches between Fintech residents of different startups. The room also had a couple older arcade games setup for anyone to play.
The cohesion of both productivity and social features in the Fintech Lab really seemed to foster collaboration and imagination. The Lab often threw events, inviting outside companies and representatives to come in and participate.
Among the ambiance was the crack of beer cans opening, both at events and around 3 p.m. on Fridays for Friday bar. We even enjoyed Blockchain and Copenhagen Fintech Lab branded beers – a bottle of which I’ve smuggled home with me and have sitting on top of my refrigerator now…
Next Part is posted! See Summer in Copenhagen Part 5: Blockchain Workshop at CBS
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