Aditya Prakash, India

“I’m originally from India, but have been living in Denmark since 2015. Prior to founding Skidos in 2013, I worked for 11 years across sales, marketing, and leadership roles in big telecommunications, media, and FMCG companies in India. In my early career, I’ve launched New FMCG brands and the first iPhone in India, as well as support India’s largest media companies in establishing a new venture in the mobile entertainment space.

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Growing up in India, I was fortunate enough to attend a top private school. I experienced a very high standard of education but felt I was limited in developing my natural curiosity for subjects like science, history, and literature. During school days, I loved playing sports and games and would remember information best when learning was fun. I founded Skidos with this ambition in mind – that learning should be fun above all else”

A lot of the global innovation in gaming and education is being driven by the Nordics

“I moved to join the accelerator program Startup Bootcamp, but quickly decided that Denmark was the place I wanted to stay. The Nordics have long been a leading innovator in the gaming and education industry, so it just made the most sense. There is a strong culture of innovation here which is supported by government initiatives – grants like Startup Denmark and Innobooster really helped me out in the early days.

Honestly, before moving for the program, I didn’t have much of a clue about Denmark. I didn’t even realise that some of the most well-known global brands were born here – LEGO, Carlsberg, and Mærsk to name a few. I’ve been consistently impressed with how a country that is so small in comparison to India can produce such established global brands.”

I’m very optimistic that Denmark will become one of the top tech hubs in the world

“The Danish tech scene is growing and becoming more international each year. More entrepreneurs are relocating, more startups are forming and more investors are deploying their capital for early-stage ventures. I’m very optimistic that Denmark will make a name for itself globally as a top tech hub.

As a founder and entrepreneur, my priority is continuing to grow our multicultural team at Skidos. Our culture is very much of a mixture of Indian, Danish, and other international working styles, with 9 nationalities represented internally. We want to create a unique environment that takes the best parts of each culture and mixes them together. As a baseline, we are committed to building a culture that promotes trust, respect, ownership, transparency, and continuous learning. My key focus is developing a culture that fosters innovation, creativity, and fun, as well as building a talent pipeline to attract the best people. Both of these will help us move towards our vision of becoming a global brand to help families with children to develop 21st-century skills.”

The mutual trust between the governments and citizens was really inspiring for me

“Something that really surprised me when I moved here was the level of trust between the government and citizens. The level of mutual respect here is so unique and inspiring. That’s something that I’ve also found when interacting with Danes in the workplace. They can come across as very frank and honest, to begin with, but they’re very fun to work with once you appreciate their ability to give very direct feedback.

In the beginning, it can be challenging to establish a proper social network. But once you start learning Danish and are proactive in meeting new people it just happens naturally. Through co-living spaces like Nest Copenhagen, I was able to develop very meaningful friendships early on and have a group of people I could rely on. My top advice to people who are new to the city is to get on your bike and out of your comfort zone.”

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