The technological development is moving very fast, and it has never been cheaper or easier to start new businesses which are global from day one. This makes new requirements for lawyers advising these businesses, but also for the legal industry which is affected by technologies such as artificial intelligence and block chain.
HORTEN COLAB
On Friday, 9 February 2018, a team of innovative lawyers from Horten and four selected start-ups will move into Horten CoLab, which are new shared office facilities at Symbion, Østerbro, which already house Denmark's strongest entrepreneurial environment.
Horten CoLab is the result of unique cooperation between Horten and Symbion where Horten makes a team of legal experts available for start-up businesses. Horten’s primary object with the cooperation is to ensure the selected technology start-up businesses’ progress and growth through close cooperation, legal insight and a solution-orientated approach to the challenges facing these businesses; and thereby, hopefully, contributing to Denmark taking the lead as one of the best places in the world for start-up businesses.
With these new office facilities, the lawyers and the businesses are located close to each other with easy access to exploit the new synergy and knowledge sharing. The law is often a jungle to navigate in for technology-heavy start-up businesses - and often something which is integrated too late in the process. By physically sitting in the same room as the legal experts, the businesses will now get qualified and prompt sparring concerning the legal and commercial challenges that they face from time to time.
CLOSE TO INNOVATIVE BUSINESSES
According to Finn Schwarz, managing partner at Horten, there is no doubt that this is a win-win situation for all the parties involved:
“We are very pleased with the cooperation with Symbion and are proud of Horten CoLab. The shared office facilities mean that we will be quite close to the innovative businesses working with virtual reality to artificial intelligence and block chain. When physically sitting together with these businesses, they will have direct access to sparring and developing their business the best way possible. At the same time, it will of course also make your lawyers even better at giving clear answers and advice within a business community that requires you to be at the forefront of the technological development and to understand and develop the customers’ future needs.”
In addition to Horten CoLab, Horten’s lawyers will also be available to the other 300+ businesses at Symbion and the start-up businesses participating in one of Accelerace's acceleration programmes. The cooperation will also benefit the other start-up environment by way of a number of professional events at Symbion’s other locations in Copenhagen and at Horten in Hellerup.
As regards the cooperation, Symbion’s CEO Peter Torstensen says:
“The law is fundamental when building up new businesses and is often given low priority which may have serious consequences for the business and the entrepreneur. And the importance of the law has only increased together with the new technologies such as for instance artificial intelligence, which creates unique opportunities for start-up businesses, but the law also raises a lot of questions and potential pitfalls which may end up killing even the best idea and business. The cooperation with Horten is therefore a great strength both for the start-up businesses and for Symbion's start-up community”.