“Two days later, a wall had fallen down”

The washbasin was held upright by a batten and an electrical outlet hung loosely in the middle of the office.
It was a long way to a premium experience with a gourmet lunch the first time Malte Vittrup visited the newly established office community POP2 north of Aarhus to find space for his new startup. However, he was immediately sure that the setting was just right for Hakio.

“I was already sold on the POP2 project the first time I was out here. We had a tour and a lot was work in progress. But I could see that what they wanted to build was really cool – and they had some really cool ideas about the community they wanted to build,” he says.

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So in August 2022, he moved into the spartan premises with his co-founder Simon Kristensen just three months after the CVR number was created. And since then, both POP2 and Hakio have grown tremendously.

The environment followed the growth

Hakio helps fashion and textile brands predict what their customers will demand. A kind of data-driven ‘weather forecast’ of upcoming trends that helps fashion brands buy efficiently. The goal is that they only buy what they can sell – cutting down on overproduction and waste. Good for both the climate and the bottom line.

The demand for the solution has proven to be high. Just two years after Hakio started, they raised 30 million DKK in February and have now grown from two founders to 23 employees at POP2.

“We’re a growth rocket that probably – a bit like SpaceX – builds a lot of things and the first things explode. But you know that, and you learn a lot every time,” says Malte Vittrup and continues:

“Now we’ve made the first rocket that actually takes off and is on its way. We can’t grab the booster just yet, but that’s the next step.”

And as it turns out, POP2 was just the right environment to accommodate the startup’s rapid growth. While the two founders started with a flyer desk in another location where they still couldn’t get access to a meeting room after 6 months, POP2 has quickly adapted to Hakio’s changing needs.

“It was probably more chaotic in the beginning, but there was also just a lot going on. It felt like entering a startup, so things just moved really fast,” says Malte Vittrup and continues:

“At some point we needed space for a couple more desks. I called Ulrikke, who came that afternoon. She was right next door – got them to move two offices down the hall – and two days later a wall was knocked down, so we had the space we needed.”

A shared journey of growth

Since POP2 opened its doors almost three years ago, the 9,500 square meters of Friis & Moltke architecture has been completely renovated, and barista coffee machines, chefs in the canteen and its own paddle court have been added.

Hakio has experienced a similar, explosive development in parallel. The solution quickly gained major customers – including Bestseller brands and watch manufacturer Nordgreen. Subsequently, Hummel and Shaping New Tomorrow, among others, have joined the company, and most recently they have gained their first major international customer: Carhartt.

Hakio is on the venture journey. And it’s a great help that others in POP2 are on the same journey:

“There are some founders here who have a lot of experience in building a business, but also in raising money to grow so quickly. They include Anyday and Vibrant, and I’ve saved a lot with them. They’ve been a few steps ahead of me and have done it before – and they’ve been very open to sparring.”

This openness became very clear when another company in the building had to lay off some employees – which Hakio was able to take on. That’s why Malte Vittrup has no plans to leave the address:

“As we’ve grown, we’ve moved into significantly larger premises. At some point we became too big for them – but we hope to stay in POP2.”

The post “Two days later, a wall had fallen down” first appeared on TechSavvy.