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Danish business celebs bet big on tattooing

A pair of celebrity Danish entrepreneurs who hobnob with royalty and headline at business conferences are making a big bet on one of the most unlikely of industries: tattooing.

Danish business celebs bet big on tattooing
Denmark’s former national football captain Daniel Agger shows off his first tattoo in a video on Tattoodo's site. Photo: YouTube screen grab
Peter Warnøe, a close friend of Denmark’s Crown Prince Frederik, and his investment partner Lars Tvede, betting it can become the next Nordic company worth more than $1bn — a so-called ‘unicorn’.  
 
“Tattoodo can become one of these new Nordic unicorns,” Peter Warnøe told Denmark’s Børsen newspaper. “They are the world's largest tattoo site, and it’ll be hard to knock them from pole position.” 
 
Nordic Eye, the two investors’ start-up fund, has made a sizeable (though undisclosed) bet on the tattoo site, which boasts over two billion content views monthly and over 40 million fans on social media. 
 
The site was launched in 2013 by Danish entrepreneurs Mik Thobo-Carlsen and Johan Plenge, and aims to disrupt the tattoo industry, which though worth more than $50bn, is dominated by small businesses. 
 
The site has already raised funds from two celebrity investors: Denmark’s former national football captain Daniel Agger, a tattoo enthusisast, and Christian Stadil, owner of the Danish sports brand Hummel International. 
 
Sweden has so far been the leader in the Nordic tech scene, producing 6.3 billion-dollar tech companies per million people, compared to Silicon Valley’s 8.1. Notable companies include Skype, Spotify, King, Mojang, and Klarna.  
 
But Denmark is catching up, with takeaway service Just Eat,  review site Trustpilot, wine app Vivino among its leading start-ups. 
 

TATTOO

Hair salons and tattoo parlours reopen in Denmark

Small businesses such as hair salons, massage and tattoo parlours, dentists and driving schools reopened in Denmark on Monday after a five-week closure, as the country gradually eases restrictions aimed at curbing the new coronavirus.

Hair salons and tattoo parlours reopen in Denmark
Janni Roest, the owner of Fair Tattoo in Copenhagen getting back to work on Monday: Photo: Niels Christian Vilmann/Ritzau Scanpix
“I had an appointment weeks and weeks ago and I've been waiting to come. As soon as I saw there was an opening, I made a reservation,” Merete Soendergaard, an IT consultant who was among the first through the doors at a hair salon in Copenhagen on Monday morning, told AFP.
   
The owner of the salon, Anne-Sophie Skjodt Villumsen, said she was happy to be able to reopen her business, noting that she was following the detailed health and safety guidelines put in place.   
   
Clients have to disinfect their hands at the entrance, and must be given a single-use poncho to wear during their appointment. Materials and surfaces have to be disinfected between clients as well.
   
Denmark began lifting its restrictions on April 15, when it started reopening preschools and primary schools for children up to age 11.   
 
Danes are, however, still urged to practice social distancing by keeping two metres (six feet) apart, gatherings of more than 10 people are banned, and cafes, restaurants, shopping centres and gyms will remain closed until May 10, as will middle and secondary schools.
   
At driving schools, instructors resumed work on Monday, though some expressed concerns about the “possible risk of infection” in cars, the head of the driving instructors' federation, Bent Grue, told AFP.
   
As of Monday, Denmark had 7,711 reported cases of the new coronavirus and 364 deaths.
 

 

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