Scan Magazine | Special Theme | Danish FinTech Special
Cheers to this idea Back in 2010, Anders Boserup Lauritsen became involved in a project that many Danish students should thank him for from the bottom of their hearts. Together with three other students, he developed Studenterbolaget, a corporation that unites the buying needs of multiple student and college bars in order to drive down prices for their customers. Studenterbolaget helped him come up with a second great idea: the MONSO app, which lets bars and caterers make transactions quick and painless for their customers. By Louise Older Steffensen | Photos: Rune Lundø
Studenterbolaget is based on the simple but excellent idea that a larger buying force will be able to secure better deals based on the larger amounts that they are purchasing. This is exactly what Anders and his colleagues hoped to do. Starting with their own Egmont College in Copenhagen, Studenterbolaget gradually united student bars across Copenhagen. “In 2011, we won an award called Best of the Best, which led to us being named Entrepreneurs of the Year in Copenhagen, but building the company was a difficult process,” Anders re80 | Issue 103 | August 2017
calls. Before his studies, he had spent two years as a corporal in the military, including six months in Iraq. When he returned, he transferred the same discipline and drive to his business and studies, culminating in a degree at CBS, where he became involved with Studenterbolaget in its infancy. By 2012, his partners were ready to throw in the towel. So, a month before his final university exams, Anders bought them out and became the independent owner of a business. He finished with top marks
and set off to make Studenterbolaget his full-time project, building up a skilled and passionate team around him. Five years down the line, student bars from all over Denmark have joined the network and an estimated 100,000 students have enjoyed the delicious fruits of Studenterbolaget’s labours through the better service and lower prices that the buying network has brought about. Anders is keen to disrupt the accepted ways to do things and de-monopolise the market, bringing power to the smaller players. It is a simple way to shake up the power dynamics in favour of the smaller, individual outlets. The more bars that join Studenterbolaget, the better conditions they can get for themselves and their customers. “We handle all the ordering of goods and payment for them,” Anders explains. “Studenterbolaget has contracts with all the suppliers to enable us to take advantage of the economies of scale. We