COPENHAGEN, November 5, 2019—Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), the bank of the world’s most innovative businesses and their investors, today announced that it has established a presence in Denmark to meet the needs of Danish companies and their investors within the technology and life sciences sectors.
SVB has chosen Denmark as the next location in its expansion strategy due to the country’s growing talent base and strong ecosystem for entrepreneurs, providing SVB a greater presence in the Nordic region. The bank has already worked with more than 20 companies in the region, such as Trustpilot and Siteimprove, and has over a decade of working with leading European businesses through its offices in in the UK, Ireland, Israel and Germany.
SVB’s presence in Denmark will enable the bank to work with high-growth companies, connecting them to the bank’s extensive network of investors and advisers and helping them take their businesses to the next level.
Effective immediately, Sebastian Penn has been appointed Managing Director for Denmark and will be based in Copenhagen. Penn was previously based in San Francisco as Director of DenmarkBridge and held senior roles at Vækstfonden, The World Bank and the Danish Ministry of Economic and Business Affairs.
“Denmark presents an exciting opportunity for us to expand our European operations and we are thrilled to welcome Sebastian on board,” said Erin Platts, Head of EMEA and President of the UK Branch of Silicon Valley Bank. “Our expansion into Denmark is a key milestone for SVB and underscores our commitment to the European technology landscape. It allows us to broaden the network of companies we serve, while contributing to the growth of the global innovation economy.”
Sebastian Penn, Managing Director of Denmark added, “I’m delighted to join SVB to lead our presence in Denmark and the Nordics. There is a huge amount of activity taking place in this market with lots of inspiring businesses. We believe our increased presence will bring real value to local businesses here, particularly for those planning to grow quickly and internationally.”
Client reaction to SVB’s Nordic expansion news
Trustpilot: Hanno Damm, Chief Financial Officer at Copenhagen-based Trustpilot, said: “We're a global business with offices in seven cities in six countries globally, but our roots are Nordic, particularly in Denmark where we were founded and still headquartered. While digital technology is by definition global and not local, I certainly find there to be considerable differences in the tech cultures in Silicon Valley versus, say, the UK and the Nordics. Throughout our relationship, we've found Silicon Valley Bank has a great understanding of all three and we're pleased to see them now deepening their roots in the Nordic region with a presence in Denmark.”
Siteimprove: Martin Wagner, Chief Financial Officer at Siteimprove, said: “We are excited on behalf of the vibrant SaaS growth companies in Denmark and the Nordics to now have a truly growth- focused bank in the region to challenge the existing offerings. Siteimprove has partnered with SVB for two years and the SVB team has helped us maintain our growth and invest in profitable initiatives to the benefit of employees and shareholders.”
About Silicon Valley Bank
For more than 35 years, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) has helped innovative businesses and their investors move bold ideas forward, fast. SVB provides a range of financial services and targeted expertise to companies of all sizes in innovation centres around the world, including the UK. With commercial and international banking services, SVB helps address the unique needs of innovators. Learn more at svb.com/denmark
Silicon Valley Bank is not licensed in Denmark to undertake regulated banking business in Denmark.
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Sebastian Penn Bio
Sebastian Penn joined Silicon Valley Bank in October 2019 as the Managing Director for Silicon Valley Bank in Denmark. Before joining Silicon Valley Bank, Sebastian was Director for Strategy and Partnerships in the Danish Growth Fund, where he was responsible for business development, international business and strategic partnerships across the portfolio of investments. Before that, Sebastian was based in Silicon Valley, heading up the organisation DenmarkBridge, where he was building out the innovation efforts and investment platform for large Danish corporates with US-based startups and venture capital. Prior to this, Sebastian was with the World Bank in Washington DC, working on several multilateral investment vehicles along with the Ministry of Growth and Business Affairs in Copenhagen, responsible for new growth initiatives.
Contact:
Mat Gazeley – PR Manager, SVB UK & EMEA
+44 (0)7833446870
mgazeley@svb.com