City Council to decide Wednesday on Radicals’ tech incubator at 1,000 kroner per month

On Wednesday, Aarhus City Council will consider Radical Venstre’s proposal for a nonprofit tech-startup incubator in a vacant municipal property. The Mayor’s Department and the Municipal Executive department for Technical and Environmental Affairs recommend rejecting the proposal, because the municipality cannot lawfully make premises available free of charge or at reduced rent, while the proposal’s perspectives should be incorporated into work on a new business strategy.

What it means for you

If the byråd (city council) accepts the recommendation, there will be no municipal community with low or no rent for early tech startups. Entrepreneurs who, according to the proposal, lack a place between The Kitchen and INCUBA must instead wait for needs and options to be clarified in the upcoming business strategy. The association that was to run the community and operations in the proposal will not get municipal square metres on the terms Radical Venstre has outlined.

Background

Mahad Yussuf and Metin Lindved Aydin have submitted a proposal on behalf of Radical Venstre for Aarhus Municipality to establish a nonprofit tech-startup incubator in a vacant municipal property. The framework in the proposal is a community — cited as an example under the name TechCom Aarhus — with room for about 20–30 startups, a fee of about 1,000 kroner per month as an alternative to market rent, and operations placed with the association in cooperation with The Kitchen, INCUBA, educational institutions and business (Appendix — Appendix 1: Decision proposal RV 20.05.2026).

The City Council referred the case to the magistrat (municipal executive) for review on 3 June 2026. The recommendation of 21 September 2026 states that the municipality can let temporarily vacant premises to businesses on market terms, but that free or reduced rent for tech startups would amount to individual support for businesses and is therefore problematic under municipal authority rules and section 14(5) of the Business Promotion Act. According to the recommendation, it is not decisive whether the incubator is run by a nonprofit association.

Technical and Environmental Affairs has pointed to Tomsagervej 27 in Åbyhøj as the only suitable municipal property for the purpose. According to the administration, the building can only be used if it is leased as one combined tenancy to one primary tenant with the right to sublet, because no funds are allocated for maintenance and renewal. Maintenance, adaptation for an office community and vacancy risk would fall on the primary tenant. That model is not considered compatible with the target group’s finances. Without municipal funding for establishment, maintenance and vacancy, the administration assesses that the proposal is not feasible on market terms.

An initial mapping also points to existing offers with spare capacity. The recommendation mentions among others Partnerhuset, Agro Food Park, Lifestyle & Design Cluster, Companyon and INCUBA. For tech startups, Next Level Founder Hub, launched in April 2026, is highlighted as an environment for companies that have passed the idea and prototype phase and are moving towards first customers, investment and growth — also without ties to the university.

Figures and facts

• Radical Venstre proposes capacity for about 20–30 startups and a fee of about 1,000 kr. per month (Appendix — Appendix 1: Decision proposal RV 20.05.2026).
• Tomsagervej 27 in Åbyhøj is 418 m² in total, split between 241 m² ground floor and 177 m² basement (Appendix — Recommendation).
• Market rent is calculated at 600 kr. per m² for the ground floor and 300 kr. per m² for the basement, totalling 197,700 kr. per year excluding utilities (Appendix — Recommendation).
• The building can be leased for a minimum of 2 years; a building permit must be sought if office workstations are to be fitted out (Appendix — Appendix 2: Technical and Environmental Affairs’ contribution to city council recommendation on establishing a tech-startup community).
• Each cohort of entrepreneurs traditionally contributes about 1,800–2,000 new jobs in Aarhus, according to the recommendation; the tech sector accounted for about 14 percent of employment in Aarhus versus 9 percent nationally, while 84 newly established IT companies in 2023 was the lowest level since 2010 (Appendix — Recommendation).

Who said what

In the city council debate on 3 June 2026, the borgmester (mayor) noted that a new business strategy is under way, and that INCUBA at Katrinebjerg has a founder hub that, in his view, resembles the target group the proposal refers to. He also said that INCUBA has sold off activities in Navitas, so there will be fewer square metres in central Aarhus for some entrepreneurs, and proposed Municipal Executive review.

Metin Lindved Aydin (RV) maintained that the gap lies between the idea phase and the environments where startups can pay to join: «But we lack a place for the entrepreneurs who are somewhere between the idea phase and the point where they can pay their way into the more established environments.» (translated from Danish) (Appendix — City council debate 03.06.2026) He called the proposal a temporary framework where an association takes a raw building and handles operations itself, and referred to the budget agreement group already having decided that the municipality must get better at lending or leasing premises to associations and communities.

Mette Bjerre (SF) supported strengthening startups but was not sure the gap Radical Venstre describes exists. She pointed to Level 2 in Partnerhuset for graduates and asked whether support should instead be directed at practically oriented sectors or women, whom she described as underrepresented in startup environments.

Martin Christensen (V) called the proposal sympathetic but wanted clarity on whether there is documented need, what operating and maintenance costs are, and how overlap with existing environments is avoided. He believed the economics belong in the budget process.

Sarah Jarsbo (EL) pointed to several strong innovation environments, including one in the new red university district, and supported a broader study and dialogue with more stakeholders before a new municipal scheme is established.

Peter Sporleder (KF) felt the proposal looked like a budget proposal and wanted need and economics examined in the Municipal Executive or the Economics and Business committee (committee). The mayor recommended the Municipal Executive, and the case was referred there.

The Municipal Executive recommended on 29 September 2026 that the City Council accept the recommendation of 21 September 2026. Rådmand (alderman) for the Municipal Executive department for Culture and Citizen Service, Jesper Kjeldsen, and rådmand for the Municipal Executive department for Health and Care, Metin Lindved Aydin, did not take part in consideration of the case.

That 1) The decision proposal is rejected on the grounds that it is not lawful for the municipality to establish a tech-startup incubator in a vacant municipal property with low or no rent.

(translated from Danish) (Appendix — Recommendation) Item 2 in the same recommendation is that the proposal’s perspectives are incorporated into the new business strategy with a view to clarifying the need and possibility for new innovation environments, possibly in cooperation with existing stakeholders.

What happens next

On Wednesday 7 October 2026, the Municipal Executive will present the recommendation to Aarhus City Council. According to the recommendation, the City Council cannot delegate this type of case. If the recommendation is accepted, the decision proposal is rejected, and the question of new innovation environments moves into work on the upcoming business strategy.

Sources

• Agenda — Response to proposal from RV on establishing a tech-startup incubator in Aarhus
• Appendix — Recommendation
• Appendix — Appendix 1: Decision proposal RV 20.05.2026
• Appendix — City council debate 03.06.2026
• Appendix — Appendix 2: Technical and Environmental Affairs’ contribution to city council recommendation on establishing a tech-startup community
• Aarhus Municipality meeting documents — meeting
• Aarhus Municipality

Other appendices

• Appendix — Appendix 3: Map and photo of Tomsagervej 27