Accessing labs is made as easy as clicking a button, thanks to Labster.

Nothing hurts a youngster’s prospects as wasting talent and potential. So many ideas fade away in the realms of the past due to not having access to the means to make them come to a realization.

Fortunately, the future is here and students can now explore aspects of science they never thought they could. This is all possible thanks to Labster, the world leader in simulation labs and science. This platform offers students access to experiencing realistic lab experiments encompassing all sorts of science segments.

Such a platform was launched thanks to the partnership of Michael Bodekær Jensen and Mads Tvillinggaard Bonde. The duo followed their passion from early life and due to a set of circumstances they made their vision possible.

To learn more about the incredible story following a duo’s restless spirit, continue reading below.

Knowledge Is Power

Michael Bodekaer Jensen was born and raised in Copenhagen, Denmark. He managed to get his initial software company business venture at the age of 14 due to being a self-taught developer. His education history is quite impressive as he got his first degree in Finance and Mathematics at the Copenhagen Business School in 2003.

In 2006, Michael also managed to obtain a Master’s degree in Finance and Strategic Management from the same university. A year later, in 2007, he became a Harvard graduate in Business Valuation, Mergers & Acquisitions. The year 2008 was also knowledge-abundant for him as he got a Northwestern University degree in the field of Management.

All of his hard work attaining as much knowledge as possible paved his way to being a co-founder and CEO of the platform that pushes the boundaries in today’s education – Labster.

However, Michael wasn’t going to see his dream turn into reality if it wasn’t for his co-founding buddy, Mads Tvillinggaard Bonde. Mads is the other side of the shiny penny called Labster, a co-CEO that complements Michael’s scientific endeavors. Back in 2009, when Mads was a science student at the Technical University of Denmark, the young man set out to become a Biotechnologist. However, driven by sheer will and thirst for knowledge, Mads became negatively overwhelmed by what the educational system offered to knowledge-hungry students like him.

When Mads faced the challenges in the Danish educational system, he became aware of the massive gap in the sphere of educational resources and facilities. It wasn't long before the creative juices in Mads started flowing, and he started to conceptualize the idea of Labster.

Mads continued to garner as much knowledge as possible, earning himself a Master’s degree in Biotechnology and Systems Biology from the Technical University of Denmark in 2012, and that’s not all. Knowledge-thirsty Mads also holds a degree from a Reimagine Education Program and was a Ph.D. researcher from Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability, Synthetic Biology, and Bioinformatics.

From Getting Online to Getting in a Lab

These two knowledge-empowered fellas wanted to improve the educational system and enable students, present and future, to get valuable insight into actual scientific equipment, virtually.

While looking for the right technology, Michael and Mads got inspired by the already existing flight simulators that were used by pilots to learn how to handle flying an aircraft. Thus the Labster virtual lab was born.

Labster visualizes many fields of science including biochemistry, genetics, biotechnology, physics, biology, and chemistry among others.

Thanks to this platform, students are now able to manipulate experiments on a molecular level. What’s more, they are in a 100% safe environment where the chances of getting hurt are dropped to zero.

Another great thing about this STEM curriculum-aligned virtual laboratory is that expenses are also drastically dropped as it’s not needed for materials to be supplied again and again.

Make it Rain

Being backed up by the number of investors was a crucial moment for the virtual 3D world and laboratories. Fortunately, Michael and Mads’ idea was appealing enough to gather a great number of funds from various investors.

The first round of funding came on April 26, 2016, by Innovation Fund Denmark. This investor group provided Labster with $3.7M as an initial investment. Later on, on September 6, 2017, Labster announced a $10M investment by the UK’s venture capital firm Balderton. A total of 8 investors from the venture capital fund Owl Ventures gave Labster $21M on April 25, 2019.

Mads and Michael’s start-up wasn’t done with receiving funds as they got another $9M from GGV Capital on August 13, 2020.

However, the biggest investment for Labster as of yet was given by the stage-agnostic venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz on Feb 10, 2021. This capital firm invested a total of €49.4M in Labster, making it the lead investor.

The funds were more than needed to improve their 3D technology and spread their establishments across the world. This way Labster gave better opportunities to more than 3 million students.

Team Work Makes the Dream Work

As Michael says, putting a couple of teams to work side by side is one of the biggest struggles he has experienced. He says it’s not always about working hard in achieving goals and milestones as it is about putting together like-minded people.

The knowledge the members of the team possess is not enough to create an easy-going and smooth working environment. What glues things together is the social skills those people have.

Mads and Michael believed that finding just the right amount of social aptitude and brainpower will result in remarkable achievements. Achieving such a nearly utopian scenario proved to be a far-fetched idea, but it wasn’t impossible, though.

The group that got together to entice students to learn more in a fun and modern way consists of over 200 members. However, the five of the main profiles include the Executive Chairman and founder - Mads Tvillinggaard Bonde, Michael Bodekaer who is also a founder and CEO, then Mikkel Marius Winther acting as the Head of Marketing, , Jesper Lindhardt, the COO, and lastly, Ainara Lopez Cordoba the Senior Product Manager.

Even though Michael and Mads managed to amass some serious brainpower for Labster, still, the company had to withstand the competition coming from rivaling companies like Immerse, GoReact, and ThinkUp!, among a few others.

With the mutualism of these people, along with the help of every other employee was able to create establishments in five locations. These include the primary one in Copenhagen, DK, then in Gianyar, Bali, Somerville, MA in the US, another one in Valencia, ES, and in Zurich, CH.

Nonetheless, all of this wouldn’t have been possible without the funds to help the founders create what their educational days lacked – the means to upgrade their knowledge.

Once the word was spread, Labster’s account spread as well due to the many firms and companies wanting to become a part of such a comprehensive schooling plan.

What’s to Come?

The future for Labster seems more bright than ever, thanks to society's realization of what Labster has to offer for the betterment of science.

With the rapid technological enhancement and investors looking for such great companies with clear and result-yielding goals, Labster is on its way to becoming even more than what it represents now.

Labster will not only be part of universities and high schools but eventually, all kinds of educational establishments as well since the educational system has grasped the potential Labster has for becoming an integral part of studying science.

The company plans to invest more in bettering the graphics and enriching the studying experience with more options. It won’t be long before the theory pages, simulations, and quiz questions become extended with more content, making studying science a real-life-like experience for students.