Erik Krarup

Erik Krarup is a Danish business-development executive who led the publicly financed enterprise-support organization Væksthus Midtjylland — which evolved into Erhvervshus Midtjylland — as its director ("direktør") from 2007 until he was dismissed in May 2024. He holds a cand.merc. (Master of Commerce/Economics & Business Administration) from Aalborg University, completed in 1988. Throughout his tenure he was the public face and primary contact person for the organization (listed against the main line +45 70 22 00 76).

Erhvervshus Midtjylland is not a traditional angel fund; it is a municipally financed body that advises more than 5,000 companies a year and operates a portfolio of regional and nationwide programs aimed at entrepreneurs and SMEs in Central Denmark. Under Krarup's leadership the organization built out its capacity, establishing a dedicated development department and an economics department to manage its 8 regional and 3 nationwide programs (several with EU co-financing). Krarup's association with "angel investing" and "seed" funding stems from this role: he championed initiatives that connect early-stage companies with private capital rather than investing his own money.

A signature example was the "STARTmidt Accelerator" program (2011–2013), backed by the Growth Forum for the Central Denmark Region, which offered financing support, mentoring, capital coaches, growth groups and access to business-angel networks (via the INVESTORmidt.dk portal) to more than 1,500 young Central Jutland companies. He also led a multi-party collaboration to establish business-angel networks across the region (see below).

Krarup's long tenure ended controversially. In May 2024, after TV Midtvest reported that 21 current and former employees had written to the board criticizing top management for a poor psychological work environment — with allegations of shouting, scolding and demeaning remarks — the board dismissed him. He was reported to be entitled to a severance package totaling about DKK 3,102,800 plus any 2024 bonus. Mette Højborg stepped in as interim director.

• Operated as a capital-broker / ecosystem builder, not a personal angel: the mission was to help young growth companies in Central Denmark access private risk capital and business-angel expertise.
• Backed seed and early-stage growth companies through brokered networks; the regional business-angel network program targeted funding roughly 35 companies per year.
• Sector-agnostic, focused on regional economic development and entrepreneurship across Region Midtjylland.
• In his own words on the angel-network collaboration: *"We are convinced that cooperation with Keystones, NUPARK Innovation, Symbion and Partnerkapital will provide additional opportunities to nurture and develop both existing and new networks among the region's business angels."*
• Value-add emphasis on mentoring, capital coaching, growth groups and matchmaking between entrepreneurs and angels — capital plus business-development know-how, not just money.