Jens Martin Skibsted

Skibsted at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting of the New Champions in 2012

Jens Martin Skibsted (born 28 June 1970) is a Danish designer, brands expert and entrepreneur. He has founded or co-founded companies such as the Biomega designer bike brand, Actics, and Skibsted Ideation and KiBiSi.

He has won several international awards and is currently a member of the Forum of Young Global Leaders for the period 2009–2014.

Early life and education

Jens Martin Skibsted was born in Sønderborg, Denmark. Shortly after his birth his father was killed in a car crash.^[1] He mainly grew up in Francophone countries. After spending a year in Paris, he founded the Av-Art art association in Copenhagen. It was a combined art gallery, record label and venue for experimental music and poetry readings.^[2]

He then returned to Paris to study at the École supérieure d'études cinématographiques film school, graduating in 1994. After that he went back to Copenhagen to study philosophy at the University of Copenhagen, finishing his bachelor's degree in 1998. After that he took a degree in Business Management from University of California, Berkeley in 2000.^[3]

Biomega

In 1998 Skibsted co-counded Biomega with former university classmate Elias Grove Nielsen. Marc Newson, Ross Lovegrove and Karim Rashid are among the designers who have collaborated with the company.^[4]

Other design activities

Apart from his work in bike design, Skibsted has also worked with other industrial designs. In 2009 he co-founded the KiBiSi design studio with Kilo Design (Lars Holme Larsen) and BIG/Bjarke Ingels.^[5]

Awards and recognition

• His Puma bicycle is in the MoMA and the SFMoMA collection.
• Included on the 2006 I.D. Forty list^[6]
• 2009 Young Global Leader, World Economic Forum

Bibliography

• Kavesom. Attika 2003. ISBN 978-87-7528-530-3^[7]
• Instant icon. Gyldendal Business 2008. ISBN 978-87-02-07134-4

References

1. "About". skibsted.net. Retrieved 2010-04-16.
2. "av-art". skibsted.net. Retrieved 2010-04-16.
3. "Blød innovation bag succes for dansk designercykel (in Danish)". Ingeniøren. Retrieved 2010-04-16.
4. "Superformer". Wired. Retrieved 2010-04-16.
5. "KiBiSi by Kilo Design, BIG and Skibsted Ideation". Dezeen. Retrieved 2010-04-16.
6. "The I.D. Forty". I. D. Magazine. Retrieved 2010-04-16.
7. "Kavesom". Gyldendals Internetboghandel. Retrieved 2010-01-04.

External links

• Biomega official site