Ilkka Kivimaki

Vice Chairman of the Board

2023 - Current

Board Member

2019 - 2023

Partner

2018

Venture capital funding from inception to Series A We're a deep tech and brand-driven VC investing in early stage companies from their inception to series A and beyond. We share in the vision of founders as champions and challengers, drawing on our experiences from scaling some of the strongest tech companies ourselves. We do venture capital investments with a global mandate and our portfolio companies includes category-leading startups in the Northern Europe and the US.

Member

2016

Research and Innovation Council works together with the Finnish Government in developing the national research and innovation policy. Council is chaired by the Prime Minister Mr Juha Sipilä and Vice Chairman is education and culture minister Mrs Sanni Grahn-Laasonen. Other members are Minister of Econimic affairs Mr Olli Rehn, Minister of Social Affairs and Health Mrs Hanna Mäntylä, Partner Ilkka Kivimäki, Professor Sirpa Jalkanen, Rector Liisa Laakso CTO Jyrki Ovaska and CEO Antti Vasara,

Chairman of the Advisory Board & Co-Founder

2016

Startup Sauna foundation was founded in fall 2012 together with fifty-seven serial entrepreneurs, investors and executives to support the tech ecosystem in Scandinavia. The foundation funds grassroots initiatives in the region, while it's the legal entity behind Startup Sauna and Slush. Startup Sauna is an early-stage accelerator program with a heavy focus on Northern Europe and Russia. In spring 2013, Startup Sauna was recognised as the leading young university accelerator in the world (i.e. accelerators less than five years in operation) by UBI Index. For more information, visit: http://startuplife.fi/ http://startupsauna.com/ http://slush.fi/

Chairman & Co-Founder

2012 - 2016

Startup Sauna foundation was founded in fall 2012 together with fifty-seven serial entrepreneurs, investors and executives to support the nascent tech ecosystem in Scandinavia. The foundation funds grassroots initiatives in the region, while it's the legal entity behind Startup Sauna and Slush. Startup Sauna itself is an early-stage accelerator program with a heavy focus on Northern Europe and Russia. It has graduated 110 companies to date, who've raised more than $35M in funding. In spring 2013, Startup Sauna was recognised as the leading young university accelerator in the world (i.e. accelerators less than five years in operation) by UBI Index. For more information, visit: http://startuplife.fi/ http://startupsauna.com/ http://slush.fi/

Chairman of the Nomination Committee

2019 - 2023

Boardmember

2018 - 2019

Chairman

2016 - 2018

Kasvuryhmä literally means Group for Growth. It’s a group of Finnish entrepreneurs, chairmen of boards and CEOs that want to grow and help each other to unleash the hidden potential of Finnish companies. Growth and constant renewal are in the essence of responsible ownership and entrepreneurship of the 21st century. Both are also necessary for Finland’s future. Kasvuryhmä’s vision is to make Finland home to the most agile and growth-oriented companies in the world. Kasvuryhmä is a private, non-profit-seeking association. It was founded by 30 entrepreneurs, owners and seasoned business leaders. Currently Kasvuryhmä consist of 200+ Owners/CEO's of the leading Finnish companies.

Vice Chairman

2013 - 2016

Kasvuryhmä literally means Group for Growth. It’s a group of Finnish entrepreneurs, chairmen of boards and CEOs that want to grow and help each other to unleash the hidden potential of Finnish companies. Growth and constant renewal are in the essence of responsible ownership and entrepreneurship of the 21st century. Both are also necessary for Finland’s future. Kasvuryhmä’s vision is to make Finland home to the most agile and growth-oriented companies in the world. Kasvuryhmä is a private, non-profit-seeking association. It was founded by 30 entrepreneurs, owners and seasoned business leaders. Currently Kasvuryhmä consist of 200+ Owners/CEO's of the leading Finnish companies.

Chairman of the Board, first investor

2015 - 2018

Umbra is on a mission to make it possible to display any 3D content in real time on any hardware. Umbra has been powering up graphics performance in more than 100 video games during the last 10 years. Clients include internationally renowned game studios that have produced commercially successful AAA productions such as Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, Batman Arkham Knight, Quantum Break, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and Destiny.

Chairman of the Board, first investor

2014 - 2018

Hungry? Wolt. Find the best meals in your city, then have them delivered to you, pick them up yourself or order straight to the table. 2,000+ restaurants in Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden.

Chairman

2012 - 2018

Slush is the focal point for startups and tech talent to meet with top-tier international investors, executives and media. In 2016, Slush brought together over 17.000 attendees and more than 3500 companies for the two-day event. More than 1100 investors came to Helsinki to meet startups in nearly 6.000 pre-booked meetings. Next Slush will take place in Helsinki on November 30th - December 1st, 2017. Slush is a non-profit event organized by a community of entrepreneurs, investors, students and music festival organizers. Although Slush has grown from a 300-person event to become one of the leading events of its kind in the world, the philosophy behind it has remained the same: to help the next generation of great, world-conquering companies forward. More info at http://slush.org

Chairman of the Board, first investor

2015 - 2017

Artificial intelligence for self-driving cars.

Partner

2014 - 2017

Inventure is a venture capital firm actively developing Nordic early stage technology companies. Inventure manages funds with over EUR 100 million in total capital base. Inventure is owned by the management team. Inventure has offices in Finland and in China.