The Nexit Ventures team has launched and developed several successful high-tech companies. In doing that - some of us for 20 years - we have picked up vast amounts of experience and expertise, and gotten to know some of the key players in the industry.
In other words, the Nexit team has been there. We understand the problems and have insight on the solutions. We provide you with the organizational and managerial resources you need to get started and grow your business.
Investment professionals
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| Michel Wendell |
Artturi Tarjanne |
Pekka Salonoja |
Michael Mandahl |
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| Patrice Peyret |
David Aslin |
Sami Karppinen |
Risto Yli-Tainio |
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Michel Wendell Michel Wendell has 20 years of broad experience in launching and managing international Infocom companies. By advising successful start-ups and billion-dollar market leaders in Finland, Sweden, France and the United States, Mr. Wendell has gained a thorough understanding of the changing dynamics of globalizing markets and rapidly developing technologies. His extensive network of contacts in Silicon Valley, where he resides, is a significant resource to Nexit's portfolio companies.
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Artturi Tarjanne Artturi Tarjanne has 20 years of entrepreneurial Infocom industry experience. Mr. Tarjanne is well known and referenced in Finland for his track record as one of the pioneering successful software entrepreneurs and organizers of industry interests at large. He is also a sought after mentor and advisor for Infocom entrepreneurs.
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Pekka Salonoja Pekka Salonoja is a highly respected Infocom professional, with a 20-year career in Nokia. Mr. Salonoja has held several key positions at Nokia, latest as Vice President and General Manager of Server Software Products at Nokia Mobile Phones, responsible for Nokia's messaging and mobile internet server business with 650+ R&D and product management staff in Europe, US and China.
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Michael Mandahl Michael Mandahl has more than 20 years of Infocom experience and a passion for early stage ventures. He has co-founded several successful companies. His first company Unusual Systems, a computer science think tank created in 1989, was bought by Guide (later Framfab); and his second start-up IQ Media, which pioneered the infotainment market in the Nordic area, was bought by BMG in 1996. Mr. Mandahl's latest entrepreneurial role was as CEO of Mobeon. Mobeon is the leader in IP based voice and video mail. Mobeon was acquired by Ericsson in 2007. In 2002, Mr. Mandahl joined Mobeon's lead investor Brainheart Capital as a Venture Partner. At Brainheart, he was responsible for the investments in Meru Networks and Radionet, and he made a buy out from Ericsson which was integrated into Mobeon. In 2005, Mr. Mandahl joined Nexit Ventures to establish the fund in Sweden. After studies in informatics and business administration at the University of Umeå, Mr. Mandahl spent three years with research and teaching in the field of artificial intelligence.
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Patrice Peyret Patrice Peyret has more than 20 years of global Infocom industry expertise. He is the former CEO of Nexit portfolio company Mobileway, now Mobile365, a global content distribution and m-commerce-enabling solutions provider for wireless devices. Mr. Peyret holds a Ph.D. from Ecole Centrale in Lyon, France.
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David Aslin David Aslin has more than 20 years of global Infocom executive and venture creation experience. His business building expertise was developed as General Manager at HP and in small European technology companies; since 2000 he has applied it in Silicon Valley as a venture capitalist, startup coach and entrepreneur. Alongside his work with Nexit, Mr. Aslin advises and creates new companies in wireless and clean energy applications. Previously, Mr. Aslin invested in Nexit portfolio company Bitfone while leading early stage investing for 3i Technology Partners, where he was a General Partner. Other wireless investments he led for 3i include Triage Wireless, Discera, Kineto Wireless and AOptix. While serving as head of business development for Richtec plc (now L-3 Communications) Mr. Aslin created a new equipment company, Ottercom, and became its first CEO; it was later acquired by EMS Technologies. Mr. Aslin’s career at HP progressed from sales engineer to UK General Manager and member of the European leadership team. He created and led a new pan-European business opportunity to $30m revenues in under two years. A frequent speaker on venture and technology topics, Mr. Aslin is a Charter Member at SVASE and EIR at the Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology at University of California, Berkeley. Mr. Aslin holds an M.S. from Imperial College, London; CBA from Warwick Business School and MSIB from INSEAD, France.
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Sami Karppinen Sami Karppinen has gained extensive international Infocom and finance-related experience working with industry leaders like Andersen Consulting, SAP and ABB. As a consultant he helped major telecom and financial companies streamline their operations and processes through large-scale IT installation projects.
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Risto Yli-Tainio Risto Yli-Tainio has nearly 15 years of experience in financial management in the Infocom industry. He has held several management positions in Finland and in Germany, gaining valuable experience in managing growth and internationalization. Prior to joining Nexit Ventures, he acted as the CFO of SmartTrust Ltd, a fast-growing subsidiary of Finnish-based Telco Sonera Corporation. |
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Liisa Rehula Executive Assistant Mobile +358 50 327 7710 Fax +358 9 6818 9117 liisa.rehula@nexitventures.com |
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Michele Werner Executive Assistant Mobile +1 408 221 0446 Tel. +1 408 725 8410 Fax +1 408 725 8405 michele.werner@nexitventures.com |
Advisory Board |
To further extend Nexit’s network and to have access to valuable insight and experience, Nexit has invited a few very senior individuals as Advisors to the partnership. Through these Advisors, Nexit is increasing its reach into the business and investment ecosystems as well as into key markets in Asia, namely Korea and Japan. Risto Siilasmaa, co-founder, Special Partner and Chairman of the Advisory Board Risto Siilasmaa is one of the most respected and successful high-tech entrepreneurs in Finland. As the founder and Chairman of F-Secure Oyj and its long term CEO from the company’s inception until October 2006, he led F-Secure’s successful initial public offering on the Helsinki Stock Exchange in November 1999. Since then, F-Secure has continued its growth, and is one of the most recognized companies in the field of internet and mobile network security. Nokia’s board governance and nomination committee has proposed appointing Risto Siilasmaa to the Nokia board. He is also the chairman of the board of directors of Elisa, the second largest telecom operator in Finland. In addition, Mr. Siilasmaa sits on a number of boards of both public and private companies as well as different public service and business community groups. Mr. Siilasmaa has been actively participating in Nexit Group’s strategy development, and he is also currently the Chairman of Nexit’s portfolio company Ekahau, Inc. Bo Hedfors Bo Hedfors, a native of Sweden, has 37 years of telecom experience in both wireline and wireless. He founded his own consulting practice, Hedfone Consulting, Inc., in 2002, through which he advises small private companies as well as industry leaders in the telecom and Mobile space. Previously, Mr. Hedfors was Executive Vice President of Motorola Inc. and President of its wireless infrastructure business based in Chicago. He came to Motorola Inc. in 1998 from Ericsson, where he spent 30 years in various management positions. This included being president of Honeywell Ericsson Development Co. in Anaheim, California 1984-1986, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of LM Ericsson in Stockholm, Sweden 1990-1993 and President and CEO of Ericsson, Inc. in Dallas, Texas 1994-1998. Mr. Hedfors is a board member public companies like Openwave Systems, Inc. and Tellabs, Inc. as well as in several private companies. He has served as an advisor to several industry leading companies like HP, Sun and Compaq and he is also actively involved in several industry bodies and business community groups. Hide Tanigami Hide Tanigami is Chairman and CEO of Marubun/Arrow USA, President and CEO of Marubun USA Corporation; and Co-founder and former Chairman of Catalyst Semiconductor, Inc. (NASDAQ CATS). Mr. Tanigami currently serves as a member of the board of directors of Marubun Corporation, Tokyo, Japan (NIKKEI ), Integrated Silicon Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ ISSI) and Integrated Circuit Solutions, Inc. (Taiwan Public Company). He is also an active board member in several privately held companies, including Ecrio Inc., a Nexit portfolio company. In addition, Mr. Tanigami frequently assists companies in conducting business between Japan and the US. CR Kang Mr. Kang is the founder and chairman of MODU Access Inc., a firm that offers a full service approach (marketing, sales, management) for technology companies in Korea as well as companies wanting to enter the Korean market. MODU Access uses the extensive experience and network of its staff to launch companies into commercial success. The firm and its principals also make select investments in their client companies. Prior to MO DU Access, Mr. Kang founded and built Mentor Korea Co., Ltd. During his 20-year Mentor career, he introduced electronic design tools and services to the Korean market. Mr. Kang has had personal relationships with executives in numerous of the large ICT companies in Korea during their path to become globally recognized companies. Mr. Kang is an active private investor and sits on several boards of private companies. Mika Salmi Mika Salmi is President for Global Digital Media for MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA ). He came to MTVN through its US$200 million acquisition of Atom Entertainment, Inc., where he was the founder and CEO . Atom was a leading destination on the web for entertaining content and casual games, through its multiple brands Atomfilms, Shockwave, Addictinggames and Addictingclips. The company’s websites attracted over 30 million unique visitors per month27 and it also had a growing presence on mobile platforms. Prior to founding Atom, Mr. Salmi held management positions in companies creating and distributing content, such as Getty Images, Inc., Sony Music and EMI , as well as technology companies involved in the entertainment ecosystem, such as RealNetworks Inc. Mr. Salmi is an active adviser to several private companies addressing the convergence industry. |
