Jouko Ahvenainen, Chairman
Jouko is an investor and entrepreneur across the US, Europe and Asia and is active at a senior level with many web and mobile enterprises. With more than 15 years experience in international business management and having been close to many VC deals in past, ranging from 150k USD to 15M USD, Jouko is passionate about the challenges in finding and supporting the next great venture. Jouko believes that 2.0 will significantly change all business, and finance cannot avoid that change. Now is the time to create new open models to accelerate early phase company funding.
Starting his first software company at the age of 16, Jouko then held progressively senior positions at diverse technology firms including Cap Gemini Ernst & Young, Powerwave Technologies Inc., Nokia, and Sonera. He is a pioneer in the field of social media marketing, and played a significant role in developing the first social marketing intelligence solutions for mobile and media companies. Jouko is on the boards of various start-up companies and is a co-founder or seed investor at six companies, including Replicon and Xtract. Jouko is a certified advisor for NasdaqOMX Stockholm and Helsinki early phase company lists.
Jouko regularly speaks at marketing, start-up funding, mobile and web 2.0 conferences including Mobile World Congress, CTIA, and Informa, IIR and others’ conferences around Europe, Asia, and the US. He is also a co-author of the Social Media Marketing book (Futuretext, London, Feb 2009).
Valto Loikanen, CEO
Valto Loikkanen is a serial entrepreneur who has started several companies across Europe and the US in the web and mobile fields. At the age 24, Valto started and grew his first company VTG Worldwide, selling custom mobile phone covers, from the ground up into an international business turning over 84 million FIM.
Forward thinking and always seeking the next big web and mobile success, as a serial entrepreneur and startup advisor, Valto got fed up with the lack of transparency and openness in the startup funding process. Web 2.0 companies often need only small amounts of money to grow, due to the cost-effective nature of their business models, and the investment market hasn’t historically been suited to raising small amounts of capital. Valto saw that with Web 2.0 taking hold, lack of transparency no longer works in helping the Internet’s shining stars find their grounding.
Wanting to battle these challenges, Valto founded Grow VC to apply the principles of web 2.0 to the area that has historically been shrouded in mystery – VC funding. He aims to bring a better, fairer environment for technology startups seeking funding.
Christoffer Langenskiöld, CXO
Chris is an expert in user experience bringing a solid background in usability, visual, and marketing planning and implementation. He has strong focus on the user-centred, goal-oriented concept design of websites, interactive demos, UIs and mobile applications.
Chris is responsible for all of Grow VC user experience and visuals and he understands the processes, methods, and tools necessary to understand people, and is be able to translate that understanding into successful points of contact with users, partners, and visitors.
Jussi Holm, CTO
Jussi is an information technology professional with extensive hands-on experience developing and implementing web services that require good usability and high design reliability.
Jussi is responsible for the development and maintenance of Grow VC application and implementing an in-house strategy for the future development of Grow VC software products.
Emily McDaid, Head of Communications
Emily has senior-level global communications and PR experience from the UK and the US, and started her own successful PR business in 2008, currently based in England.
Over the past decade Emily has led communications for hundreds of technology companies ranging from the very established (Virgin Media, HP, The MathWorks, S1) to the most innovative startups (Xtract, Huddle, Doodle) and IPO cases (Mobestar). Emily began her work in PR at the esteemed CSAIL at MIT and has a degree from Johns Hopkins University in the US.
Gal Smolar, Legal Counsel
Gal is an experienced transactional lawyer who brings extensive experience with funding deals and setting up funds around the world, currently based in Canada. Gal has International experience in acquisitions, dispositions, joint ventures and investment transactions.
Bringing excellent contract drafting and negotiation skills in areas such as general corporate matters, licensing, research and development, Gal also advises on transactions and other operational activities.
Aron Bohlig, Advisor
Aron Bohlig brings more than fifteen years of investment banking, equity research and operating experience working with startups and large global growth companies.
Aron's financial services experience includes tenures as a VP at Credit Suisse, as well as roles at Savvian and Investec where he focused on executing over fifty engaged financing and advisory transactions for clients as well as business origination with digital media, traditional media, telecommunications and software accounts.
Aron has completed approximately $2 billion USD in advisory transactions and $1 billion USD in financing transactions for growth companies. Aron is located in San Francisco.
Esther Barak Landes, Advisor
Esther Barak Landes brings more than 18 years of experience in business development, strategic management, raising venture capital, and executing investments in companies. She is a certified commercial and corporate attorney.
The firm she manages, Partam Hightech, is actively investing and managing the investments in high tech companies of different stages and with different focus areas. Landes was also a founding partner in Israel-Angels, a fund concentrated on building a community for angels in Israel and abroad. Esther is located in Israel.
Rahul Patwardhan, Advisor
Rahul Patwardhan has over 14 years of experience in venture capital investing, general management and technology product management. He has personally invested, mentored and advised several mid-sized and large corporations.
Rahul has extensive international experience, and expertise in manufacturing, engineering, financial services where technology plays a vital role in building businesses. At IndiaCo Rahul is responsible for managing all investment and operational aspects under IndiaCo controlled/managed companies, establishing partnerships with corporations for technology collaboration, venture capital funds, providing strategic business guidance to group companies of IndiaCo and other companies under IndiaCo’s constellation.
At IndiaCo Rahul has made over 25 investments over last 8 years with ROI of over 100%, made investments in a number of private companies that he took to public (Bombay Stock Exchange and NSDC), and made over 30 investments over 5 years with ROI of over 250%. Rahul is a former member of the Advisory Committee for the Department of Science and Technology (STEP) and Chairman of the Incubation Committee of the NIF (National Innovation Foundation) of India. Rahul has been awarded by the Indian Economic Development Association (IEDRA) for "Outstanding Contributions to National Development"
Voytek Siewierski, Advisor
Voytek is an Investment Partner at Mitsui & Co.Venture Partners, Inc., Silicon Valley Office. He is currently managing 12 portfolio companies for MCVP and has closed six deals during his 3 years tenure at MCVP. Before joining MCVP team Voytek was an Executive Director at NTT DoCoMo including 6 years in Japan and 3 years in the UK. After participating in the carrier’s IPO at Tokyo Stock Exchange he coordinated DoCoMo’s international technology partnerships including the partnership with Sun Microsystems that brought Java to mobile phones. Developed a number of successful value added mobile services with partners such as Walt Disney Corporation, Warner Brothers, CNN and others.
Voytek executed a number of international equity investments in cellular carriers in Europe and Asia and initiated a number of technology licensing projects between DoCoMo and mobile operators such as KPN Mobile in Holland, Telefonica in Spain, Boygues Telecom in France and KG Telecom in Taiwan. Between 2004 and 2006 he was in charge of all new business in Europe. His previous experience includes consulting and technology research in the United States and Europe. A visiting lecturer at the University of Oxford and judge in several technology awards programs, including Tech Pioneers of the World Economic Forum in Davos and Mobile Innovation Awards of the GSM Association. Holds M.A.L.D from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy (Tufts University/Harvard). Graduate courses in IT and International Marketing at the Harvard Business School.