Featured Founders

Aki Soudunsaari
Co-Founder & Strategy

Aki lives and breathes entrepreneurship, health, and sustainability. His personal mission is to improve peoples’ and the planet’s health, happiness, and performance. He is a serial founder with +12 years of experience in building ventures on three continents. He specializes in growth venturing strategy, leadership, human behavior, and company culture. 

Originally a sports and health science teacher and a head of school, he spent 4 years in academia teaching and researching in five different faculties. He holds 2xMSc and is also a PhD Candidate in Venture creation.He is a startup scientist and writes regularly, for  Forbes US about health, entrepreneurship, learning, science, leadership, and technology.

Naava is a Nordic indoor nature technology company founded in 2012 and the global market leader in living green walls and biological indoor air purification.  Naava is recognized as one of Europe’s fastest-growing and hottest companies by Financial Times, Inc, and WIRED.

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Harri Ketamo Ph.D.
Founder & Chairman, Headai

Harri Ketamo, Ph.D., is an entrepreneur with 20 years of experience in cognitive sciences, artificial intelligence and game development. Currently he is the founder & chairman of Headai, the cognitive computing infrastructure powering sustainable economic growth. He's also actively participating in academic research as a senior fellow at University of Turku.


Headai colors the world of data. We bring contextual metadata, cognitive text analytics and terabytes of foresight information available for companies, organizations, cities and regions. Our focus areas are human capital, sustainability, health and investments.

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Miia Khan
CEO, Founder, Eventual

Before starting her career as a startup founder, Miia built a successful career in marketing communications, PR and leadership, working with some of the most renowned worldwide brands as a director and partner at Miltton, a leading strategic consultancy in the Nordics. She is passionate about people and how we consume, and find value in media and culture, now and in the future. Miia believes that all companies built today should have a strong purpose. Eventual is built on strong values and has a purpose of bringing people together. As a CEO of Eventual, she believes that entertainment can connect people like no other sector in today's society while helping overcome issues like mental health or generating more jobs. When paying for entertainment, we support sustainable values while we create work.


Eventual is a disruptive events platform that empowers the entire entertainment industry to create a more democratic and diverse events sphere – together – bringing creativity, innovation and connection to the frontline. Less than 1 percent of the talent worldwide makes it to the stage, even fewer to your city. Eventual flips the way events are organised today by empowering people. Eventual values are democracy, freedom and diversity.

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Rick Aller
CEO & Co-Founder, 720°

Rick has a background in organizational theory, sales and as an entrepreneur for more than a decade. He is the CEO and co-founder of 720°.


720° is the market leader in applying artificial intelligence to indoor environmental quality monitoring and analytics. Their passion is to improve people’s lives and allow organizations and building owners to offer the best indoor environments achievable. People at 720° believe that health and satisfaction at work are everyone’s prerogative. 

In 2021 720° was exited to the Swegon Group, market leader in energy efficient ventilation and indoor climate systems.

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Samuli Salonen
CEO & Co-Founder, TalentBee

Samuli has a background in sales & marketing. He has worked in a growth marketing agency, Advance B2B, as Head of Sales and has a background working as a change consultant at Trainers’ House. He’s on a mission to make buying recruitment services easier with open pricing & packaging. He also wants to change the recruitment services field by bringing new frameworks from sales & marketing to recruitment & employer branding.


TalentBee is a Talent Acquisition agency working with fast-growing SaaS companies like Swarmia, Fiksuruoka & ONEiO. TalentBee was officially launched in August of 2022. 

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Taru Saxelin
CEO, Co-Founder, Tumplate

Taru is a creative content marketing innovator with experience in design and multi-channel communications. She has worked as an art director at Otavamedia and Hube Helsinki, and has always highlighted the importance of design and branding in communications. She also worked in content marketing for companies like Alma Media and MCI Press. Taru has an undying passion for animation, and she shows anyone can create animated content with Tumplate. 

Fun fact: Taru has represented Finland in the national roller derby team. She is one of the top roller derby players in the world and has coached national teams around the world.


Tumplate is a marketing technology company founded in 2019 with offices in Helsinki and Los Angeles. Tumplate is an easy-to-use online content editing platform. With a click of a button, marketing content - even animated videos - are ready to be published in various sizes for all digital channels. Tumplate’s customers include Posti, Kiinteistömaailma, and Kalevala Jewelry.

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Joey Bayer
Moderator- Head of Community, Epicenter Helsinki

Joey Bayer has been responsible for creating conversations that matter for more than 16 years.

From creating the space, to connecting key players, to driving / setting the agenda, Joey brings together individuals for moments that both transform and inspire.

Over the course of his career, Joey has hosted the world's most fascinating and influential people - from world leaders, like Bill Clinton, to iconic legends like Liza Minelli, to the CEOs of today's Fortune 500 companies.

Joey's intuitive ability to connect with others, his passion for people and dialogue, and ability to get directly to the heart of the discussion have earned him a reputation of trust and respect with leaders around the world, and made him a central figure in today's most important conversations.

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