WE CO-CREATE COMPANIES IN HEALTH, WEB, GAMES AND TECH.

In tough times, we would like the entrepreneurs to reach out to us first.

Latest Strong News

  • Petteri Koponen
    @hoopeekoo

    RT @aiven_io: We are excited to announce our first supported region in Africa, @Azure South Africa, marking the 81st on the @aiven_io platf…

  • Timo Ahopelto
    @timomj

    The central bank in Japan is a top 10 owner in 50% of the publicly listed Japanese companies. Central banks are rea… https://t.co/QctbREFSXN

  • Timo Ahopelto
    @timomj

    Great season for the Finns in @NHL. A factoid: ~ 5% of all NHL players are from Finland. https://t.co/mBn0Ds6e1f

Investments

  • Oskari Saarenmaa (CEO), Heikki Nousiainen, Mika Eloranta, Hannu Valtonen
    Visit website

  • Mika Kanninen (CEO), Lauri Pulkkinen, Jari Koskinen, Kimmo Valo
    Visit website

  • Matias Tainela (CEO), Bo Malmberg, Petro Moilanen, Timo Rauhala, Edward Haeggström
    Visit website

  • Mikko Ikola (CEO), Simo Suoheimo, Arno Paula
    Visit website

  • Jalmari Raippalinna, Jussi Laakkonen (CEO), Matti Savolainen, Pekka Aakko
    Visit website

    Acquired by Unity

  • Kim Forsman (CEO), Perttu Jalkanen, Hannu Krosing
    Visit website

  • Ari Tulla (CEO) Tapio Tolvanen
    Visit website

    Acquired by Quest Analytics

  • Fredrik Schauman (CEO)
    Visit website

  • Rudi Skogman (CEO), Juha Jokela, Samu Hautala, Olli Gunst
    Visit website

  • Mika Raento, Pekka Uronen, Teemu Kurppa (CEO)
    Visit website

  • Joerg Ott, Marcin Nagy, Varun Singh (CEO)
    Visit website

  • Anselm Levskaya, Austen Heinz (CEO), George Church, John Mulligan, Lukman Winoto, Reese Jones, Sagar Indurkhya
    Visit website

  • Pia Henrietta Kekäläinen (CEO), Christopher Carstens
    Visit website

  • Heather Anne Halpert, Linda Avey (CEO), Mitsuharu Hadeishi
    Visit website

  • Harri Valpola (CEO), Antti Rasmus, Timo Haanpää, Mathias Berglund, Tapani Raiko
    Visit website

  • Kai Karttunen (CEO), Marusa Filic
    Visit website

  • Heikki Länsisyrjä (CEO), Jukka Virkkunen, Mika Vainio-Mattila
    Visit website

  • Antti Sunnari (CEO), Juuso Olkkonen, Jyrki Saarinen
    Visit website

  • Jyri Engeström (CEO), Ulf Schwekendiek
    Visit website

    Acquired by Groupon

  • Sakke Järvenpää
    Visit website

  • Ari Ketola (CEO), Veikko Latvala
    Visit website

  • Fredrik Kekäläinen (CEO), Johan Engström
    Visit website

  • Aki Järvilehto (CEO), Markus Tuppurainen, Mika Tammenkoski
    Visit website

    Exited to Supercell

  • Nick Heller (CEO), Andreas Signer
    Visit website

  • Jari Annala (CEO), Matti Toivonen, Tyko Niemi
    Visit website

  • Celine Pasula, Harri Granholm, Harri Hätinen, Jarno Wuolijoki, Markus Pasula (CEO), Mikko Lindstedt, Mikko Wilkman, Roope Kangas
    Visit website

  • Andreas Karlsson, Mikko Hämäläinen, Teemu Tuulari, Ville Vesterinen (CEO)
    Visit website

  • Hannu Lepomäki, Jorma Eloranta, Esko Aho, Eera Industrial Development
    Visit website

  • Hannu Rajaniemi (CEO), Nikolai Eroshenko, Carina Namih
    Visit website

  • Pekka Laurila, Rafal Modrzewski (CEO)
    Visit website

  • Janne Haverinen (CEO)
    Visit website

  • HJ Jost (CEO), Aleksei Shcherbinin, Mikko Sipilä
    Visit website

  • Miska Kaipiainen (CEO), Jari Kolehmainen, Lauri Nevala
    Visit website

  • Alice Taylor (CEO), Joanna Roach, Luke Petre, Sulka Haro
    Visit website

  • Tommi Pisto (CEO), Mika Hämäläinen
    Visit website

  • Aleksi Soini (CEO), Janne Koskinen
    Visit website

  • Olli Kallioniemi, Sami Kilpinen, Tommi Pisto (CEO)
    Visit website

  • Jukka Planman, Kristian Ranta (CEO), Tuomas Planman
    Visit website

  • Kristian Ranta (CEO), Albert Nazander, Riku Lindholm
    Visit website

  • Antti Laitinen, Ilona Lindholm, Juha Leinonen, Olli Sinerma, Ville Kivistö (CEO)
    Visit website

  • Toni Soini (CEO), Lauri Koskinen, Jani Mäkipää
    Visit website

  • Matthew Wiggins (CEO), Alan Harding
    Visit website

  • Aapo Kyrölä, Aleksi Aaltonen, Sampo Karjalainen (CEO)
    Visit website

    Acquired by Facebook

  • Kristian Ahlers (CEO)
    Visit website

  • Ville Mujunen (CEO), Jari Jaanto, Antti Laakso, Heini Björk
    Visit website

  • Henric Suuronen, Henrik Karlström, Juha Paananen (CEO), Teemu Ikonen
    Visit website

    Acquired by King.com

  • Jarkko Väinämö, Tuomas Riski (CEO)
    Visit website

  • Teemu Päivinen (CEO), Kane Waltman
    Visit website

  • Akseli Hemminki, Pekka Simula, Franz Wuite (CEO)
    Visit website

    Acquired by Targovax

  • Jaakko Suoknuuti, Janita Leinonen, Noora Keskievari (CEO
    Visit website

  • Ami Rubinstein (CEO), Levon Gasparyan
    Visit website

  • Kari Kivelä, Petteri Lahtela (CEO)
    Visit website

  • Gerald Goldstein, Itamar Lesuisse (CEO), Sagi Shorrer, Xavier Louis
    Visit website

    Acquired by Hachette Livre

  • Rami Korhonen (CEO), Timo Kari
    Visit website

  • Sebastian Nemeth (CEO), Katharina Schilli, Otto Markkanen
    Visit website

  • Ted Roberts (CEO), Sven Schulte
    Visit website

  • Nikolaj Nyholm (CEO), Jakob Lund Kristensen
    Visit website

  • Mika Kasanen (CEO), Atte Kekkonen, Kari Kasanen
    Visit website

  • Istvan Csanady (CEO)
    Visit website

  • Antti Virolainen, Juho Makkonen (CEO)
    Visit website

  • Kristo Ovaska (CEO), Tuomo Riekki
    Visit website

  • Sami Kuusela, Toni Laturi (CEO)
    Visit website

  • Pasi Vainikka (CEO), Juha-Pekka Pitkänen
    Visit website

  • Jani Virtanen, Tuomas Neuvonen (CEO)
    Visit website

  • Ilkka Rämö, Jutta Haaramo (CEO)
    Visit website

  • Joshua Zloof (CEO), Kalle Freese
    Visit website

  • Suvi Haimi (CEO), Laura Kyllönen
    Visit website

  • Ilkka Paananen (CEO), Lassi Leppinen, Mikko Kodisoja, Niko Derome, Petri Styrman, Visa Forsten
    Visit website

    Exited to SoftBank

  • Sami Marttinen (CEO), Jiri Heinonen
    Visit website

  • Antti Ritvanen, Harri Hallila (CEO), Juha Haaja
    Visit website

  • Ulla Engeström (CEO)
    Visit website

  • Akseli Hemminki (CEO)
    Visit website

  • Mari Tenhunen (CEO), Lauri Kurki, Jyrki Savela
    Visit website

  • Kai Bäckman (CEO), Mikko Mononen
    Visit website

    Acquired by Autodesk

  • Anna Ronkainen, Heikki Vesalainen, Matti Kokkola, Mikael Kolehmainen (CEO)
    Visit website

  • Pyry Takala (CEO), Abhishek Aggarwal
    Visit website

  • Jessica Richman (CEO), Zachary Apte
    Visit website

  • Otso Mäkinen (CEO)
    Visit website

  • Heikki Aura, Veli-Pekka Marin (CEO)
    Visit website

  • Antti Aunio, Juuso Nissilä, Aki Backman (CEO)
    Visit website

  • Urho Konttori (CEO), Klaus Melakari, Roope Rainisto, Niko Eiden
    Visit website

  • Markus Melander, Petri Hienonen, Mikko Haavisto, Kimmo Rauma, Mika Leivo
    Visit website

    Acquired by Vaisala

  • Antti Jäderholm, Jaakko Manninen, Kaarlo Kananen (CEO), Wendell Davis
    Visit website

  • Elias Pietilä, Juhani Mykkänen, Lauri Andler, Mika Matikainen, Miki Kuusi (CEO), Oskari Pétas
    Visit website

  • Harri Valpola, Jufo Peltomaa, Timo Taalas (CEO), Tuomas Lukka
    Visit website

  • Antti Uusiheimala, Harri Hursti
    Visit website

Startup Life

Supercell deal team in Tokyo

Ville posing with virtual Ben

Ilkka and Timur relaxing in SF

Some nice R&R in Italy

Jorma and Timo at Slush 2014

Fredrik Kekäläinen, entrepreneur

John, Jussi and David after a handshake deal

Brainstorming at Lifeline's

Nikolaj knows how to do conf calls

John having a island dinner with gaming entrepreneurs

Guillaume pitches hard, but Anil stays cool

Markus, Celine and Mikko at sea

Kristian interviews Ilkka and the creators of Game of Thrones in Barcelona

A chef explains Noma's philosophy

Our co-investors David and Ken during Supercell's board meeting

Mark, Jussi and SF flower power

Mikael Kolehmainen, entrepreneur

Show more

Team

Founding story:  We are entrepreneurs who became investors almost by accident. We made a few angel investments together and, over time, realised that the Nordic market badly needed early-stage investors with entrepreneurial backgrounds. We also noticed that working with entrepreneurs is tremendously fun. In addition, we seemed to be able to help many of them realise their vision. We therefore became full-time investors and have never looked back.

What we do:  We invest in early-stage companies that we are passionate about and that we believe we can help, often based on our experience as founders and CxOs of various companies.

  • Timo Ahopelto
    Founding Partner

    Timo has worked in several industries, ranging from biotech to apps, digital media and process technology. He earned his entrepreneur MBA from CRF Health, a software and services company that he co-founded, developed into a global market leader and successfully exited in 2015. Timo’s free time flies with family, ice hockey, iron and in Lapland skiing-hikes.

    LinkedIn profile

  • Kai Backman
    Partner

    Kai is a builder of all things, but mostly things of software. He has worked on massive distributed systems at Google and founded Tinkercad and Airstone to create cutting edge products for emerging market segments. A tinkerer at heart he is particularly interested in advanced manufacturing and robotics. When needing a break he spends time with his family renovating a 19th century farmhouse using traditional craftsmanship.

  • Petteri Koponen
    Founding Partner

    Petteri has founded five companies, including Jaiku and First Hop. In addition to the various startup CxO roles and board memberships, he has been the chairman of Supercell, Grand Cru and Everywear Games. Petteri has experienced public companies as a board member of Elisa, Finland’s largest telco, in addition to working for Google in Mountain View and London after its acquisition of Jaiku. In his free time, Petteri hangs out with his family, pumps iron, plays games, writes (toy) code, and enjoys books and movies.

    LinkedIn profile

  • Samuli Leppänen
    Partner & CFO

    Before joining Lifeline Ventures, Samuli worked in various finance roles in corporate treasuries, investment banking and startups/SMEs. He holds a Master’s degree in Finance from Aalto University School of Business. Samuli enjoys spending his free time with family and friends, sports, movies and learning new stuff. Joined Lifeline in May 2016.

    LinkedIn profile

  • Juha Lindfors
    Partner

    Juha joined Lifeline in January 2016, and has been investing together with Petteri and Timo since 2010. Juha has been an active early-stage investor and he has long experience from the growth-focused private ownership model, working with the best private equity firms in the region. He was previously a partner with EQT, a leading private equity firm. Juha likes to spend his free time doing things with his family; he’s also a keen reader and an occasional runner.

  • Ilkka Paananen
    Advisor

    Ilkka, the CEO of Lifeline’s previous portfolio company Supercell, is a games entrepreneur with 10+ years of experience in growing organizations from the founding team to a size of few hundreds. Before Supercell, Ilkka was a President at Digital Chocolate, running its Studios in Helsinki, Barcelona and Silicon Valley. In his free time, Ilkka enjoys time with his family and tries to find time for sports, music and books.

    LinkedIn profile

Latest News

Follow us at Twitter: @hoopeekoo, @ipaananen and @timomj

  • RT @aiven_io: We are excited to announce our first supported region in Africa, @Azure South Africa, marking the 81st on the @aiven_io platf…

    Petteri Koponen
    @hoopeekoo

  • The central bank in Japan is a top 10 owner in 50% of the publicly listed Japanese companies. Central banks are rea… https://t.co/QctbREFSXN

    Timo Ahopelto
    @timomj

  • Great season for the Finns in @NHL. A factoid: ~ 5% of all NHL players are from Finland. https://t.co/mBn0Ds6e1f

    Timo Ahopelto
    @timomj

  • RT @varjodotcom: "High resolution is just the first trick up Varjo’s sleeve. Its proprietary eye-tracking technology adds another string to…

    Petteri Koponen
    @hoopeekoo

  • RT @mesaatio: Suomalaisen tasa-arvoajattelun ydin: annetaan kaikille samat eväät elämään. Mutta sille emme voi mitään, että toisten lasten…

    Ilkka Paananen
    @ipaananen

  • RT @IraIMG: Kolumni: Ihminen on oman onnensa keskushyökkääjä, mutta kaikkien lapsuudessa ei lapaan tule riittävästi syöttöjä – tämä asia uu…

    Ilkka Paananen
    @ipaananen

  • RT @hsfi: Jussi Halla-ahon blogikirjoituksista ja ”ihmiskäsityksestä” tuli hidaste perussuomalaisten hallitustielle – Näin Halla-aho kirjoi…

    Ilkka Paananen
    @ipaananen

  • RT @drussilahg: What was only 3D models of @HiveHelsinki‘s interior is starting to become a reality. Pictures of the summer block. Design b…

    Ilkka Paananen
    @ipaananen

  • RT @drussilahg: What was only 3D models of @HiveHelsinki‘s interior is starting to become a reality. Pictures of the winter block. Design b…

    Ilkka Paananen
    @ipaananen

  • RT @riittasarkela: Ensi-ja turvakotien liitto on tässä työssä mukana. Muutos on mahdollinen. Arki ensin @ensi_jaturvakodit https://t.co/Q6I

    Ilkka Paananen
    @ipaananen

  • RT @SaariJuho: @mesaation seminaari ylisukupolvisen huono-osaisuuden katkaisemisesta Helsingissä 25.4.2019, 1300-1500. Muun ohella minä san…

    Ilkka Paananen
    @ipaananen

  • RT @JariTaponen: Helsingin poliisin ennalta estävä toiminto tekee päivittäin töitä syrjäytymisvaarassa olevien nuorten parissa ⁦@mesaatio⁩…

    Ilkka Paananen
    @ipaananen

  • RT @mesaatio: Pitkittyneessä huono-osaisuudessa elää 10 000 lapsiperhettä. Näin ei Suomessa pitäisi olla. #arkiensin seminaarissa 25.4. klo…

    Ilkka Paananen
    @ipaananen

  • RT @HDLsaatio: Syrjäytymisen ja sukupolvelta toiselle siirtyvän huono-osaisuuden katkaiseminen on välttämätöntä. Myös me uskomme, että haas…

    Ilkka Paananen
    @ipaananen

  • RT @mesaatio: Upeaa saada tehdä yhteistyötä maan parhaiden ammattilaisten kanssa. Yhdessä voimme tehdä #arkiensin ohjelmasta #asuntoensin k…

    Ilkka Paananen
    @ipaananen

Show more

Contact Us

We would love to hear from you!

To get to touch with us, please send a short email to either Timo or Petteri at firstname (at) lifelineventures.com

Our lair:

Pursimiehenkatu 26 C (7th floor)
00150 Helsinki