Viktor Repo, a B2B sales and market research professional, has joined our Coventures community. He has worked both in the startup world and in innovative growth companies. With experience in market research and business development, he can use his skills to help our entrepreneurs and to support projects where our clients need help with sales and related processes. Having done B2B sales and market research, Viktor has come to understand the importance of being attentive but also vigilant when trying to find an overlap between the client company's needs and the provision of relevant services. Viktor believes it is important to ask the right questions and respond to the client's needs to warm up the contact for the next step.

We are happy to tell you that Eljas Pajamies has joined Coventures as an Entrepreneur In Residence. Eljas is a business design professional and an entrepreneur with a foundation in human-centered problem-solving and data-driven design. Eljas' approach to development and venture building is always fact-based, hypothesis-driven, and structured. During his career, he has learned to use strategy, analysis, and human-centered problem-solving as generative design tools to help companies turn ideas into outcomes with long-term viability.

We are delighted to welcome Samu Seppänen to the Coventures team as an Entrepreneur in Residence. Samu is an entrepreneurial-minded business professional with strong experience in startups, the technology industry, venture building, and venture capital. Samu has spent the last few years working in Berlin and London, learning how to build, scale, and finance startups and digital businesses. During this time, he has experienced the startup world from different perspectives. He has been an early-stage employee and product manager in startups and worked in venture building and venture capital business. 

It goes without saying that every business leader wants to grow their business and find ways to increase revenue, cut costs, and increase profitability. New revenue can be generated by opening new markets, building new products, or doing more of what is already working well. Often requires doing something differently or building something new, and then we usually talk about innovation. Innovation might mean, for example, that you need to rethink what you are selling or who you are trying to sell it to. Whatever changes you make to your business, you need to ensure that what you offer meets the market's needs. In theory, this is perfectly clear, but why is it so damn difficult to put into practice? What do the companies that have successfully built new businesses have in common? In Coventures' upcoming online event, Marko Oksanen and Valtteri Tuominen will share concrete stories of these bold entrepreneurs who have built something new and innovative while generating new revenue.

For over two years, Entrepreneur in Residence Asmo Halinen has worked closely with the team at Lassila Tikanoja (L&T), bringing his entrepreneurial skills to super boost their internal team. With Asmo’s help, L&T was able to formulate a clear product vision, effectuate, and double the number of users of their Ympäristönetti service. ‍Ympäristönetti is Lassila & Tikanoja's digital service for waste management monitoring and development. The service allows businesses to review their waste accounting information and monitor waste management data and environmental impact at a highly detailed level.

One of the service providers greatly affected by the pandemic was Comforta, a subsidiary of the Lindström Group. Comforta specializes in textile management services for the hotel and healthcare industries. The company employs more than 500 people in Finland, Sweden, and Estonia. As it provides services that support and enable its customers, it could not do so as they were closed. Coventures partnered with Comforta to help with direction and to shape the future. In these unusual circumstances, we needed to rethink the entire business. Therefore, we started by defining what the purpose and the vision of the business is. We drew a common picture about what a company should do based on its strengths, recent group strategy, phenomena in the operative environment and what the current clients’ sentiment is.

In software development, agile methodology focuses on the delivery of individual software parts rather than the entire package. It's ideal for teams that are working on common goals, but with different functional expertise. Companies using agile solutions can feel confident about their end-product since they've performed extensive testing in various ways throughout the design and development process. ‍Agile enterprise solutions help companies to collaborate with consumers and the client organizations. What is different, however, is that they don't just buy an end-product, but also play a part in the planning and execution processes. ‍The solutions value a pragmatic-mindset and a flexible approach. Considering that change is inevitable, enterprise organizations can use a distinct flavor of agile to continue winning in the marketplace. ‍Read on to learn why agile enterprise solutions are the key to winning. 

We are happy to announce that Matias Koskinen, an experienced interim COO, has joined Coventures. Matias has always been brave enough to try and learn something new when an exciting opportunity has presented itself. But there's a clear common thread: he's often the right hand for visionary entrepreneurs. Matias is certified in brain-based coaching, an approved chairman of the board, has an Executive MBA, and is an IT engineer (B.Eng.). Let's give Matias a chance to tell us more about himself!