Maki.vc

Maki.vc is a venture capital firm based in Helsinki, Finland, that focuses on early-stage investments in startups, primarily at the seed and Series A stages, with occasional participation in Series B rounds. Founded in 2018, Maki.vc targets a wide range of industries, emphasizing technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, deep tech, and innovative user experiences. Investment amounts typically range from €0.2 million to €750,000 at the seed stage, and from €750,000 to €5 million at Series A. While the firm has a strong focus on the Nordic region, it pursues opportunities globally, particularly in companies that challenge conventional norms and exhibit strong intellectual property and customer insights. Maki.vc partners with founders who are committed to pushing boundaries in their respective fields.

Ilkka Kivimaki

Founding Partner

Josefiina Kotilainen

CFO

Pauliina Martikainen

Partner

Pirkka Palomäki

Founding Partner

Paavo Räisänen

Partner

50 past transactions

Happeo

Series B in 2022
The all-in-one enterprise social intranet, knowledge base, digital workplace, Internal Communications tool and people directory – all working perfectly with Google Suite. Happeo turns G Suite into a unified hub for teamwork. It facilitates managing remote teams and collaboration for enterprise and fast-growing organizations. In 2019, Gartner named Happeo a Cool Vendor. That same year, The Next Web recognized Happeo as one of Europe's fastest-growing scale-ups. Happeo’s own talent is spread across locations, generations, and time zones, helping Happeo’s continued growth of 280% year on year. To learn more visit https://www.happeo.com.

QDI systems

Seed Round in 2022
QDI systems B.V. develops imaging devices based on quantum dots for medical applications. It develops an X-ray sensor based on quantum dots, which provides high contrast and resolution mammograms for doctors and dose reduction for patients. The company is based in Groningen, the Netherlands.

Lollipop

Seed Round in 2022
Lollipop is an online grocery shopping platform that includes personalized meal plans.

Outshifter

Pre Seed Round in 2022
Outshifter is a Developer of embedded e-commerce software designed to scale online distribution by selling products or services directly in content without the upfront cost. Outshifter software allows users to sell a large assortment of goods without physically holding inventory by connecting customers across the web with access to the product listings, enabling suppliers to grow exponentially by managing sales outsourcing through thousands of third parties.

AISTI

Seed Round in 2022
AISTI develops wood fiber-based acoustic tiles that are carbon negative, easy to recycle and plastic-free – bringing sustainability to construction tile by tile.

Valpas

Seed Round in 2022
Valpas Enterprises Oy is a Finnish company based in Helsinki that specializes in developing and manufacturing solutions to prevent bed bug infestations in the hospitality industry. The company's primary product is the Smart bed leg, a hardware technology designed to trap bed bugs, ensuring safety for both guests and hotels. Additionally, Valpas offers a web service that provides real-time updates on room status, enhancing operational efficiency. Valpas's solutions are highly regarded by notable hotels and temporary living providers, helping them maintain high hygiene standards while alleviating concerns over bed bugs. Founded in 2013 and previously known as Totem Hospitality Oy, Valpas aims to boost bookings and minimize operational headaches for its clients.

Enfuce

Series C in 2021
Enfuce Financial Services Oy, founded in 2016 and headquartered in Espoo, Finland, specializes in developing a cloud-based payment platform tailored for businesses. The company provides a comprehensive open banking platform that enables banks and third-party service providers to access account and payment data efficiently. Enfuce's offerings include payment processing, sustainability services, and tools for monitoring, reporting, and managing disputes and errors. With a team of over 50 professionals in the Nordics, Enfuce has successfully attracted nearly 10 million end-users to its platform, delivering scalable and secure solutions that combine industry expertise and innovative technology for banks, fintechs, and merchants.

Singa

Funding Round in 2021
Singa is the Spotify of karaoke for personal and commercial use. Access a catalog of 20 000+ songs to sing effortlessly anywhere, any time and with any platform. Easy to use is Singa’s main operating principle. You don’t need to buy a console, or a microphone, or even a DVD-player. Singa is platform agnostic. To use Singa, you’ve already got everything you need either in your pocket (mobile phone), on your table (PC) or in your living room (TV). * One account works on all devices, mobile, browser or Smart TV * Each user gets to test Singa for free before signing up to a Premium account * Singa works fluently with external accessories

OGOship

Seed Round in 2021
OGOship / Nettivarasto is an easy and flexible logistics solutions for growing online stores. It makes it possible for companies to easily outsource their entire physical goods warehousing and logistics. The company provide the entire warehousing and logistics package: warehouse and maintain stock, send goods globally with the best possible freight forwarders, and provide a variety of added value services usually available only for larger retailers.

Alvar Pet

Seed Round in 2021
Alvar Pet Oy produces dog food. The company allows the customer to create suitable recommendation for dog food according their dog’s needs. The company’s products include dog food for an adult dog, small dog, puppy, biting dog, seniors, vegetarian dog, active do, and big dog. The company also provides transportation of raw materials to the consumer’s door, and the recycling of packaging material service. The company provides home delivery service. Alvar Pet Oy was incorporated in 2019 and is based in Helsinki, Finland.

Baseimmune

Seed Round in 2021
Baseimmune is a biotech startup founded to create the next generation of vaccines.

Jennis

Pre Seed Round in 2021
Jennis develops an application that offers information and services on women's menstrual cycle. It provides fitness training ideas, cycle mapping data, and food nutrition related to the hormonal cycle. Jennis is based in Wimbledon, London.

CardioSignal

Seed Round in 2021
Precordior is an innovative Finnish company producing medical device grade mobile solutions for cardiac monitoring. Our technology measures the chest micro-motions using the smartphone only, no additional devices required. Precordior's first commercial product CardioSignal is a CE IIa class certified smartphone app that detects atrial fibrillation with 95% accuracy. Upcoming products include smartphone apps for detection of coronary artery disease and heart failure. Our company currently has granted 24 patents, with another 30+ pending, in major market areas globally.

Lollipop

Pre Seed Round in 2021
Lollipop is an online grocery shopping platform that includes personalized meal plans.

Volare

Seed Round in 2021
Operator of a food technology company intended to reduce the environmental burden of the food chain. The company offers sustainable drop-in proteins and lipids, an amazing insect, the black soldier flies, and proprietary technology, helping food manufacturers and processors reach their sustainability targets by upcycling their side streams back into the food chain as high-quality protein and lipid ingredients.

Pixieray

Seed Round in 2021
Pixieray modernizes traditional eyeglass optics by introducing a pioneering adaptive solution giving anyone perfect vision.

Baseimmune

Seed Round in 2021
Baseimmune is a biotech startup founded to create the next generation of vaccines.

Enfuce

Series B in 2021
Enfuce Financial Services Oy, founded in 2016 and headquartered in Espoo, Finland, specializes in developing a cloud-based payment platform tailored for businesses. The company provides a comprehensive open banking platform that enables banks and third-party service providers to access account and payment data efficiently. Enfuce's offerings include payment processing, sustainability services, and tools for monitoring, reporting, and managing disputes and errors. With a team of over 50 professionals in the Nordics, Enfuce has successfully attracted nearly 10 million end-users to its platform, delivering scalable and secure solutions that combine industry expertise and innovative technology for banks, fintechs, and merchants.

Calqulate

Seed Round in 2021
Cash Runway and Growth Metrics for SaaS

Altum Technologies

Venture Round in 2021
Altum Technology Oy focuses on power ultrasound to remove fouling from industrial equipment. The company designs and develops six devices for specialized equipment such as filters, heat exchangers, pipes, reactors, cooling towers, and tanks. The company caters to mining, paper, oil and gas, and chemical production industries. Altum Technology Oy was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in Helsinki, Finland.

Ultimate

Series A in 2020
ultimate.ai is a virtual customer service agent builder bringing multilingual customer service automation to businesses. The company's s proprietary deep learning technology enables customer service automation in all languages. Automate first-line customer contact across chat, email, and social, increase agent productivity by over 30% for complex cases, and continuously learns to improve the quality of automated and assisted support.

IQM Finland Oy

Series A in 2020
IQM Finland Oy is a company that specializes in the development and manufacturing of hardware systems for quantum computing. Founded in 2018 and headquartered in Espoo, Finland, IQM focuses on creating scalable quantum processors based on superconducting technology. The company aims to advance quantum computing capabilities, facilitating solutions that can benefit both industry and society. As a spin-out from Aalto University and the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, IQM has made significant strides in areas such as thermal management, which enhances computational speed and information accuracy. These innovations establish IQM as a key player in the global movement towards practical, large-scale quantum computing solutions.

TOTEM

Seed Round in 2020
Totem SAS, based in Saint-Mandé, France, specializes in creating modular cafeterias and vending solutions for office environments. Established in 1997, the company aims to enhance workplace culture by providing spaces that promote sharing and social interaction among employees. Its offerings include healthy snacks, beverages, coffee, and fresh fruits, designed to support convenient access to nutritious options throughout the day. By focusing on employee well-being and fostering a sense of community, Totem seeks to improve the overall workplace experience.

Disior

Series A in 2020
Disior Oy develops software for diagnostics and treatment optimization. The company’s software provides automatic measurement of diagnostics-related critical parameters, like shapes, sizes, angles, volumes, and distances. It offers automated measurement, fracture detection, visualization for planning, and strength and durability modeling. The software automatically creates mathematical 3D models of tissues visible in CT- and MRI- images and can also implement the body movement into the equation. This allows users to better see and analyze what is in the image, and to predict what will happen to the critical structures over time. It can be used in applications, such as maxillofacial fractures, wrist fractures, and orbital fractures. The company was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in Helsinki, Finland.

Rentle Oy

Seed Round in 2020
Rentle Oy develops software solutions for rental companies. The company was founded in 2014 in and is based in Espoo, Finland.

Alvar Pet

Seed Round in 2020
Alvar Pet Oy produces dog food. The company allows the customer to create suitable recommendation for dog food according their dog’s needs. The company’s products include dog food for an adult dog, small dog, puppy, biting dog, seniors, vegetarian dog, active do, and big dog. The company also provides transportation of raw materials to the consumer’s door, and the recycling of packaging material service. The company provides home delivery service. Alvar Pet Oy was incorporated in 2019 and is based in Helsinki, Finland.

Happeo

Series A in 2020
The all-in-one enterprise social intranet, knowledge base, digital workplace, Internal Communications tool and people directory – all working perfectly with Google Suite. Happeo turns G Suite into a unified hub for teamwork. It facilitates managing remote teams and collaboration for enterprise and fast-growing organizations. In 2019, Gartner named Happeo a Cool Vendor. That same year, The Next Web recognized Happeo as one of Europe's fastest-growing scale-ups. Happeo’s own talent is spread across locations, generations, and time zones, helping Happeo’s continued growth of 280% year on year. To learn more visit https://www.happeo.com.

BLAST Premier

Venture Round in 2020
BLAST Premier is an esports entertainment company that specializes in broadcast studio shows, arena events, and online content.

Strise

Seed Round in 2020
Strise AS, founded in 2016 and headquartered in Trondheim, Norway, specializes in artificial intelligence and machine learning solutions tailored for financial institutions. The company aims to enhance organizational efficiency and empower users by eliminating data silos, enabling seamless collaboration between individuals and data. Strise's platform is designed to address complex business challenges, fostering a transformative approach to enterprise software and promoting growth through knowledge sharing.

Neuro Event Labs

Series A in 2020
Neuro Event Labs is a Finnish medical technology growth company. The company’s main product monitors epilepsy patients at home and in hospital. Accurate epilepsy seizure data is collected, analyzed and relayed to the patient’s physician, who makes individual treatment decisions based on the reports. The solution has been developed on close cooperation with leading Finnish hospitals.

Entis

Venture Round in 2020
Entis is a brand specializing in insect-based food products that serve as an alternative source of protein. The company offers a range of snacks made from insect and vegetable proteins, designed for direct consumption or incorporation into various dishes. These products aim to provide consumers with nutritious and flavorful options to help meet their daily dietary requirements.

Mainframe Industries

Series A in 2020
Mainframe Industries is a Reykjavik, Iceland and Helsinki, Finland-based startup working on the development of an open world, social sandbox MMO for cloud gaming.The company will will work on an open-world, social sandbox MMO specifically designed for cloud gaming, with cross-platform play across mobile, PC, and TV. Mainframe believes that the promise of friction-free access from social networks and streaming platforms on the device of your choice will greatly expand the creative canvas for game developers.

Enfuce

Venture Round in 2019
Enfuce Financial Services Oy, founded in 2016 and headquartered in Espoo, Finland, specializes in developing a cloud-based payment platform tailored for businesses. The company provides a comprehensive open banking platform that enables banks and third-party service providers to access account and payment data efficiently. Enfuce's offerings include payment processing, sustainability services, and tools for monitoring, reporting, and managing disputes and errors. With a team of over 50 professionals in the Nordics, Enfuce has successfully attracted nearly 10 million end-users to its platform, delivering scalable and secure solutions that combine industry expertise and innovative technology for banks, fintechs, and merchants.

Glue Collaboration

Seed Round in 2019
In 2004, Santtu Parikka founded Fake Production, a VR and gaming studio that won multiple awards for animation. In recent years, as their passion for all things VR/AR has grown, they’ve been drawn to an important challenge: to enable people thousands of miles apart to collaborate effectively in virtual environments, just as they might in a real physical setting. In 2016, Santtu and their CTO Juha Ruistola revealed the first multi-user VR prototypes. These proved an instant hit. A year later, as they crystallized their new mission, vision and strategy, Glue was born. Since then, their 30-strong team has continued to build on their legacy and break new ground in multi-user VR software, developing Glue into the fully-featured virtual collaboration platform they are today.

Ultimate

Seed Round in 2019
ultimate.ai is a virtual customer service agent builder bringing multilingual customer service automation to businesses. The company's s proprietary deep learning technology enables customer service automation in all languages. Automate first-line customer contact across chat, email, and social, increase agent productivity by over 30% for complex cases, and continuously learns to improve the quality of automated and assisted support.

Mainframe Industries

Seed Round in 2019
Mainframe Industries is a Reykjavik, Iceland and Helsinki, Finland-based startup working on the development of an open world, social sandbox MMO for cloud gaming.The company will will work on an open-world, social sandbox MMO specifically designed for cloud gaming, with cross-platform play across mobile, PC, and TV. Mainframe believes that the promise of friction-free access from social networks and streaming platforms on the device of your choice will greatly expand the creative canvas for game developers.

Revonte

Seed Round in 2019
Revonte Ltd. specializes in manufacturing advanced drive systems for electric bicycles. Founded in 2016 and based in Tampere, Finland, the company offers a unique solution that enhances the capabilities of e-bike manufacturers across various categories. Revonte's drive systems feature automatic transmission, ergonomic design, a flexible controller, and high-capacity batteries, all of which can be customized via a mobile application to meet specific retailer needs. The technology integrates Internet of Things (IoT) capabilities, allowing for remote diagnostics and over-the-air updates, which improve both the user experience and after-sale services. Through its innovative approach, Revonte aims to revolutionize the e-bike industry by providing manufacturers with greater flexibility and enhanced performance options.

IQM Finland Oy

Seed Round in 2019
IQM Finland Oy is a company that specializes in the development and manufacturing of hardware systems for quantum computing. Founded in 2018 and headquartered in Espoo, Finland, IQM focuses on creating scalable quantum processors based on superconducting technology. The company aims to advance quantum computing capabilities, facilitating solutions that can benefit both industry and society. As a spin-out from Aalto University and the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, IQM has made significant strides in areas such as thermal management, which enhances computational speed and information accuracy. These innovations establish IQM as a key player in the global movement towards practical, large-scale quantum computing solutions.

Ultimate

Seed Round in 2018
ultimate.ai is a virtual customer service agent builder bringing multilingual customer service automation to businesses. The company's s proprietary deep learning technology enables customer service automation in all languages. Automate first-line customer contact across chat, email, and social, increase agent productivity by over 30% for complex cases, and continuously learns to improve the quality of automated and assisted support.

Altum Technologies

Series A in 2018
Altum Technology Oy focuses on power ultrasound to remove fouling from industrial equipment. The company designs and develops six devices for specialized equipment such as filters, heat exchangers, pipes, reactors, cooling towers, and tanks. The company caters to mining, paper, oil and gas, and chemical production industries. Altum Technology Oy was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in Helsinki, Finland.

Happeo

Seed Round in 2018
The all-in-one enterprise social intranet, knowledge base, digital workplace, Internal Communications tool and people directory – all working perfectly with Google Suite. Happeo turns G Suite into a unified hub for teamwork. It facilitates managing remote teams and collaboration for enterprise and fast-growing organizations. In 2019, Gartner named Happeo a Cool Vendor. That same year, The Next Web recognized Happeo as one of Europe's fastest-growing scale-ups. Happeo’s own talent is spread across locations, generations, and time zones, helping Happeo’s continued growth of 280% year on year. To learn more visit https://www.happeo.com.

Valpas

Seed Round in 2018
Valpas Enterprises Oy is a Finnish company based in Helsinki that specializes in developing and manufacturing solutions to prevent bed bug infestations in the hospitality industry. The company's primary product is the Smart bed leg, a hardware technology designed to trap bed bugs, ensuring safety for both guests and hotels. Additionally, Valpas offers a web service that provides real-time updates on room status, enhancing operational efficiency. Valpas's solutions are highly regarded by notable hotels and temporary living providers, helping them maintain high hygiene standards while alleviating concerns over bed bugs. Founded in 2013 and previously known as Totem Hospitality Oy, Valpas aims to boost bookings and minimize operational headaches for its clients.

Sumpli

Seed Round in 2018
Getting jobs and hiring has never been this easy. At Sumpli they make the impossible possible, by matching the best talent with the most awesome companies, on your mobile with just a few clicks.

Glue Collaboration

Seed Round in 2018
In 2004, Santtu Parikka founded Fake Production, a VR and gaming studio that won multiple awards for animation. In recent years, as their passion for all things VR/AR has grown, they’ve been drawn to an important challenge: to enable people thousands of miles apart to collaborate effectively in virtual environments, just as they might in a real physical setting. In 2016, Santtu and their CTO Juha Ruistola revealed the first multi-user VR prototypes. These proved an instant hit. A year later, as they crystallized their new mission, vision and strategy, Glue was born. Since then, their 30-strong team has continued to build on their legacy and break new ground in multi-user VR software, developing Glue into the fully-featured virtual collaboration platform they are today.

Neuro Event Labs

Seed Round in 2018
Neuro Event Labs is a Finnish medical technology growth company. The company’s main product monitors epilepsy patients at home and in hospital. Accurate epilepsy seizure data is collected, analyzed and relayed to the patient’s physician, who makes individual treatment decisions based on the reports. The solution has been developed on close cooperation with leading Finnish hospitals.

Disior

Seed Round in 2018
Disior Oy develops software for diagnostics and treatment optimization. The company’s software provides automatic measurement of diagnostics-related critical parameters, like shapes, sizes, angles, volumes, and distances. It offers automated measurement, fracture detection, visualization for planning, and strength and durability modeling. The software automatically creates mathematical 3D models of tissues visible in CT- and MRI- images and can also implement the body movement into the equation. This allows users to better see and analyze what is in the image, and to predict what will happen to the critical structures over time. It can be used in applications, such as maxillofacial fractures, wrist fractures, and orbital fractures. The company was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in Helsinki, Finland.