We start off this blog series with the introduction of our newest team member — Petra Tammisto

From Banking to Venture

Petra joins Evli Growth Partners as Investment Manager from SEB after 3 years background in large corporate and financial analysis. She excelled in credit risk and financial statements assessment covering Nordic corporates in the commodities, producer and consumer goods sectors.

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The move to the Venture Capital field was driven by the dynamic, upbeat environment and the people-centric approach. This was seen by jumping to first client meetings — 2 hours into the job. And that’s what the job’s all about; meeting passionate founders with exciting ideas and hopefully adding longer-term value, besides (just) funding.

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Petra’s enthusiasm for ESG has broadened her span from ESG materiality to sustainability strategy mapping, and she brings her expertise to our portfolio companies until the exit.

Bridging impact and value creation

Next to banking Petra’s enthusiasm for ESG (environment, social and governance) topics, especially in the finance field, has broadened her span from ESG materiality and scenario analysis to sustainability strategy mapping — be it for startups or large corporates.

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At Evli Growth Partners Petra’s role as part of the investment team also includes focusing on ESG strategy throughout the investment process — from entry to exit. With this we at EGP hope to increase value by supporting new, innovative business models. This is seen already in our first investments such as Tier providing new eco-friendly modes of transport and Klevu creating more user-friendly search engines. As a whole, we see ESG-issues more as a great potential for value creation than a risk mitigation. After all in growth company funding we are not in a risk minimizing business.

Background — the more the merrier

In combining finance and sustainability, Petra’s diverse academic background includes a Double B.Sc. and Double M.Sc. (CEMS MiM) in areas as Sustainability, Strategy and Political Science from three different distinguished European top universities (Aalto University, London School Economics and Stockholm University). On her free time Petra is eager for new (and old) hobbies, be it the new found passion for scuba diving, golf or weekly soccer matches in which she never lets opponents of easy.

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“Petra possesses all qualifications of a top-tier investor: top-most grades from the greatest schools, curiosity and continuous willingness to learn and, finally, she is a really nice person to be around with.” — Riku Asikainen, Managing Partner

‍Welcoming Petra to our team, managing partner Riku Asikainen:

“Any new industry or company needs to attract top talent to succeed, this is true for growth equity and Evli Growth Partners alike. I am super happy that we managed to catch Petra to our team. She possesses all qualifications of a top-tier professional investor: she has top-most grades from the greatest schools, she is curious and willing to learn more on things she doesn’t yet know and, finally, she is a really nice person to be around with. I hope we can keep on learning new things together, and meanwhile make great investments in the most beautiful Nordic companies.”

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‍New roles in the team to continue supporting Nordic and Baltic founders

Together with Petra joining the team, Evli Growth Partners announces Aleksi Löytynoja’s new role as Investment Manager. Aleksi will continue working with new deals as well as portfolio companies including Klevu, striving to support the most beautiful Northern European companies in their growth. As part of this blog series, you’ll learn more about him later!

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To grab a coffee or just get in touch with Petra, email her from here and follow from here! Also, to stay updated about our latest news, give us a follow from here.