Ari Siponmaa
Chairman
Ari is a managing partner at Aura Capital. He has a strong background in corporate management consulting. Prior to his assignment at Aura Capital he worked as a consultant at Andersen Consulting, Siar Bossard and AT Kearney.

Jari Strandman
Managing Director
Tel: +358 40 700 696
E-Mail: Jari.Strandman@ipfinland.com
Jari has spent his career in technology commercialisation. He joined IP Finland from SRC Oxford where he worked closely with the University of Oxford in commercialising technologies from the university. He has been a founding director in several Finnish and UK companies and he has over ten years of experience in developing early stage technology companies. Jari has also held corporate technology management positions at Finnish multi billion euro manufacturing companies, Partek Corp. and Sisu Corp. (both now part of Kone Corporation). He gained extensive experience in working with government funding agencies when he chaired the board of a Tekes (National Technology Agency of Finland) Technology Programme for Finnish manufacturing industry. Jari has significant international experience in managing academic collaborations and operating at the interface between the public and private research sectors. Before his assignment at Sisu, Jari spent three years working for Tekes in Boston, where his assignments included working with MIT’s Industrial Liaisons program, advicing Finnish industry in sourcing technology from MIT. Jari has also held management positions at Finn-Aqua, a Finnish supplier of water stills to worldwide pharmaceutical industry.

Yrjö E K Wichmann
Director
Tel: +358 40 5868 979
E-Mail:Yrjo.Wichmann@ipfinland.com
Yrjö has a long experience in both investment operations as well as in corporate management. He has gained extensive experience and thorough understanding during his 12 years of corporate life as the head of diagnostic division in Biohit, a stock listed medical device and life science company, as the CFO of FibroGen Europe, a biotechnology company and from various financial management positions in industrial companies. Yrjö has been and is a board member in several companies and was a founding director in Bluegiga, a Bluetooth -electronics company. At the moment he is a board member in Chipman, a life science instrument company and in Bioretec, a producer of bioresorbable implants. In addition to corporate experience he also has a 17year career in banking and investment operations. Yrjö was an investment banker in Postipankki (Sampo Group) and in D Carnegie AB, where he specialized in life sciences and in IPO's and private placement -funding. Later he was investment Director at CapMan Group, the largest pan-Nordic private equity company, where he was responsible of the life science team in Finland. He then served as Fundraising Director at CapMan, where he was responsible of raising funds to life science-, real estate-, public market- and Russia -funds. Yrjö is also member of investment committee in Dasos Timberland Fund I, one of the largest Timberland funds in Europe with a global investment focus. During his career he has made 14 IPO's on stock exchanges in Helsinki, Stockholm and London and close to 20 M&A transactions.

Matti Hautsalo
Non-Executive Director
Matti has a background in investment banking with over ten years experience in early stage finance arrangements, private equity investing and trade sales to industry. He is currently a partner with Aura Capital, and a non-executive director in 5 start-up companies. Former roles include Privanet Capital (Managing Director) and ING (economist, analyst and portfolio manager in asset management).