Private equity and venture capital knowledge centre

Meet our dedicated team of PE/VC industry professionals

Management board
Team
© Estonian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association
Kaari Kink
Investment Manager at Superangel
Kaari Kink is a previous startup operator and an investor at Superangel, focused on building a strong presence and networks in the Baltics and Nordics. During the 3 years at Superangel, she’s led several noteworthy ecosystem initiatives that have brought international capital and talent closer to the Estonian market. She has an extensive European network of investors and closeness to market information and a 360-degree
overview and access in the Estonian ecosystem, from junior to senior VC operators to governmental bodies, universities and incubators.
Superangel is an early-stage VC fund in Estonia, investing into the builders of industry-changing technology. We’re the backers of companies such as Bolt, Veriff, Montonio, BOBW, Nordigen, Salv, Sonarworks and many others.
  • Preferred stage: Pre-Seed / Seed
  • Typical first ticket size: 300-800€
  • Nordics & Baltics 
  • Tech that improves the world
https://superangel.io


Kristjan Kalda
Partner at BaltCap
Kristjan Kalda is the founding partner of BaltCap, he helped to establish the company’s Estonian operations in 1997-1998. Kristjan specialises in buyouts and he has led a number of companies to successful exits: Fitek, Magnetic MRO, TREV-2, Energate, Tuuleenergia, Microlink, and A. le Coq, to name a few.

Kristjan has previous experience as the head of the M&A team at Suprema. He studied economics at Tallinn Technical University.

Kristjan was also the founder and first chairman of the EstVCA.
BaltCap is the largest private equity firm in the Baltic States focusing on small and mid-market buyout, expansion capital and infrastructure investments. BaltCap has a strong presence in all three Baltic countries, Finland and Poland.

https://www.baltcap.com

Margus Uudam
Founding Partner at Karma Ventures

Margus Uudam is the Founding Partner at Karma Ventures. Previously Head of Venture Capital Investments at Ambient Sound Investments, Chairman of EstVCA, CEO at Estonian Energy Distribution Network and Fontes. Excited about strategy, growth, HR and business models.

Karma Ventures is an A-round-focused VC fund for Europe, domiciled in Luxembourg. Backed by Skype engineering co-founders, EIF and other institutional investors, Karma Ventures is focusing on technology creators across many verticals. Margus has 9 years of experience as a head of VC investments at ASI where he managed a global venture portfolio of 30 companies.

https://www.karma.vc 

Kristel Raidla-Talur
Partner at COBALT Legal Estonia
Kristel Raidla-Talur is a Partner and Co-Chair of the Banking & Finance practice group at COBALT Estonia. She advises clients mainly on venture capital and other financing transactions as well as fund formation matters. Kristel also has extensive experience in financial regulatory matters, including in relation to operating licences of banks, payment institutions, credit providers, fund managers and other financial institutions as well as requirements applicable to their activities.

Kristel is continuously advising Karma Ventures, Rubylight and other investment funds on their investments in Europe, USA and elsewhere. Kristel has also led the pan-Baltic team of COBALT in several major assignments involving Luminor Bank by acting for DNB Bank in the process of combining the Baltic operations of DNB Bank and Nordea Bank for the purpose of creation of Luminor, continuing supporting Luminor in the cross-border merger of its Baltic banking entities and advising DNB, Nordea and Luminor in the sale of Luminor’s majority stake to Blackstone.

Kristel is a member of the Estonian Bar Association since 2004. She serves as a member of the Legal Committee of the Estonian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (EstVCA). Kristel is also a member of the Management Board of COBALT Estonia.
www.cobalt.legal

Sille Pettai
Fund Manager at SmartCap
Sille Pettai is the Fund Manager and Management Board member of SmartCap - the Estonian state VC company managing an early-stage fund of funds.

Sille has more than 10 years of experience in asset management as an investment executive at Swedbank Investment Funds, where she was responsible for the management of alternative investments portfolio with private equity and real estate focus in pension funds.
SmartCap invests in venture capital funds and directly in Estonian greentech startups to create a vital venture capital market in Estonia and enable ambitious and innovative Estonian companies to emerge and grow globally.

SmartCap is a small fund manager established in 2011 operating under an activity licence issued by the Estonian Financial Supervision Authority. SmartCap is a subsidiary of Estonian Business and Innovation Agency (after the merger of Foundation KredEx and Enterprise Estonia from January 2022).

SmartCap manages two common closed-end alternative investment funds: SmartCap Venture Capital Fund and SmartCap Green Fund. Both operate as a venture capital fund-of-funds according to their strategy. The sole unitholder of both funds is the Republic of Estonia.

https://smartcap.ee

Dag Ainsoo
General Partner of Startup Wise Guys
Dag Ainsoo is an entrepreneur and investor, General Partner of Startup Wise Guys, and Management Board Member. Formerly co-founder of SmartAD (acquired by Modern Times Group AB), active angel investor, and CFO in multiple startup companies. Started out as an associate in PwC in the Estonian office, and later senior associate and manager, in the PwC San Jose (Silicon Valley) office.
Startup Wise Guys is one of the most active accelerator funds in Europe and Africa, with 400+ investments in early-stage B2B startups in SaaS, Fintech, Cybersecurity, XR, Sustainability, Web3, and Proptech verticals in more than 60 countries. Startup Wise Guys manages vertical-focused accelerator programs from offices in Tallinn, Milan, Bilbao, and Malaga, with strong representation in countries such as Denmark, Romania, Turkey, Baltics, and others. With a significant additional presence in the Nordics, Spain, Poland, Ukraine, Africa, and the Balkans, Startup Wise Guys aims to become the go-to accelerator program and investor for any B2B startup looking to scale globally. Startup Wise Guys was named Hottest Accelerator at the 2021 Europas Startup Awards and received the Best Accelerator prize in Global Startup Awards 2023.

https://startupwiseguys.com
Dmitri Ševoldajev
Head of M&A at KPMG Baltics
Dmitri Ševoldajev is the sector lead for M&A within the KPMG Baltics market-leading team, with over 7 years of local and international experience within the corporate finance/deal advisory space. Graduate of the University of Aberdeen (1 class degree, Economics) and Chartered Accountant with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS).

He has experience advising both private and public sector clients on different stages of the transaction lifecycle from initial development to final negotiations and contract signing. Dmitri also has international experience having worked for the Corporate Finance team at EY in Scotland for 4 years.

KPMG is a global network of professional firms providing Audit, Tax, Legal and Advisory services. We have over 200,000 outstanding professionals working together to deliver value in 154 countries. With a worldwide presence, KPMG continues to build on our successes thanks to clear vision, defined values and, above all, our people.

https://kpmg.com/ee/en/home.html
Rain Tamm
Partner at Siena Venture Partners
Siena Secondary Fund provides liquidity for early investors, founders and employees of high-growth startups from the "New Nordic" (Baltics & Scandinavia) region.

www.siena2ndary.com

Sigrid Lii Treialt
Private Equity Associate at LHV Asset Management 

Sigrid Lii Treialt has been in the private equity field for quite some time, having started her journey in real estate investments. Currently, she is responsible for the PE/VC portfolio at LHV Asset Management. Her background is in economic analysis and auditing. In her role, she meets with various fund managers and placement agents across Europe and North America and regularly participates in private equity conferences.

LHV Asset Management is a fund management company supervised by the Financial Supervision Authority of Estonia. LHV Asset Management is owned by AS LHV Group, a holding company for LHV Asset Management and LHV Bank.

https://www.lhv.ee/en 

Hendrik Reimand
Founding Partner at 2C Ventures
2C Ventures is an investment company, which runs Estonia's first VC fund focusing only on clean tech. The fund’s target size is 50 million euros. The goal of the fund is to help the world cope with climate change adaptation and to improve the availability of capital for Baltic and Nordic cleantech companies. The fund is investing in start-ups in the fields of renewable energy, waste reduction, water management, circular economy and other environmentally sustainable technologies. The amount to be invested per company is 300 thousand to 1 million euros, depending on the phase of the company.

Maarja Pärs
Investment Director at Livonia Partners
Maarja Pärs is an Investment Director at Livonia Partners. She has been active in the investment world for more than 8 years, her background is a good combination of LP and GP views. Her previous experience in LHV Asset Management as a Portfolio Manager was from an LP point of view – providing capital to local and global companies and funds through debt instruments. It has helped her in today’s GP position in Livonia Partners – sitting on another side of the table – to understand and be prepared for the challenges that all our local VC/PE funds face.

Maarja's passion has always been building successful global companies based on our local companies’ growth stories. Access to capital and knowledge is essential to achieve this. Given the current geopolitical environment, building relationships with the global LP-s and GP-s community is especially important to make the Estonian VC/PE ecosystem attractive. 

Livonia Partners was founded in 2015 with a simple goal – to become the best private equity investor in the Baltic region. Our team has built and supported through investment many groundbreaking Baltic companies - Thermory, LHV, Baltic Ticket Holdings, Cgates, Freor, and other.

We currently invest from our €157 million Fund II. We look out for Baltic businesses that show strong growth potential and invest up to €25 million per company. We acquire shares from owners that wish to sell, and we also invest growth equity.

https://www.livoniapartners.com

Kadri Lindpere
Managing Director

As Managing Director at Estonian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (EstVCA), the representative body of private equity and venture capital industry players and related support services providers in Estonia, Kadri works in close cooperation with the Management Board in executing the association's strategy at the local and global level.

One of her goals is to formulate and maintain clear communication channels with the government, ensure continuous growth of the PE/VC funds market, and develop Estonia’s fertile ecosystem of startups and growth companies.

Familiar with helping a company with the process of going public with an IPO, she brings a wealth of additional business development and communications experience to EstVCA:

  • PwC, Estonia - Head of Marketing and Communication (2019-2020)
  • Ellex Raidla - Marketing & Communications Manager (2008-2019)
  • AS Arco Vara - Marketing & Communication Manager (2003-2008)

As Managing Director at EstVCA, Kadri anchors the organisation in reliability. Recognized as a strong communicator who is detailed and consistent, she provides cohesion and clarity while promoting the industry and Estonian funds within international funds markets and encouraging potential clients to co-invest with our funds and invest in our funds. One of her goals is also to establish Estonia as a trusted center for international PE/VC players to base their funds. Along with the Estonian state, she helps to highlight the industry's relevance to Baltic and Nordic PE/VC markets as well as large international strategic investors outside of the region.

Her professional background has helped her accrue an influential list of contacts. She has been building new ones since arriving at EstVCA in 2020 such as Invest Europe, various international VCAs, European Women in VC as well as Startup Estonia, Estonian Business Angels Network, Estonian Founders Association, Invest in Estonia, and other local organisations supporting the growth of startup ecosystem.

Kadri has also taken it to be one of her missions to bring Estonian companies closer to PE/VC funds - to “translate the PE/VC field” and initiate the conversation, simplify the message to enhance their understanding and deepen their interest in local and international investment opportunities.

CONTACT DETAILS:

kadri@estvca.ee

+372 505 1239



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