Mari Luukkainen

Short: Principal at Icebreaker.vc with a portfolio of 100+ startups. Ex-growth operator (3x to €10M+ ARR). Founder of a non-profit creating tech jobs for international talent Herizon.io. Investor of the Year in Nordic Women in Tech Awards 2022 and Diversity Role Model of the Year in Nordic Startup Awards 2023.

I am a passionate growth technologist, self-educated and people-focused, with my journey beginning at age 12 when I earned my first affiliate marketing commission from a fan page I created for the game, Fallout 2.

Throughout my 20-year professional career, I've been driving growth for hundreds of diverse companies, as well as my initiatives. I spent a decade deeply entrenched in the world of affiliate marketing and then another decade building and developing companies both as an external consultant and an internal strategist within startups and a venture capital firm. I thrive particularly in the exciting early stages of a venture, helping businesses successfully navigate from inception to securing seed or series A funding.

I have found my niche in the fast-paced, constantly evolving universe of global tech startups. Notable collaborations include Freska, Paxful, Yousician, and now, an innovative €140M early-stage VC firm, Icebreaker.vc. Here, I have the privilege of interacting with over 100 early-stage companies based in the Nordics and Baltics.

Simultaneously, I devote time helping international talent get employed at my non-profit organization, Herizon.

If you are familiar with the contemporary buzzword 'growth hacking', it's been an integral part of my career since the late 90s and continues to fuel my passion to this day.

My mission is to use my skills to help startups that wish to make things better and be good companies for the people. I believe in Nordic values of work-life balance and equality at work.

Key achievements:

• Played a pivotal role as a solo growth operator in increasing Freska's annual recurring revenue from €700K to €13M, securing its position as the leading home-cleaning service in the Nordics. This growth was achieved within two years, maintaining a 15% month-over-month growth rate, all while staying profitable.
• I made my best investment in Call of Duty and they grew from €0 to €500K ARR in 6 months since the investment.
• Contributed to increasing investments in startups with diverse founding teams from 22.3% in Fund I to 40.7% in Fund II, while diverse teams represent only 14% of the pipeline.
• Contributed to scaling companies from under €1M in annual revenue to over €10M.
• Facilitated fundraising from initial €50K investments to significant €30M rounds, adapting strategies to suit each company's stage and potential.
• Designed and implemented growth strategies globally, adjusting to the unique demands of diverse markets.
• Directly coached over 100 startup CEOs, influencing the growth trajectories of businesses from €1M to €100M in revenue.
• Played a significant role in creating over 1,000 jobs, focusing on inclusivity and opportunities for women, immigrants, and minorities.
• Received the 2022 Investor of the Year at the Nordic Women in Tech Awards and the 2023 Diversity Role Model of the Year at the Nordic Startup Awards for my work in diversity and inclusivity.

Currently

• Guiding over 100 startups in a €140M pre-seed fund, where I use data to carve out paths to success, helping them scale and thrive in competitive markets.
• Built a program for international talent employment in Nordics, teaching them growth hacking with a success rate demonstrated by a 95% full-time employment rate after completion. Employed so far over 250 individuals.
• Sharing actionable growth strategies with early-stage startups, focusing on sustainable and measurable growth, backed by real-world data.

I'm the most active on LinkedIn. Other ways to contact me you can find here. To get an alert when I write something new, you can simply subscribe.

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