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© 2024

info@skaala.org

Mailing address

Peetri 11
Tallinn, 10415
Estonia

Notorious OÜ

Estonian business registry: 11168790

Media Kit

Skaala

Skaala is an investment company dedicated to creating meaningful, long-term value. Our portfolio includes private equity, real assets, and impact-driven projects. We are committed to building sustainable, resilient solutions that drive financial growth as well as positive societal outcomes.

 

Our work is guided by four principles: scale, curiosity, courage, and connection. They define our approach to every investment, ensuring we stay adaptable, inquisitive, bold, and collaborative.

Scale

Great solutions work on several levels. Whether tackling large-scale challenges or finessing tiny details, every decision must contribute to long-term value. For us, scale is about understanding the big picture, as well as the smaller steps that make it a reality.

Curiosity

Curiosity sparks everything else. We explore new ideas and ask questions that push us beyond the obvious. This helps uncover hidden opportunities and drive deeper, more meaningful change.

Courage

Progress doesn’t happen by playing it safe. Real impact requires bold action. It involves calculated risks and the courage to embrace new possibilities in the unknown. We approach each investment with confidence. Challenges are opportunities in disguise.

Connection

Real progress happens when people work together. Collaboration is key to achieving long-term success, and we prioritise building strong relationships with our partners, teams, and the communities we invest in. Our approach goes beyond capital. It’s about connecting people and ideas – that’s where meaningful outcomes are born.

The origin story

Skaala’s story is rooted in 2005 when Taavet Hinrikus was busy building  Skype as its first employee. To manage his early startup investments, he created a holding company. Those few ventures soon expanded into a portfolio of dozens, driven by Taavet’s curiosity and his passion for supporting other founders.

After departing Skype, in 2010 Taavet co-founded Wise (then known as TransferWise). The company gained rapid momentum by making money transfers fast and affordable. Wise went public in 2021, becoming not just Europe’s first-ever direct listing, but also the largest tech IPO in UK history.

Meanwhile, his friend and former Skype colleague, Sten Tamkivi, launched Teleport, which made it easier for individuals and teams to move around globally. Teleport’s success eventually led to its acquisition by Topia.

In 2021, Taavet and Sten joined forces to launch Taavet+Sten, an investment platform rooted in their shared mission to create meaningful, lasting impact.

In 2022, alongside three other partners, they co-founded  Plural, a venture fund for Europe’s most ambitious tech founders. It quickly became their main channel for VC investments, supporting startups poised for significant growth and positive change. Today, both Taavet and Sten focus most of their day to day efforts on Plural.

Since late 2024, Taavet+Sten operates under a new name, Skaala. It has evolved into an independent investment company that spans diverse asset classes and impact-driven projects. Built on insights gained from the founders’ past endeavours, Skaala fosters systemic change through solutions that last.

Skaala is led by a team of four partners: Kristina (CEO), Martin (CLO), and Taavet and Sten. Day-to-day operations are managed by Kristina, Martin, and a dedicated team of ten. Taavet and Sten focus primarily on Plural.

  • Kristina Siimar

    Partner / CEO

    LinkedIn

    Kristina is the CEO and partner at Skaala. She is responsible for ensuring that we have ambitious goals as well as great team members to execute the projects we undertake. Kristina has over 20 years of executive experience in the financial sector, having been instrumental in building Hansapank and its successor Swedbank in both the Baltics and Sweden. She also played a key role in merging the Baltic branches of Nordea and DNB into Luminor, where she led the product development unit. Kristina is a board member at Merko and Kapitel. Additionally, she actively contributes to various educational initiatives and helps shape the educational landscape.

    Phone number

    +372 5027007

  • Diana Varik

    Head of Support

    LinkedIn

    Diana is dedicated to creating a positive and engaging work environment, ensuring that the needs of team members are always met.

    Known for her supportive and practical approach, she manages logistical tasks, coordinates team events, and enhances workplace dynamics. She ensures that the personal and professional lives of the team are balanced and supported.

    Phone number

    +372 5230472

  • Anastasia Borovaja

    CFO

    LinkedIn

    Anastasia is Skaala CFO. At Skaala she ensures financial and tax compliance across all our group entities. She manages the preparation and auditing of financial statements and guarantees timely regulatory reporting. Anastasia also oversees our investment portfolio, providing transparent and detailed portfolio reporting and performance overviews to our partners and investment team.

    Anastasia has a long-term background in financial advisory, built on her extensive experience as a partner at Grant Thornton Baltic, specializing in financial audit and accounting.

    Phone number

    +372 55601910

  • Martin Tälli

    Partner / Legal Counsel

    LinkedIn

    Martin Tälli is a lawyer with extensive experience as an attorney and partner at several reputable law firms. From 2005 to 2021, he worked as an attorney, after which he joined Skaala in 2021, where he is a full-time partner and a board member responsible for legal matters.

    Martin is primarily responsible for managing the organization’s legal issues, including risk assessment, drafting and reviewing contracts, and advising on strategic decisions, ensuring that the organization’s activities comply with the law and align with its interests.

    Phone number

    +372 5093515

  • Andreas Palm

    Associate

    LinkedIn

    Andreas spends his time on research and investments. This primarily includes thematic deep-dives, managing Skaala’s tech portfolio, and working on new direct equity investments. He is also engaged in social impact portfolio management and Skaala’s forestry investments.

    Previously, Andreas worked as a management consultant and earned his university degrees from France.

    Phone number

    +372 59004062

  • Artur Erik Lindmaa

    Investment Manager

    LinkedIn
    Artur is Investment Manager at Skaala overseeing the investment program, strategy, and execution across multiple asset classes. His role involves comprehensive responsibility for guiding Skaala’s capital allocation decisions, identifying high-quality investment opportunities, and ensuring optimal performance across the portfolio

    Phone number

    +372 56285485

  • Johanna Maria Uuspõld

    Support Assistant

    LinkedIn

    Johanna supports our office in managing daily tasks. She describes her primary goal as creating a supportive and healthy work environment. It is important for her that all team members feel valued and satisfied because that is how the best results are achieved.

    Johanna’s goal is to see opportunities rather than problems – her solution-oriented mindset guarantees that everything runs smoothly. With her strong organizational and time management skills, she keeps work processes under control, allowing the team to focus on key goals. Johanna’s warm and friendly energy brings a positive spark to the workplace, making each day enjoyable and motivating.

    Phone number

    +372 5271619

  • Maris Ukanis

    Data Manager / Finance Operations

    LinkedIn

    Maris manages the documentation, data, and finances of Skaala’s investments to ensure that the investment manager and the management team continuously have an overview and understanding of the portfolio’s value for making future investment decisions. Additionally, Maris oversees the accounting of investments and assists with audits.

    Maris has a background in accounting, having worked for several years in a service company where she handled the accounting of different kinds of enterprises.

    Phone number

    +372 53436064

  • Taavet Hinrikus

    Partner

    LinkedIn

    Taavet is an entrepreneur turned investor. As a founding partner at Skaala he oversees our strategy and participates in investment committee work across all of our asset classes. Taavet spends most of his time as a partner at Plural, where he invests in serious founders on a mission to change the world through technology.

    Taavet co-founded Wise in 2010, where he was CEO and later Chairman, which went public in the first-ever direct listing in Europe in 2021. Prior to that, Taavet was Skype’s Director of Strategy until 2008, starting as its first employee. More recently he co-founded Jõhvi Coding School to help increase the number of people with coding skills in Estonia. He’s been an active investor for almost two decades, looking for 10x better solutions to huge problems that have an impact globally – angel activities that over time grew into a family office and then a professional investment partnership that became what we call Skaala today.

    Taavet sees technology, education, and entrepreneurship as the most potent agents of positive change and progress, and his commitments reflect his dedication to that.

  • Sten Tamkivi

    Partner

    LinkedIn

    Sten Tamkivi is an entrepreneur turned investor. As a partner at Skaala he contributes to strategy and investment committee work across all of our asset classes. He spends most of his days investing hands-on in the most ambitious early-stage tech founders in Europe as a partner at Plural.

    Sten co-founded Teleport (acquired by Topia in 2017) after serving at Skype as an early executive for over 8 years from early startup years to the exit to MSFT. He made his first angel investment in 2005, and since 2020 made investing his full-time gig, co-founding the Taavet+Sten investment partnership, which has now evolved into Skaala.

    Sten values a tolerant, open and creative society, speaks up for entrepreneurship, supports the startup movement, pushes for better tech education and used to advise President Ilves of Estonia on the above. He has held a number of private, public, government, and non-profit board seats.

    Sten holds a MS in Management degree from Stanford GSB.
Tallinn, Estonia 11:28 GMT+3
© 2024