Team introduction

Heidi Kakko leads the Development Fund´s investment division by preparing the investments and developing the whole market.

Heidi has been actively participating in financing and acquiring companies since 1995, she worked on business consultation and finance at the world`s biggest consultation company PricewaterhouseCoopers for more than 10 years.

Before joining the Development Fund, Heidi worked as an M&A Leader at an international investment company East Partners, focusing on the markets of Ukraine, Russia and Georgia.  As an executive manager, Heidi has gained experience working at the biggest BTL agency in the Baltics as well as developing one of the first Estonian training companies into a business school.

Heidi graduated from the University of Tartu, cum laude, specialising in international economics. She has also studied at George Mason University, USA.

Heidi speaks fluent English and Russian, and has improved her German while working for the foreign trade department of the pharmacy company Grünenthal and practicing in the Ministry of Economics in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

In addition to work, Heidi guides projects focused on youth entrepreneurship and social development as the vice president of JCI Estonian chamber (Junior Chamber International) and as a member of the Advisory body for AIESEC Estonia.

Heidi gains positive experience by promoting the art of gastronomy, spending time with her children and travelling by motorbike.

Indrek Kelder focuses on finding and analysing the suitable innovative companies for investments. 

Indrek has been working on innovation and innovative companies in Estonia for the last 6 years. Before joining the Development Fund, he analysed science and development projects for companies and research institutions, working at EAS (Enterprise Estonia) as an R&D coordinator. In addition, he implemented his leadership skills at EAS by developing the division of innovation projects, developing support programmes and application procedures.

Indrek´s practical experience with managing young and growing companies originates from the field of active sales and promotion of economy software, industry devices and building materials.

Indrek holds a Master´s degree in economics with a specialism in strategic management. In his free time, Indrek likes diving and motorsports. He has been part of the Saaremaa rally organising committee and has participated in several rallies. Indrek's family has one child.

Andrus Oks works for the Development Fund´s investment division, dealing with different questions related to investments and advises the Estonian start-up companies on professional questions.

Andrus has practical experience in initiating, managing and financing a technology company. He used to work as the executive director of OÜ Müomeetria (currently he is still a member of the board), leading the innovative medical device Myoton´s commercialisation in 2003-2008. 

Andrus compiled and implemented a development programme as a result of which a new medical device was brought to the market. In order to do that, he created a multi-disciplinary team, developed a cooperation network consisting of international resellers and research institutions and included venture capital and support from the governmental measures.

Andrus also compiled a next-generation Myoton development project, targeted at the market of mass consumer which financing was approved by pan-European program EUROSTARS.

In addition, he achieved a partnership in the 7^th European Framework project MyoAge.

Andrus started his university studies at the University of Tartu and gained a bachelor and master´s degree in economics with focus on finance and foreign economy. After that he continued his studies at Clark University (USA) and got a Master´s degree. He is currently in the process of writing the doctoral thesis is in the process. Andrus worked at both universities as a lecturer and researcher. He speaks fluent English and can speak Russian as well.

In free time, Andrus spends time with his family and friends, likes sports and social discussions. Andrus is regularly engaged in athletics and promotes a healthy lifestyle.

Kitty is a fan of innovation policy and has dedicated the last seven years of her career to shaping Estonian innovation policy. During this time, strategies, concepts and programmes have been developed at the Technology and Innovation Division, started and led by her at the Estonian Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, with the single goal of building the foundations of an innovation-based Estonia.

Kitty has international work experience in the Chief Directorate of Enterprise at the European Commission and in the Finnish technology and innovation agency TEKES. In addition, she has represented Estonia in several international working groups and in the Innovation Policy Council at the European Commission.

In addition to her job at the Development Fund, Kitty is participating in the development project of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs helping Georgia to build up its innovation system and policy.

Kitty graduated from Tallinn University of Technology in economics. Since 2002, Kitty has been a visiting lecturer at the University of Tartu, where she has taught "Technology and Innovation Policy" as part of the MA degree in Technology Management.

Kitty has three children between the ages of 3 and 15. She appreciates good food accompanied by good wine and company. Kitty joined the Development Fund in January 2008.

Kristjan Rebane has been involved with information and communication technology (ICT) topics for 15 years, and is no stranger to a sea of acronyms from TCP/IP to SWOT.

His responsibilities have included managing Information Society Programme at the Open Estonia Foundation and administering the Tiger University Programme of the Estonian IT Foundation. Some of Kristjan's noteworthy projects are coordinating the establishment of the first Public Internet Access Points in Estonia, setting up the Estonian IT College, and launching SAIS, the national Internet-based enrolment system for universities.

Kristjan has also served on the boards of the Estonian Junior Achievement Foundation and regional internet-connectivity development programme Külatee.

Kristjan graduated with Honours in the telecommunications policy field (Comm. Mgmt) from the University of Strathclyde (Scotland) Business School Master's (MCM) programme in 2003.

The languages he commands best are Estonian and English, but can manage well also in Finnish, Russian and Norwegian. In his free time, he enjoys good music and films, travelling and spending time with his good friends. Kristjan joined the Development Fund in September 2007.

Siim used to work in the Ministry of Finance as a project manager for planning the 2007-2013 EU structural funds and head of negotiations with European Commission. In addition, he was responsible for developing the national strategic planning system and financial management.

Siim holds a bachelor degree from Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. In his studies, Siim focused on economic policy and international relations with a special focus on Europe and studied at the University of Oxford in UK for a term.

Siim joined the Development Fund in February 2008.

Since 2009 autumn Siim does Development Fund work from London, where he studies at School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) master's programme on China's economy and international management.

In his spare time, Siim enjoys ball game sports, cinematic arts and good music. Upon possibility he participates in events and projects that introduce study opportunities in the USA and other foreign countries.

Siim speaks fluent English and German and also has a command of Russian and French. Currently, he is trying to learn the basics of Mandarin.

Heido on Eesti majanduse probleemidega ja nendele lahenduste otsimisega olnud seotud taasiseseisvumisaja algusest peale.Ta on osalenud turumajandusele ülemineku esimeste reformide laine kujundamises ja tegutsenud reformide elluviimisel Eesti Ülemnõukogu, Riigikogu ja Vabariigi Valitsuse liikmena.

Heido on nõustanud kahte Eesti peaministrit ja majandusministrit. Ta on korduvalt olnud riigile kuuluvate või riigi osalusega äriühingute nõukogude liige.

Suurepärase kirjutaja ja rääkijana on Heido hinnatud arvaja meedias ning esineja konverentsidel.Tema poolt avaldatud majandusteemaliste seisukohtade ja kommentaaride arv nii trüki kui ka muus meedias on aukartustäratav.

Heido lõpetas 1969 Tartu Ülikooli ja jätkas järgmisel aastal õpinguid sama ülikooli aspirantuuris. Võõrkeeltest saab Heido hakkama inglise ja vene keeles. Vaba aega täidab lugemine ja mõtisklused ning looduses viibimine, vähemal määral ka reisimine

At the same time, several successful entertainment conceptions such as Püssirohukelder were implemented. Later on, he gained entrepreneurial experience by organising work at anart gallery and managing a training company.

Imre has a bachelor´s degree in philosophy from the University of Tartu. In 2008, he defended his Master´s thesis at Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre on creative management.

Imre considers music to be his favourite hobby: he has been a musician for a long time and has performed in several musicals.

In summer, Imre likes windsurfing.  Imre joined the Development Fund in February 2009.

Signe Viimsalu is the lawyer and head of administrative division at the Development Fund. She is responsible for all legal and in-house matters (quality management, financial planning, bookkeeping and digital documentation management) as well as the juridical topics of the clients' investment projects.

She has aMaster's degree (mag iur) from Tartu University (She also has a BA degree from Tartu University (jurisprudence). Currently she is writing her doctoral thesis on International insolvency legislation in the Netherlands.

Signe has previously worked as a lawyer at Intrum Iustitia, Europe's leading Credit Management Services company, as a lawyer and head of the legal department at Enterprise Estonia and as a counsellor for insolvency and restructuring matters in the Liberal Professions and Legal Registers Division at the Ministry of Justice.

She has passed several programmes and courses in the fields of economics, marketing, communication, project financing, public private partnership, strategic management, quality management and human resources management. Additionally she has taken part in several international seminars and conferences in Europe and United States related to topics of public and private law.

She is always one of the key team-players, is not afraid of responsibility or complicated tasks and does not take „no" for an answer easily. Her hobbies consist of improvement of herself in different areas such as quality management, strategic management, self-management, finance, law. In her free time, she enjoys travelling, sailing and playing tennis.

Neeme is the team's balancing voice from the private sector. He has worked as a marketing and PR specialist at the Estonian Savings Bank and Hansapank and as a marketing manager at Hansapank Insurance. Neeme has also been on the other side of the counter- he has led the restructuringof an advertising company.

Neeme likes thinking. In Hansa, he achieved the award for the idea of the year. At the same time, he values the implementation of ideas. He is the co-founder and producer of motion.ee, an Estonian innovative CGI company

Neeme holds a bachelor degree in advertising and media. He has also studied economics and management at Tallinn Polytechnic Institute and taken part in different courses of financial service of Estonian Banking Association.

Neeme has a good command of English and Russian. In his free time, he likes spending time with his family, enjoys surfing and photography.

Aivi is the heart of the Development Fund. Her tasks include everything connected to administration, documentation and HR. Aivi is the person who always knows where, what and why things take place. Aivi looks after the Development Fund´s library and helps others with organizing different meeting, events and seminars. Aivi joined the Development Fund in July 2007. 

In 2007 Aivi graduated from Tallinn School of Economics in secretarial work and currently she is finishing her studies in personnel management. 

Aivi has worked as a customer service assistant in finance, fashion, and catering sector in Estonia as well as abroad. During her studies, she has had practice in different private and public enterprises, supporting her theoretical knowledge with practical experience.

Aivi considers her positive attitude, friendliness, cooperation and communication skills and correctness to be her greatest strengths. In her free time, Aivi likes spending time with her friends, camping and sewing. In the winter, she enjoys snowboarding and cycling in the summer.

Pille works at the Development Fund as the board assistant, in addition, for the investment division, she contributes to raising awareness of venture capital awareness by participating in establishing Estonia Venture Capital Association, organising seminars on venture capital and by creating the investor network. Pille has a bachelor degree from Audentes University in International relations and is currently working towards a Masters degree in European Union Studies at University of Tartu.

In her studies, Pille specialised in relations between Estonia and Russia. In addition, she has improved her knowledge in accounting and economic activities.

She has lived and gained professional experience in the USA and Belgium. She has worked in the office for small entrepreneurs at the Patent Office and in a few corporate enterprises. In addition, she has gained experience in archive administration, bookkeeping and administration - systematicality is close to her heart.

Pille likes reading professional books and keeps herself informed about international politics and issues concerning development cooperation. In her free time, she spends time with her family in Saaremaa, does sports and participates in the work of JCI.

Anu is of key importance for the Estonian Development Fund's staff in distributing information both from in- and outside of the office as well as in communicating with the clients/partners. As a secretary she is contributing to the realization of the main activities of the Estonian Development Fund through qualified service and work environment, and creating positive atmosphere in the office. 

As Anu has always been cheerful and helpful, her dream as a child already was to become a secretary. Now she is a qualified secretary and can't imagine working as someone else.

After finishing the Tartu Art High School in intensified study of art and gaining secretarial and bookkeeping skills in the Tartu Vocational Education Center, Anu has been working in the public and private sectors.

She is very keen on sports, languages, forensics, cooking, music, and calligraphy. She likes to sharpen her mind and wittiness with crosswords, puzzles, tasks, and solving English workbooks.

Before coming to Estonian Development Fund, Berit was working in government communications area mainly on audiovisual and social media projects.

Most memorable projects where Berit participated were the 90th anniversary of the Republic of Estonia and the 125th anniversary of Estonian flag. 

In summer 2009 Berit was a producer of student film "Wanderer" which has now been marked in several film festivals.

Berit is finishing her studies on Public Relations and Media in Tallinn University Baltic Film and Media School. Berit enjoys rowing and diving.

Before joining the Development Fund, Stanislav was leading for six years services division in Estonia of world's largest IT company IBM, where his team completed a number of innovative projects, such as implementation of biometric face recognitions solution for governmental security systems. Career at IBM gave him a comprehensive understanding of the technology world and best practices of international business conduct.

Later on, Stanislav has obtained direct experience of entrepreneurship and pain and joy associated with it through establishment of a small trading company specializing in educational toys.

Stanislav started his university studies at the Estonian-American Academy where he acquired a bachelor's degree in economics focused in international business. He continued his studies years later at University of Tartu master's program in economic, strategic management specialization, and he is currently in the process of writing the master thesis.

Stanislav is fluent in Estonian, Russian and English languages. He dedicates most of his free time to his children and recreational activities with friends. Over the years, Stanislav has been actively engaged in various sports, in recent years his passions are kitesurfing, snowboarding and mixed martial arts.

Enn has extensive experience from the financial industry having served as a fund manager of two emerging market equity funds at Swedbank Investment Funds. He invested in listed stocks in Central and Eastern Europe, Balkans, Russia, Ukraine and Central Asia. Funds under his management exceeded USD 700M at their peak. Prior to managing the funds he built up the equity research team and investment process for the company.

Outside of the Development Fund Enn is still active in equity investments and asset management as he is developing a unique crowd sourced equity fund called CuteFund. 

Enn received a Master of Science degree from Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, USA) with scholarships from the US State Department as well as the university.

His undergraduate degree is from the University of Tartu in Public Administration. During his studies in Tartu Enn used to be an active debater, winning the European chamiponships in 2000.

Enn has worked on both sides of the Atlantic and speaks fluent English, is proficient in Finnish and is touching up on his Russian.

In his free time he likes to cycle, socialize, jog with his two dogs as well as cook and bake - occasionally. He is admitted to be addicted to technology and financial markets, spending many hours keeping himself up to date in those subjects.

Lauri has worked as a press-diplomat at the Foreign Ministry of Estonia and before that he was a journalist at the Estonian Business Daily, focusing on markets.

In 2005 he graduated from the Tartu University majoring in political science. During the studies, he also spent a semester in Lund University, Sweden. 

In 2010 Lauri obtained a Master’s degree in International Economics from the University of Konstanz, Germany.

Lauri is fluent in English and speaks also German and Russian.

In his free time Lauri enjoys sailing and cycling.

Lauri has extensive experience in energy, entrepreneurship and innovation policy. Up until recently he worked as the Director of Energy Department at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, where he was responsible for energy and energy efficiency policy development, implementation and international cooperation.

Among other things, he also helped to put together national renewable energy action plan until 2020 and execute two assigned amount units (CO2) deals worth more than 50 million euros in wind energy and electromobility.

During that time he also served as the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of national grid company Elering, where he helped to put in place new strategy and execute injection of additional equity by government into the company and Eurobond emission on London exchange, to ensure adequate financing for that strategy.

Prior to that he lead at the ministry as the Director of Economic Development Department strategic planning in the entrepreneurship and innovation policy and the execution of more than 20 financing programs and instruments by national business development agencies Kredex and Enterprise Estonia. In his capacity as the Head of Economic Analysis Division he acquired an in-depth picture of Estonian economy and varied experience in conducting policy analysis and evaluations.

While working as an Executive Officer of Technology and Innovation Division, he helped to put together national RD and innovation strategy and develop and execute government programs aimed at supporting business sector RD and technological innovation.

He has served also as Member of the Supervisory Board of Tallinn Science Park Tehnopol and participated as an expert in financing committees of Kredex, Enterprise Estonia, Environmental Investment Centre, Archimedes Foundation.

Lauri has studied public administration at the University of Tartu and business and economics at University of Maastricht in Holland. In addition to native Estonian, he also speaks fluent English and if necessary, can manage to maintain a conversation also in Russian and German.

He likes to spend his free time with his family and doing sports. He is raising a daughter and a baby boy.

In sports Lauri feels himself most comfortably at tennis court or on ski slopes. Also, he is always ready to exchange fishing stories and he is convinced that his biggest catch of 1,2 kilo pike is just the beginning.

Madis acquired a bachelor degree from the University of Toronto in engineering sciences. An internship in the field of structural engineering enabled him to understand the limits of single discipline and guided him towards more interdisciplinary fields.

At masters level he completed a spatial planning program at ETH in Zurich. Travels in South-East Asia as well as participation in various extracurricular seminars and workshops have given him the guiding principle of sustainable development.

His professional experience involves participation in several Swiss national sustainable development programs.

He has been involved with developing and implementing the vision of 2000-Watt-Society in Switzerland, the national program of sustainable neighborhood development and implementation of various strategic planning methods, such as scenario analysis, for the benefit of sustainable regional development.

Madis has also been a consultant for sustainable buildings where part of his work was co-developing the Swiss voluntary label for buildings Minergie-ECO.

In addition to the work at the Estonian Development Fund, Madis also contributes to the sustainable development in Estonia through a non-profit organization at a grass-root level. Part of his work there involves for example executing workshops on do-it-yourself small wind turbines.

In his life he has been committed to various sports from rugby to decathlon. Currently he keeps himself fit with multi-day hikes in the nature.

Tõnis Arro is the CEO of Estonian Development Fund from 2nd of April 2012

 Tõnis has founded and managed many companies and organizations including HR Consultancy Fontes, conference company Baltic Management Conferences and publishing company Hermes.

Tõnis has studied psychology in University of Tartu, psychotherapy in University of Helsinki and senior executive program in London Business School.

He has been mainly active in consulting in the fields of international executive search, management and entrepreneurship development, executive coaching and public affairs.