How To Build A Successful Financing Strategy: From Seed Funding To A €120m Round?
Finnish wind turbine manufacturer WinWind raised €120 million in September 2008. Lassi Noponen, Chairman of WinWind at that time, agreed to share his experience building a successful investment strategy from the initial seed round to a successful exit.
During the early 90's, Lassi worked for Neste Plc in various legal,technology and M&A positions and (with an MBA from London Business School)as VP and Group Controller at Neste. In the late 90's he left Neste for investment banking and joined Evli Corporate Finance as a partner.
The story starts in the early 2000's, when Lassi was co-founder and CEO at Proventia, a cleantech venture fund. Proventia made the first investment (of € 1 million) in WinWind's first round. Later on, Lassi negotiated the later rounds with the Finnish pension fund Varma and Finnish Industry Investment. In 2006, Lassi managed the rounds with the Indian Siva Ventures as the Chairman of WinWind. Finally, he managed a €120 million round with Masdar of Abu Dhabi in 2008.
