Story of Fundis
The idea for Fundis was born when Juha Markkanen and Tero Paunonen noticed that fundraising for clubs, school classes, and associations mainly took place in very outdated and clumsy ways.
In 2021, they decided to do something about it and founded Fundis. Over the following years, extensive background work was done, including market research and investigation into fundraising-related laws and taxation.
As a result, it was found that there is no existing model like Fundis anywhere in the world, and that there is a clear need for it, solving many current challenges for all parties involved in fundraising.
Based on this, the development of the Fundis payment application and its related background systems began. During spring 2024, we launched a pilot with our first partners, and Fundis’ full-scale rollout began in 2025!
Media and Interviews:
Seppo Kuusinen, CEO
+358 40 1425595
seppo.kuusinen@fundis.fi
Juha Markkanen, Founder & COO
+358 50 5939660
juha.markkanen@fundis.fi
Fundis Team
Seppo Kuusinen
CEO
Seppo joined Fundis in 2023 as the launch of the application approached, taking overall responsibility for Fundis’ development.
Seppo has extensive experience in international sales leadership roles in the IT industry, including positions at Cisco and F5 Networks. Most recently, Seppo lived in Dubai establishing Sulava’s operations in the Middle East.
Outside of work, Seppo is a football enthusiast and loves travelling. He served as the chairman of the Finnish National Team Supporters’ Association from 2012 to 2014 and continues to actively attend matches of the Finnish national football teams (Huuhkajat and Helmarit).
Jesse Maula
Chairman of the Board
Jesse Maula is a seasoned CEO and growth entrepreneur with over two decades of expertise in digital transformation, international growth, design, marketing, and sales. As a design-led business leader, Jesse has consistently demonstrated his ability to transform and build international businesses while creating elegant products and services that delight users and drive business success.
Jesse’s international experience spans Germany, China, Finland, Korea, the United States, and the United Kingdom, giving him a global perspective on business challenges and opportunities. His expertise encompasses entrepreneurship, innovation, change management, and modern marketing and sales strategies. A pioneer in human-centric design and design thinking, Jesse co-authored a business book on design leadership and has published academic articles on design thinking methodologies.
As an active investor and board professional, Jesse brings his results-oriented approach and team-building skills to Fundis Application Oy, where he creates customer-oriented, innovative, and agile organizational structures that drive growth and innovation.
Juha Markkanen
Co-Founder, Chief Operating Officer
Juha has been an entrepreneur for a quarter of a century. In addition to his experience with a traditional fundraising company, he has worked in various sectors, ranging from a specialised construction company to managing a restaurant chain.
Juha has also contributed to global peace as a United Nations peacekeeper. Outside of work, Juha engages in Thai boxing, basketball and swimming. He is also actively involved in football and cultural activities, as the proud father of his goal-scorer and artist daughters.
Tero Paunonen
Co-Founder
Tero is a seasoned entrepreneur who has been promoting Finnish screw pile technology worldwide for many years. Through this, Tero has accumulated expertise in various aspects of business growth and going global.
In his free time, Tero enjoys martial arts, and whenever possible, he can be found on the back of a motorcycle!
Tommy Korpinen
EVP, Fundis USA
Tommy Korpinen is responsible for the development of Fundis’s operations in North America. He has previously worked at Rovio and The Walt Disney Company, where he was responsible for the global business development of the film studio. He has also worked in the music industry at Warner Music Group and EMI Music Group.
In his free time, Tommy, who lives in Los Angeles, spends time with his family and enjoys ice hockey.
Marko Somppi
Chief Technology Officer
Marko’s career in technology spans over 20 years and includes a wide range of experiences. In addition to his CTO roles, Marko has launched and managed his own companies and served as a senior consultant. Through all of this, Marko possesses not only leadership and innovation skills but also a wealth of expertise in areas such as AI, Microsoft, and cloud technologies.
Investors and Partners
Lexia is a key partner to Fundis for both legal matters and business development.
Our 60+ experts in Helsinki, Turku, Tampere and Oulu provide comprehensive business law services with legal excellence and a positive service attitude. We create value for our clients and aim to bring peace of mind.
H3llo Pay, specialised in payment systems, assists Fundis in both strategic and technical development.
Konepalvelu Kuivas is one of Fundis’ investors and also involved in business development.
Fundis Application Oy
Maria 01
Lapinlahdenkatu 16
00180 Helsinki, Finland
Y-tunnus: 3193666-1
Tel. +358 40 142 5595
partners@fundis.fi