Claes Mikko Nilsen

Claes Mikko Nilsen works as the investment Principal at NordicNinja – A VC fund focusing on Series A ready companies from Northern Europe – which he was part of co-launching in 2019. Alongside his angel and VC investing experience, his expertise includes marketing, communication, community and network building. He is especially keen on the future of work, climatetech and creator economy. Claes Mikko is known for his energy on stage, quick-witted character, and entertaining pitch moderator skills. He is fascinated by startup energy, being able to deliver, and finding that perfect one-liner. With his Finnish-Norwegian family background, he is fluent in Scandinavian languages. EXPERIENCE Claes Mikko is an angel network expert who previously co-founded, and worked as the first director of the Finnish Business Angels Network. FiBAN is today one of the largest and most active angel networks in Europe. From FiBAN Claes Mikko continued to develop the Nordic angel ecosystem as the Managing Director of the Nordic Business Angel Network – NordicBAN that represented over 10 business angel networks and linked over 1700 business angels to share angel investing best practices and match syndication-ready startups. In addition to angel activity, Claes Mikko has been part of developing Slush's Investor Day concept - today one of the most important events in the North European startup scene. Claes Mikko also has an entrepreneurial background and was part of establishing the student entrepreneurship society BoostTurku. Claes Mikko has worked with startup guiding at EnterpriseHelsinki building their startup accelerator service. Claes Mikko was a steering board member at the Rising North Fund, which funded startup ecosystem initiatives supporting the internationalization of Nordic startups.