Juha Ristolainen
Tech Executive
Tallinn
Summary
As a seasoned Software Executive with 25 years of driving innovation and growth in the digital landscape, I empower companies across various verticals to harness technology for success. Over the past decade, my passion has been focused on shaping the future of finance through FinTech. Currently I am on a mission to democratize access to building wealth for people as a co-founder/CTO of an API investment platform, Upvest.
With a unique blend of technical expertise from a background as a software developer and proven leadership skills, I've built and led high-performing product engineering teams that have delivered exceptional results, often exceeding hundreds of team members in size. My mission is to bridge the gap between technology and business, driving strategic impact for my companies.
With a deep understanding of blockchain, Big Data, AI, and cloud computing, I stay at the forefront of industry trends while ensuring seamless execution across teams. I am now looking for the next big thing that I can get excited about in this age of AI and blockchain.
Let's reimagine what's possible together!
Overview
25
25
years of professional experience
5
5
Languages
Work History
CTO & Co-founder
Upvest
06.2020 - Current
- CTO and Co-founder of an investment API-platform
- Pivoted from initial blockchain custody product to a securities trading API-platform
- Initially the CPTO before helping hire a CPO after pivoting
- Validated and built the product from scratch with go to market after two years
- Helped secure prime FinTech clients like Revolut, N26, Raisin, Bunq, etc.
- Ramped up the engineering team from 5 to 120 and the company from 15 to 300. Hired an engineering leadership team and structured the organization for success using Team Topologies.
- Helped raise 180MEUR in funding from A to C-series from the likes of Notion, Earlybird, Bessemer, Hedosophia, Sapphire and Blackrock
- Increased product and geographical coverage starting from Germany to cover all of EU and from ETFs to stocks, mutual funds, money market funds, etc.
- Helped secure revenues and contracted revenues in the tens of millions (details upon request). On path to 100M ARR in a few years.
Non-Executive Director
Sustashift
11.2024 - Current
- Non-executive director and board member of an AI-tool for regulatory CSRD reporting eliminating manual processes
- Helping the company on long term technology strategy
- Business and technology strategy alignment
CTO Wise for Business
Wise
05.2018 - 05.2020
- Lead the expansion of the Wise API from a few banks to dozens of API integrations
- Achieved year on year growth of 75%
- Helped customers transfer £1bn per week saving them over a billion in fees annually.
- Lead a transformation to platform and API-first thinking, shifting focus from our apps and website to the capabilities to be offered via the API
- Ramped up the B2B team from a few dozen to more than 80 between London, Budapest, Tallinn, New York, Tampa and Singapore.
Advisor
Greencode Ventures
02.2024 - Current
- Technical validation and due diligence for Greencode's investments
- Technology and business strategy alignment
Advisor
Push That Button
05.2019 - Current
- Long term advisory role supporting two co-founders building their products from UView to Push That Button.
- Technology strategy
- Engineer hiring support
Advisor
Hashleap
05.2022 - 12.2024
- Collaborating with a web3 / blockchain payment platform founder as a technical advisor.
Partner and Startup Mentor
Nordic Startup Ventures
04.2021 - 12.2023
- Startup mentor in the Nordic Startup School program
Non-Executive Director
Blockchain & Climate Institute
08.2020 - 05.2023
- Advising on various blockchain initiatives
Advisory Board Member
Sanako
06.2021 - 06.2022
- Advisory board member helping a Finnish language learning solutions company transition from an old hardware-based model to a modern SaaS-based approach
Non-executive Director
Vaana
06.2019 - 06.2021
- Board member in a Finnish HealthTech company called Vaana as part of The Orange Company.
CTO Innovation Hub
Daimler Fleetboard
05.2017 - 05.2018
- Ramped up a cross-functional innovation team
- Experimented and validated on a multitude of ideas thru Proof of Concepts and Minimum Viable Products using Lean Startup and Design Thinking based on Fleetboard's massive Big Data and IoT / Telematics capabilities
- Helped launch a sensor-kit project to productization in Stuttgart HQ
- Worked on supply chain integrity and autonomous fleet concepts utilizing Blockchain technologies. Piloted with Unicef.
CTO
Jaguar Land Rover / InMotion Ventures
10.2016 - 05.2017
- In-house CTO for the mobility startup accelerator/incubator program
- Technical due diligence for InMotion investments
- Coaching / mentoring of startup founders, helping them validate ideas, helping them with their technology choices and strategy, helping them hire their first engineers, etc.
SVP Technology
OfficeServe
03.2016 - 10.2016
- First technical person hired as part of executive management
- Architected and designed the system architecture
- Ramped up a cross-functional engineering team from scratch to 15 people
- Launched the new product MVP in 9 months on web, iOS and Android
Founder
Codemancers
06.2009 - 08.2016
- Founded a software consultancy as a side hustle on top of my main job
- Delivered mobile app projects on iOS, Android, Windows Phone to various clients at a leisurely pace of 1-2 projects a year.
Head of Delivery
TUI Group Mobility Hub
03.2015 - 03.2016
- Delivered the white label mobile app delivery of the TUI mobile app for TUI brands in 8 countries in 13 languages with a cross-functional team of 40+.
- Launched the mobile app in new markets in Benelux countries
- Re-platformed the product from an outdated tech stack to a more fit for purpose stack.
- Transformed the way of working into a more agile format and effective stakeholder management.
- Internalised the tech team from 70% contractors to less than 20% building a robust in-house team.
Technology Director
Futurice
05.2014 - 05.2015
- Helped Futurice grow from 10 people in Helsinki to many hundreds of people across Helsinki, Tampere, Stockholm, Berlin, Munich and London.
- Personally was part of setting up the Tampere, London and Berlin offices among the first few employees
- Delivered a lot of cross-functional projects to all kinds of clients from Nokia, Microsoft and Samsung to Here maps and Kesko as well as many smaller clients.
- Technology oversight on major technologies and usage across the company
- Thought leadership, evangelism, mentoring
- Architecture, solutions work, sales support, consulting
Various Different IC Roles in Software Engineering
Futurice, Sasken, TeliaSonera, Tampere University
05.2000 - 04.2014
- Started out as a programmer in TeliaSonera and HypermediaLab in Tampere University of Technology
- Joined Futurice as 6th employee
- Grew with Futurice all the way up to Technology Director over 10 years.
- Delived a Broadcom IVE3 GPU device driver project for Nokia N8 at Sasken
- Ported OpenCV to Symbian C++ implementing own fixed math classes (with no FPU on chips back then)
Education
Master of Science - Compute Science
Tampere University of Technology
Tampere 04.2001 -
Skills
Strategic Leadership via building empowered autonomous teams
Affiliations
- Member of the Finnish Business Angel Network (FiBAN)
- Advisor at Greencode Ventures
- Owner / Director of my holding company Ristolainen OÜ
Accomplishments
- Built a category leading investment infrastructure platform from scratch to go to market, expansion and tens of millions of revenue while ramping up an engineering team from 5 to 120.
- Expanded Wise API coverage from a few banks to dozens of API integration clients
- Launched an eCommerce MVP from scratch in 9 months while ramping up a team around me from 0 to 15 at OfficeServe
- Expanded Futurice international presence by ramping up Tampere, London and Berlin offices
- Delivered a Broadcom IVE3 GPU-driver from scratch on Symbian C++ for Nokia N8 launch
Timeline
Non-Executive Director
Sustashift
11.2024 - Current
Advisor
Greencode Ventures
02.2024 - Current
Advisor
Hashleap
05.2022 - 12.2024
Advisory Board Member
Sanako
06.2021 - 06.2022
Partner and Startup Mentor
Nordic Startup Ventures
04.2021 - 12.2023
Non-Executive Director
Blockchain & Climate Institute
08.2020 - 05.2023
CTO & Co-founder
Upvest
06.2020 - Current
Non-executive Director
Vaana
06.2019 - 06.2021
Advisor
Push That Button
05.2019 - Current
CTO Wise for Business
Wise
05.2018 - 05.2020
CTO Innovation Hub
Daimler Fleetboard
05.2017 - 05.2018
CTO
Jaguar Land Rover / InMotion Ventures
10.2016 - 05.2017
SVP Technology
OfficeServe
03.2016 - 10.2016
Head of Delivery
TUI Group Mobility Hub
03.2015 - 03.2016
Technology Director
Futurice
05.2014 - 05.2015
Founder
Codemancers
06.2009 - 08.2016
Master of Science - Compute Science
Tampere University of Technology
04.2001 -
Various Different IC Roles in Software Engineering
Futurice, Sasken, TeliaSonera, Tampere University
05.2000 - 04.2014
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