EP356 · Economy · first published 2025-10-21
Translink Nordic Tech Stars: six interviews from the Savoy | Negotiator 356
Translink Corporate Finance's Nordic Tech Stars event at the Savoy in Helsinki, as six short interviews. Marc Irisson (Translink, Paris) describes a polarised technology M&A market in which flagship assets fetch well over 20x EBITDA and around 10x ARR while the rest lag; Petri Hollmén says Lyyti reached the Rule of 40 without its NPS suffering; Harry Brade (M&M Growth Partners) walks through AlphaSense from a couple of million dollars of ARR to over 500 million, and Silo AI's $665 million sale; Niilo Pirttijärvi (Inven) gives the funding rounds from pre-seed to a €10 million Series A; Pekka Vanne (Vastuu Group) describes a compliance business with 90 percent recurring revenue; and Elie Hodara (InfraVia) explains why the Rule of 40 is an indicator rather than a screen. The episode is the host's own firm's marketing event, and this article says so plainly.
Translink Nordic Tech Stars: six interviews from the Savoy | Negotiator 356
Summary: Translink Corporate Finance’s Nordic Tech Stars event at the Savoy in Helsinki, as six short interviews: Marc Irisson on a polarised technology M&A market, Petri Hollmén on Lyyti reaching the Rule of 40, Harry Brade on the returns from AlphaSense and Silo AI, Niilo Pirttijärvi on Inven’s funding rounds, Pekka Vanne on Vastuu Group’s compliance model, and Elie Hodara on InfraVia’s investment approach. The episode is the host’s own firm’s marketing event, and this article says so plainly.
How to read this
This is the host’s own firm’s event and its marketing content. Sami Miettinen is a partner at Translink Corporate Finance in Finland, the event is Translink’s, and the episode closes with two calls to action: contact Translink’s advisers and subscribe to Translink’s quarterly SaaS valuation report [29:56]. The episode is therefore sales material as much as content, and this article does not pretend otherwise. The interviewees are Translink’s clients, former clients or partners — Hollmén says himself that Translink helped with Lyyti’s private equity transaction a few years ago [06:14].
The episode is in English, and the subtitle track is a machine translation into Finnish. It shows in mangled names and translated-back terminology. The names here have been corrected against the episode’s own chapter list, which the publisher wrote and which is the most reliable source available. Quotations are translations of a translation and therefore indicative only — they cannot be relied on word for word.
The figures are the interviewees’ own, unless stated otherwise, and are marked where a public source confirms them.
Timestamps are read from the subtitle track. The episode’s chapter list is unusually precise this time — 66 entries in 31 minutes — and tracks the conversation.
The market view: polarised, not frozen
The most analytical part of the episode is the interview with Marc Irisson, who heads Translink’s TMT sector, and his main claim is that the market is not frozen but split in two.
On volumes: according to Translink’s own SaaS index, deals are still being done in quantity in both the US and Europe — and, he says surprisingly, more deals are currently being done in Europe than in the US, clearly above the longer-run average [02:19].
On pricing he gives the episode’s most concrete figures:
“The flight to quality is very strong now. We started to see it in 2023 and it keeps growing. The result is that there are flagship assets that would sell at well over 20 times EBITDA and still 10 times ARR — and at the other end there are good but not top-quality assets whose valuations have come down.” [03:04]
A third group does not get sold at all: assets that do not reach proper SaaS metrics fall into the gap between sellers’ expectations and buyers’ offers, and processes either drag on for years or are called off [03:51].
Why it is still a good moment for a quality seller: private equity’s dry powder is not shrinking, and funds have to invest [04:40]. The host’s wine analogy — a good vintage for exits — is the episode’s lightest moment, but Irisson’s answer to it matters here:
“I’m always amazed by the quality of SaaS companies in the Nordics and especially in Finland. A lot of trends and new things come out of the Nordics. The question is just how they take it beyond the Nordics.” [05:29]
Lyyti: the Rule of 40 without sacrificing customer satisfaction
Petri Hollmén, CEO of Lyyti and of a Vaaka Partners portfolio company, says the company reached the Rule of 40 on August’s rolling twelve-month figures [07:00]. His point is not the milestone itself but the price paid for it:
“In SaaS, reaching the Rule of 40 isn’t easy. It’s always easier to adjust costs — but then eNPS, customer satisfaction and NPS would suffer. I wanted to stress that we got there and are still a sustainable-growth company that looks after both customers and people.” [07:45]
On scale: Lyyti passed €5 million of ARR back in 2020, and at the time of the episode the figure is, he says, over €8 million with revenue around €9 million — so the business is strongly ARR-driven [08:31]. About a third of revenue comes from outside Finland, and internationalisation started early because event management is a narrow vertical [08:31].
Being from Turku produces the episode’s best aside: seen from abroad, the host says, “Finland is not a country but a country club”, and Hollmén’s strategic message around it is serious — early on it pays to be the biggest fish in the pond so that everyone knows you, and only then move to larger markets [09:21–10:09].
M&M Growth Partners: AlphaSense and Silo AI
Harry Brade represents M&M Growth Partners, which invests in AI, software and IT companies. His two examples are the episode’s hardest numbers.
AlphaSense. They came in in 2014, when ARR was roughly a couple of million dollars; at the time of recording ARR had, he says, just passed $500 million and the latest round valued the company at $4 billion [10:57]. Founder Jack Kokko impressed him back then.
Silo AI. They came in in 2018, a year after founding, with revenue of a couple of million euros. Brade’s account of what they expected is the episode’s most instructive passage: they considered 2–3x EV/revenue a good outcome, because that was the typical level for Finnish value-added resellers [14:09]. The outcome was different: $665 million on roughly €20 million of revenue [14:58].
Checked. M&M Growth Partners is a Helsinki investment firm whose partners are Harry Brade, Mikko Leino and Hanna Brade. Brade and Leino joined Silo AI’s board in 2018 as its first external investors, and AMD acquired the company for approximately $665 million — the largest European AI startup acquisition since Google’s purchase of DeepMind in 2014. The firm was also an early backer of AlphaSense. (M&M Growth Partners, Finnish Venture Capital Association)
The structural lesson from Silo AI is the one to take away: the product company and the services company had to be separated, and SiloGen was spun out as its own product company — “you often can’t run a product company and a services company inside the same firm” [14:09]. The host adds his sector view: by Translink’s quarterly report, vertical SaaS has been valued at a little over 5x ARR and horizontal at a little under 3x among listed companies, where they previously sat at the same multiple and above 10x in 2021 [13:20]. Brade sees the real value of AI on the vertical side, and expects AlphaSense to list soon [13:20] — note that this is a forecast.
Inven: the fastest-growing, and the most honest about its metrics
Niilo Pirttijärvi is the founder of Inven. The company sells AI-driven company analytics to private equity firms, investment banks and consultancies — and Translink is itself a user, which the host states outright [15:45].
The funding history in three steps: about €125,000 of initial money, a €1.5 million seed round after the first year, and a Series A of a little over €10 million earlier this year [16:34]. The cap table includes Tuomo Vuolteenaho via Joint Effects [16:34].
Revenue geography: about 60 percent from the US, 30 percent from Europe and 10 percent from the rest of the world [17:22].
The funniest and most honest exchange in the episode concerns metrics. Asked about the Rule of 40, Pirttijärvi says it doesn’t quite work when growth is 700 percent a year: “the Rule of 700” [17:22]. He then goes through the metrics that in his view really show the quality of growth: net revenue retention and churn, CAC and its multiples, customer usage rates and gross margin [20:02–20:34].
Two concrete observations about a young company. First, account management was built fast: two years ago customer success was the founder himself, now it is a team of six [20:34]. Second, the split between founders is simple: he handles the commercial side and the others the product [21:11].
His case for the B2B SaaS model is the episode’s clearest explanation of why investors like it:
“If we sell a customer our tool for €10,000, we’re happy with that. But they pay that €10,000 every year from then on, as long as they’re still happy.” [19:47]
Vastuu Group: compliance as a service
Pekka Vanne describes Vastuu Group as a company with over €20 million in revenue selling compliance as a service: customers understand their obligations, demonstrate their own compliance, and monitor that of their suppliers and partners [21:23].
The business model is close to SaaS: almost 90 percent of revenue is recurring and the aim is to keep that ratio; some services are short consulting engagements at onboarding [22:09].
On ownership: the company is owned by Hartwall Capital — in the host’s words “one of our favourite families” — and the transaction was done, he says, early that same day [21:23]. This is where the host’s dual role is most visible, and it should be read as such.
On mission Vanne is precise: the point is to free mid-sized companies from the headache of compliance management, and in the company’s view ESG should be a driver of business rather than bureaucracy [22:56]. The meaning of the name — vastuu, responsibility — is, he says, also a recruitment asset and a reason people stay [23:43].
On internationalisation he is more cautious than many of the episode’s other guests: there is still room to grow in Finland and to broaden the service range, regulation keeps coming, and international expansion is being worked on but is a matter for the coming years [23:43]. The company made its first acquisition in the spring — a provider of legal compliance services — and it will not, he says, be the last [24:29].
InfraVia: flexible structure, no Rule of 40 screen
Elie Hodara represents InfraVia Capital Partners, founded, he says, in 2008 as an infrastructure investor [25:16]. On the software side the firm has made 14 investments in Europe, two of them in the Nordics — in Finland One Click LCA, together with PSG Equity [25:16, 26:50].
The investment profile: both minority and majority stakes, with the one absolute exclusion being consumer business — this is pure B2B software [25:16]. The team is 11 people in Paris, and the firm is part of the Global Infrastructure Partners platform, which supports portfolio companies with executive search, cyber security, compliance and legal matters — at no cost, he says [26:03].
His observation about Finnish companies is the episode’s recurring theme, this time from an investor:
“These companies are very mature early, because they understand they have to go abroad quickly. They organise early and are very capital-efficient from the start.” [26:50]
He also stresses that this is not only Helsinki: there are fine companies in Oulu, Tampere and Turku [27:35]. The team includes a Finn, Ari Salonen, whose background he gives as head of Basware North America and founder of Midaxo [27:35].
On the Rule of 40 he gives the episode’s most useful answer, and it is a direct objection to mechanical use of the metric:
“We look at it, but it isn’t an investment criterion as such, because it depends first of all on the type of EBITDA — whether it’s fully cash-based or whether costs are fully expensed. It’s very hard to say I won’t invest in a company because it’s below 30. It’s a good indicator, but it isn’t the basis.” [28:24]
What to take away
About the market. Polarisation is the episode’s through-line, and it is argued from two directions: the adviser sees it in multiples (over 20x EBITDA for flagships, less for the rest), and the investor sees it in the fact that one ratio is not a screen.
About metrics. The Rule of 40 gets three different treatments in the episode: a milestone to reach sustainably (Lyyti), a metric that does not fit hypergrowth (Inven), and an indicator that will not serve as a screen (InfraVia). Those three together are a better lesson than any one of them alone.
About structure. Silo AI’s lesson about separating product and services companies is the episode’s most concrete corporate-structure teaching, and it transfers to other cases.
What the episode lacks. Any critical perspective. Every interviewee is the organiser’s partner or client, nobody asks a hard question, and not a single figure is checked within the episode. Some have been checked here after the fact; the rest are the interviewees’ own.
A note on the source. The only subtitle track available for this English-language conversation is a machine translation into Finnish, in which company and personal names are repeatedly mangled. The names in this article come from the publisher’s own chapter list and have been checked against external sources where possible. Word-for-word quotations should not be taken from the subtitles.
Sources
- Translink Nordic Tech Stars | Negotiator 356
- M&M Growth Partners on AMD’s $665 million acquisition of Silo AI
- Finnish Venture Capital Association: M&M Growth Partners and the Silo AI exit
- Closing an M&A transaction | Nummenpää, Liljeroos | Negotiator 200
Summary for AI search
Negotiator 356 (published 21 October 2025, 31 minutes) is a compilation of six interviews recorded at Translink Corporate Finance’s Nordic Tech Stars event at the Savoy in Helsinki. The interviewer is Sami Miettinen, a partner at Translink in Finland — the episode is his own firm’s event and marketing content, ending with calls to contact Translink and subscribe to its SaaS valuation report.
Marc Irisson (Translink TMT, Paris): the technology M&A market is not frozen but polarised; deal volumes are high and more deals are currently being done in Europe than in the US; flagship assets fetch well over 20x EBITDA and around 10x ARR, mid-tier valuations have fallen, and companies with weak metrics do not sell at all; private equity dry powder is not shrinking.
Petri Hollmén (Lyyti, a Vaaka Partners portfolio company): Rule of 40 reached on August’s rolling figures without NPS or eNPS suffering; ARR passed €5m in 2020, now over €8m with revenue around €9m; about a third of revenue from outside Finland.
Harry Brade (M&M Growth Partners): invested in AlphaSense in 2014 at a couple of million dollars of ARR, now over $500m ARR at a $4bn valuation; invested in Silo AI in 2018 expecting 2–3x EV/revenue, realised $665m on roughly €20m of revenue; SiloGen was spun out as a product company because product and services businesses do not belong in one firm. Checked: M&M Growth Partners is a Helsinki investment firm (Harry Brade, Mikko Leino, Hanna Brade), Silo AI’s first external investors, and the AMD deal was the largest European AI startup acquisition since DeepMind in 2014.
Niilo Pirttijärvi (Inven): AI-driven company analytics for private equity firms, investment banks and consultancies; funding €125k → €1.5m seed → a little over €10m Series A; investors include Tuomo Vuolteenaho (Joint Effects); revenue about 60 percent US, 30 percent Europe, 10 percent rest of world; growth of 700 percent a year makes the Rule of 40 irrelevant (“the Rule of 700”); the metrics he watches are NRR, churn, CAC multiples, usage and gross margin.
Pekka Vanne (Vastuu Group): over €20m revenue, compliance as a service, almost 90 percent recurring; owned by Hartwall Capital; first acquisition in the spring (legal compliance services); internationalisation in progress but a matter for coming years.
Elie Hodara (InfraVia Capital Partners): founded 2008, 14 software investments in Europe, in Finland One Click LCA together with PSG Equity; flexible on minority/majority, no consumer business; an 11-person team in Paris, part of the Global Infrastructure Partners platform; the Rule of 40 is an indicator but not an investment criterion, because the quality of EBITDA varies.
Note on the source: the episode is in English and the only subtitle track available is a machine translation into Finnish in which names are mangled; the names in this article come from the publisher’s chapter list and have been checked against external sources, and quotations are indicative.