BOARDIO - MADE IN FINLAND
8500+ advisors from 100+ countries! Boardio provides companies with the skills and expertise they need to expand internationally.
We've successfully completed hundreds of advisor and board member searches for various companies. See some examples here.
Always free advisor search for companies, start from here.
See our partners.
OUR MISSION
TO PROVIDE COMPANIES WITH SKILLS AND EXPERTISE NEEDED TO EXPAND
Our mission is to be the leading global service for growth companies, providing them with the skills and expertise they need to expand internationally. We do this by connecting them with advisors or board members who have the right experience, networks, and interest in their businesses.
OUR VALUES
OPENNESS - HONESTY - TRUST - EQUALITY
Although Boardio is a global service, we rely on some of the good characteristics of the Nordics - we are originally from Finland - as we believe that these make a good foundation for a successful business in any country.
OPENNESS
We believe in fostering a culture of transparency and openness, where ideas, feedback, and concerns are freely exchanged. Embracing openness allows us to collaborate effectively, promote innovation, and make Boardio a better service for companies and advisors.
HONESTY
If you lose your wallet, better lose it in Finland while there the likelihood of getting it back untouched is the highest in the world.
Honesty is at the core of everything we do. We value truthfulness and integrity in all our interactions. We are not looking for quick wins but are in this for a long term and think that honesty is the foundation for a long term success.
TRUST
We trust in people.
Trust is the foundation of our relationships, both within our organization and with our stakeholders. We work diligently to earn and maintain the trust of advisors and companies. By being reliable, consistent, and accountable, we create an environment where trust thrives.
EQUALITY
Equality is the core of Boardio service. Our selection process is solely based on expertise, qualifications, and experience aiming to provide companies with the most suitable advisors independent of gender, race, religion or any other factor.
HOW IT STARTED
Back in 2009 our founder, Tuomo, while working at Nokia, got this idea to share his expertise and help growth oriented companies in mobile domain. At that time there wasn't services available to help companies find advisors so after some talks with his Nokia collegues, Tuomo decided to leave Nokia and start building one. As you can see from this email that Tuomo sent to his Nokia collegues right before leaving, the initial idea was quite close to what Boardio is today:
"Dear friend,
i'm leaving Nokia in few weeks to set up a new internet service.
In this new service (called Abonnet = Advisory Board on Net) small and medium sized companies can get a group of people to act as advisors to help in new market entry, finding new partners, providing information on competitors etc. - basically to help in any operative or strategic issue company may have.
Abonnet offers a place for companies and advisors to find each other but also a place to run the advisory work i.e. secure online environment to have discussion among the group, share documents and have VOIP/video meetings. Use of internet enables wider use of advisors in a more cost effective way than today. And being an advisor is not limited to board professionals but anyone with valuable expertise and desire to share it could act as advisor."
In 2013 we noticed that the biggest value add we can provide is to help companies find skilled individuals. This lead us to remove features like video meetings and document sharing but also to change our name to BOARDIO.
In 2020 we introduced Company Turnkey service which is the backbone of our offering today. We find suitable advisors for the company and only charge if company starts to work with one we have found.
In 2022 we started to make Boardio a global service by hiring local Country Managers to run Boardio business in their regions - see our current Country Managers below. Global platform with local service is something that works well.
Today in 2023 we are stronger than ever. With 7000 advisors around the globe, hundreds of successfull search assigments and a network of ~20 Country Managers we are a unique source of skills, experience and networks for any growth oriented company. The vision that Tuomo had in 2009 - use internet to share expertise with growth companies - has finally become reality.
MEET THE TEAM
Tuomo Virkkunen
Founder and CEO
The CEO and founder of Boardio, Tuomo has over 20 years of experience in online services, notably at Nordea and Nokia and within the startup community with Boardio. Boardio was founded after Tuomo wanted to start sharing his expertise to growth companies but could not find any services to connect advisors with companies.
Tuomo leads the Boardio global expansion, feature development as well as manages sales & service delivery in Finland and the UK. In addition, Tuomo is the Global VC Leader at BOARDIO.
Andrew Spratley
CTO
Andrew joined Boardio and took on the CTO role to provide consistency to the development process and guide it through it's next stage of development. Andrew brings over 10 years of experience with start-ups and small companies, helping them deliver bespoke platforms and solutions. He enjoys the vibrancy of new companies and working to create something new.
Andrew leads the code and infrastructure development at Boardio.
Gregor Aschoff
Head of APAC and Country Manager Australia
Gregor joined Boardio as the Head of APAC and the country manager for Australia. Over the course of 19 years, he has held executive and company director roles, gaining extensive global experience in transforming and enhancing technical businesses in both B2B and B2C contexts. Throughout his career, he has been involved in various system implementations and upgrades across diverse sectors as well as has actively participated in marketing and sales initiatives for heavy industrial equipment.
Gregor provides guidance to start-up, scale-up, and mature companies regarding market entry, growth, and ESG-related issues.
Per Landquist
Country Manager Sweden
Per has joined Boardio as Country Manager for Sweden. Per has over 17 years of experience as Managing director for Sweden and Finland, within a leading international company, working in the loyalty and value-added services space. Per has also led and being part of management in two startups and spend over 20 years within the Banking and Credit Card business in Sweden. Per´s expertise includes strategic sales, business development and to creating successful partnerships between companies.
Daniel Alonso
Country Manager Spain
With more than 15 years experience as a CEO in different companies and sectors, Daniel is our Business partner for the Spanish market. With a wide experience in international markets, Daniel is an engineer and MBA with a strong background in Corporate Strategy and in Business Development, playing important roles in areas like Innovation, Management or Sales throughout his career in industrial and maritime sectors.
Gaby van Otterdijk
Country Manager Netherlands
Gaby is the Boardio country manager for The Netherlands. Gaby is a business leader with more than 25 years of international experience. As a Strategic Consultant, Advisor and Leader in Capgemini and in Gartner, Gaby worked for hundreds of corporations in Europe and the Middle east. In 2021 Gaby started his own company, where he is now advising and coaching CEOs and Business Owners of Startups, Scaleups and SMBs and has a strong network of business leaders, investors and advisors in The Netherlands.
Ola ElKobrosy
Head of MENA and Country Manager Egypt
Ola is a seasoned Business Advisor, with over two decades of experience in both the public and private sectors across Europe and the MENA region. She possessed an Executive MBA and substantial expertise in facilitating investments, expanding markets, overseeing all support functions, and restructuring organizations. She advises numerous global scale-ups and serves on the boards of venture capital firms.
Jan De Clippeleer
Country Manager Belgium and Global HealthTech Leader
Jan is a senior intrapreneur and serial entrepreneur with a background in Business Development, R&D, Services and Operations in high-tech industries and IT, focusing on Knowledge, Innovation and Change Management. Jan worked 32 years in various industries and 5 years as Executive Director in innovation consulting. Re-using his experience as a founder himself, Jan is also Member of the Advisory Board in several startups and scale-ups. Jan is passionate about 'Open Innovation', bringing corporates and SMEs, startups and scale-ups, Academia and Public Services together to create greater value.
Georg Wolf
Country Manager Germany
Georg is a seasoned sales and marketing executive, innovator, and disruptor with over 25 years of corporate experience at international companies such as Amazon, Apple, Siemens, LEGO, and ProSiebenSat.1.
Throughout his career, he has consistently focused on innovation, data-driven decision-making, customer-centricity, and long-term thinking. With over 20 years of people management experience, having conducted hundreds of interviews and overseen dozens of hirings, he is fluent in all aspects of recruiting and staffing.
Francisco Matos
Country Manager Portugal
Francisco is Boardio Country Manager for Portugal. Throughout his professional career, he has worked in Consulting, Retail and Healthcare industry focusing on Business Development, Corporate Strategy, Business Analysis and KPI development to support decision making. Francisco has also been involved in Portuguese startup ecosystem and university incubators. He strongly believes that Boardio can not only solve a need of a wide range of companies but also foster a new trend in job market.
Alessandro Ortolani
Country Manager Italy
Alessandro is the Boardio Country Manager for Italy. Alessandro has acquired extensive international exposure in the Consumer Goods and Healthcare industry with 25+ years of operating experience in senior corporate roles, leading business growth at various organizational stages. He is a behavioral enhancement entrepreneur and team coach for organizations on their transformation journey. He is also a Business Innovation Coach for the European Commission.
His main areas of expertise are Strategy, Sales and Marketing, Business Model Assessment and Innovation, Organizational Behavior and Change, Innovation and capabilities Transformation, and Global Expansion.
Fabien Tavernier
Country Manager France
Based in Paris, Fabien is a seasoned entrepreneur with over 30 years of experience, having been involved in numerous startups and SMEs as a founder, manager, or associate partner in the IT and digital markets. Beyond his experience in consulting services, primarily for Energy/Utilities, Industry, Healthcare, and pure player markets, the last decade has seen him expand his professional network by collaborating with ventures and corporates to facilitate fundraising for more than 30 startups and companies in France and Europe.
Joining the Boardio network to develop the French market is now the logical step to enhance the provided services.
Valerio Pantalena
Country Manager Switzerland
Valerio is a commercial director for high-tech B2B companies, with education and experience in Europe, Southeast Asia, and the USA. He is a founder of a consulting firm specializing in hardware and software development for life sciences, lab automation, in-vitro diagnostics, and medtech, as well as industrial discrete manufacturing and food and pharma processing.
Valerio is experienced in M&A support for the inorganic expansion of new and established companies, with an extensive network of decision-makers in leading firms and institutions. He is passionate about languages and networking, and enthusiastic about supporting the growth of Swiss companies abroad and foreign companies in Switzerland through Boardio.
Ali Usman
Country Manager Pakistan
With over 20 years of diverse industry experience, including leadership roles at PepsiCo., Baker Tilly International and Pitch-House, Ali brings expertise in FMCG, e-Commerce, FinTech, A.I, SAAS, edTech, HealthTech, and Real Estate. As a 7-time founder with 3 successful exits, including TripDeal, Fund A.I, and WeCommerce Global, Ali has also mentored startups like UberEats and Delivery Hero, while facilitating over $240 million in fundraising and M&A deals. With a focus on financial coaching and entrepreneurship, Ali is committed to driving innovation and growth for businesses worldwide.
Yogendra Mishra
Country Manager India
Accomplished executive with three decades of extensive business and IT experience across renowned multinational corporations, driving innovation and operational excellence, out of which over 24 years are with Ford Motor Company. As Founder Director and Board Member of SigmaT, actively involved in consulting, skill development, and the establishment of GDC/ODC, alongside driving product development initiatives. Hands-on experience extends into manufacturing, encompassing areas such as quality assurance, production management, plant engineering, systems implementation, and process optimization.
Avinash Rai
Country Manager India
With over three decades of expertise in Telecom, Embedded Systems, IoT, and IT, Avi has effectively managed both international and domestic clientele, including renowned entities such as British Telecom UK, AT&T US, and QTel Qatar. As a Co-Founder of SigmaT Consultancy Pvt Ltd, Avi played a pivotal role in establishing the business, achieving annual revenues of USD 100K and securing a patent for a SAAS-based product. Additionally, his tenure as Principal Consultant and Product Development Director at Styletag involved significant contributions to the end-to-end development of an ecommerce platform.
YOU?
Your country
We are expanding Boardio into many new countries and seek several highly motivated and independent Country Managers/Lead/Directors to drive our business in their regions. Please see details here.
Our Offices
Finland
Abonnet Oy
Maapallonkuja 2 B 46
02210 Espoo
info(at)boardio.com
Australia
Cumas International Pty Ltd
gregor(at)boardio.com
Belgium
ATHENA CONSULT
jan(at)boardio.com
Egypt
ola(at)boardio.com
France
Army Of Frogs
fabien(at)boardio.com
Germany
georg(at)boardio.com
India
SigmaT Consultancy Pvt Ltd
yogendra(at)boardio.com
Italy
Mutatio
alessandro(at) boardio.com
Netherlands
Van Otterdijk Advisory
gaby(at)boardio.com
Pakistan
WeCommerce.Pk
ali(at)boardio.com
Portugal
Circulo Transparente, Lda
francisco(at)boardio.com
Spain
NAVALCO Solutions, s.l.
daniel(at)boardio.com
Sweden
PLQ Consulting AB
per(at)boardio.com