HELSINKI, FINLAND: Today, it was announced that the newly established venture capital firm, NordicNinja VC, has made its first startup investment to the Finnish MaaS Global. MaaS Global is behind the all-in-one mobility service application branded Whim. Whim was launched in Helsinki in 2017 and has since then expanded to two other cities in Europe: Birmingham (UK), Antwerp (BE). “People’s interest has surpassed our expectations and we have been able to prove the functioning of the service. We are now ready for global expansion.” says Sampo Hietanen, the CEO and Founder of MaaS Global.
MaaS Global has also been successful in gaining wide interest globally including from Japan, where Whim is today one of the most known Finnish startup brands. The investors include therefore several Japanese investors. The company was the first mover using the term “Mobility as a Service” (MaaS) and offering an all-inclusive service of variety of transportation alternatives within one app including taxis, public transport, car rental and bicycles.
“We are extremely excited to be part of the MaaS Global’s growth goals, as there was already great amount of international interest towards the investment round.” says Tomosaku Sohara, the Managing Partner of NordicNinja VC.
NordicNinja VC started with over 100 million euros in January 2019 and is backed by Japanese blue-chip companies, Honda, Omron, and Panasonic, as well as the Japan Bank for International Cooperation. It aims to support scale-up goals in the Nordic and Baltic region through supporting the region’s startups expand into and develop business opportunities in Japan.
