Ilkka Kivimäki

Who they are

Ilkka Kivimäki is a Partner at Maki.vc — a former World Rally Championship navigator who co-founded Wicom Communications (sold to SAP) and was first investor and chairman of Wolt before it became a DoorDash acquisition.

Person

Ilkka holds a DI (Diplomi-insinööri), Finland's engineering master's equivalent, and then did something almost nobody in venture capital has done: spent roughly two decades as a professional rally navigator at the World Rally Championship level — Fiat from 1974 to 1975, Lancia through 1988, Toyota in the early 1990s, and Subaru from 1990. After motorsport he coached young drivers at the Finnish Auto Sport Federation. The pivot to tech came through co-founding Wicom Communications, a company he built and sold to SAP, which established his operator credibility. He was first investor and chairman of Wolt long before it became a household name, and served the same dual role at AImotive. He's been a founding partner at Inventure and a board member at Spinnova, the Finnish materials company, and Wave Ventures, a student-led VC. He now sits as Partner at Maki.vc, an early-stage fund focused on deep tech and distinctive brands, and writes on Medium at medium.com/@ilkkakivimaki on startup investing, entrepreneurship, and technology. The through-line is a navigator's instinct — pattern recognition under pressure, reading terrain ahead of the car — applied first to rally stages, then to early-stage companies. He's a frequent podcast guest (The Growth Pod, Venture Capital Unlocked, Futucast, Leadcast) and speaks at events like NORDEEP Nordic Deep Tech Business, often on why Finland is an underrated place to build.

Network

No direct edge data was returned for Ilkka's network. From the claims, his closest named associations are through board and early-investor roles: Wolt (first investor and former chairman), AImotive (first investor and chairman), Spinnova (board/deputy board member), and Wave Ventures (board member). His VC career has run through both Inventure and Maki.vc, placing him inside Finland's core early-stage investor community.

How they likely show up

Two decades as a professional rally navigator → he is wired for fast, high-stakes pattern recognition and making consequential calls with incomplete information.
Hybrid role pattern (founder → first investor → chairman → VC partner) → he doesn't distinguish sharply between building and backing; he likely stays close to portfolio companies operationally.
First investor and chairman at both Wolt and AImotive → he bets early and takes governance responsibility, not just a financial position — he shows up.
Active Medium blogger and frequent podcast guest across Finnish and Nordic media → comfortable being on the record; likely prefers direct, substantive conversation over pleasantries.
Board member at Wave Ventures (student-led VC) alongside senior roles → invests time in the next generation, probably enjoys mentoring conversations as much as peer ones.
Founder who sold Wicom to SAP before moving into investing → has lived the full founder arc; will read founder pitches through that lens, not just a spreadsheet.

Conversation tips

→ Reference the Wolt bet specifically — being first investor and chairman before it scaled is a defining moment; he'll have strong opinions on what he saw early that others missed.
→ The rally navigation background is not a curiosity — it's his actual mental model. Asking how he thinks about 'reading the road ahead' in venture will get a more revealing answer than any standard VC question.
→ He speaks publicly about Finland as an underrated place to build; if you have a view on Nordic or European deep tech, lead with it — he engages with that debate.
→ He writes and podcasts in both Finnish and English; don't assume the Finnish-language content is inaccessible — he covers substantive themes there too.
→ Avoid treating him as purely a financial allocator — his identity is builder-first, investor-second. Frame any conversation around company-building, not fund mechanics.

Toolbox

Openers

Open on Wolt — he was first investor and chairman before the company's breakout, and that early call is the clearest proof point of his pattern recognition. Ask what he saw that the market hadn't priced yet.
Bring up the rally navigation career as a genuine framing device: he navigated at the WRC level for Fiat, Lancia, Toyota, and Subaru over roughly two decades — that is an unusual cognitive background for a VC and he has clearly thought about what it transfers.
Reference his Leadcast episode on why Finland is the best country to start a company — it's a stated, on-record view, and if you have any Nordic portfolio or market angle it's an immediate shared frame.

Discovery questions

You were first investor and chairman at both Wolt and AImotive at very early stages — what does a company look like at that point that makes you take on the governance role, not just write a cheque?
After two decades navigating at WRC level, what specifically from that environment do you find yourself applying when you're evaluating a deep tech founder under pressure?
Maki.vc sits at the intersection of deep tech and distinctive brands — those feel like different selection logics. How do you hold both criteria at once when you're making an investment decision?

Avoid

Don't treat the rally career as a colorful footnote to get through before the 'real' conversation — he has built his investor identity around that background, and dismissing it will signal you haven't done the work.

Make it yours