Juhani Talvela
Member of the Board, Chairman.

In addition to the Invention Foundation, Talvela is also involved in the board of the Runar Backström Foundation, among others. Techn.lis. Talvela is an experienced entrepreneur and innovation developer. After working as an ICT entrepreneur for a long time, Talvela gave up the companies he founded through a corporate acquisition in 2013. He also works in EU positions and participates, for example, in the evaluation of EIC Transition and EIC Accelerator funding applications of the European Innovation Council and in making funding decisions. Talvela’s research work at Aalto University and LUT University is related to the capabilities of innovators and small businesses in producing, protecting and utilizing technology management and creative capital

Juha Taipale
CEO
Member of the Board

Taipale is an experienced business lawyer who has worked in finance, industry and start-up companies and has since worked as an attorney in several key law firms. Taipale is recognized as one of the leading technology lawyers in Finland and continues to develop the business of his long-standing clients as an advisor through his own company, Jurisystems Oy.

Petri Peltonen is a member of the board and vice-chairman of the foundation.

Peltonen is a mathematician and inventor from Porvoo who has worked as an entrepreneur and employee in over ten different industries. Peltonen also has extensive organizational experience in politics and Christian organizations. Since 2015, he has served as the chairman of the Finnish Inventors’ Association. Peltonen holds a Master of Philosophy degree and is writing a dissertation on the fairness of the pension system in the field between philosophy and actuarial mathematics. He says that he enjoys inventing more than administration, but “still always finds himself in administrative work”. On the other hand, Peltonen believes that in a war, the one with the most functional administration, including maintenance and logistics, typically wins. Therefore, his goal is to organize a clear administration, a strong funding base and an efficient money distribution policy for the Invention Foundation.

Markku Merovuo  is a member of the board.

Merovuo, a social work professional from Kotka, has extensive experience in business services, industry, and commerce. Merovuo is also the chairman of the Kymi Innovation Association and serves as a business mentor for the Finnish Business Mentors Kymenlaakso Association. As a member of the board of the Technology to Products Foundation, Merovuo is authorized to represent the Foundation for Finnish Inventions. Merovuo would like the Foundation for Finnish Inventions to successfully develop the Idea Refinary, an electronic platform for innovators, and for the developers of early-stage innovations to receive 2000-4000€ in core funding from the state. Merovuo considers the improvement of opportunities in regional innovative work to be of paramount importance in the advancement of inventive work.

Sari Merilampi is a deputy member of the board.

Merilampi works as a research professor and a leading researcher at the RoboAIHealth Research Center at Satakunta University of Applied Sciences and is an associate professor at the Faculty of Information Technology and Communications at the University of Tampere. Sari holds a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering and a Doctor of Technology. Sari has many years of experience in customer-oriented development and research of various wellness and health technology innovations, as well as cross-sector collaboration. Sari’s research topics include usability and user experience, wellness games, and applications of radio frequency identification technology in the wellness sector.

Ilkka Niiranen
hallituksen varajäsen