Clean indoor air improves customer and employee satisfaction, says new Naava board

Press release June 26, 2019

Naava has chosen a new chairman of the board: Juho Risku, co-founder at venture capital company Butterfly Ventures. In addition, the board has two new members: Pertti Huuskonen, the long-time CEO and board chairman of Technopolis, and Mike Hecker, one of Nespresso’s first employees. Both have a strong background in B2B services and efficient work environments.

The new board chairman Juho Risku encountered Naava for the first time five years ago: “I made the first investment decision in 2014 when I entered Naava’s production area and concretely felt the impact Naava made to the indoor air. Naava is a pioneer in creating human-friendly indoor spaces and securing its growth is the board’s main task.” 

Pertti Huuskonen has had an active role in four IPOs: Hoivatilat, Pro Kapital Grupp, Technopolis and Lehto. They all operate in a business relevant to Naava i.e. in the built environment and related services. 

“Having been in the facility business for a long time, it was easy for me to get excited about Naava’s products. People spend a lot of time indoors, and studies show that people feel and function better with elements of nature around them in the built environment,” said Pertti Huuskonen. 

Swiss Mike Hecker owns Nespresso Professional in the Nordics. In addition, he’s successfully built two office water brands: first Eden Springs and now BE WTR. Practically every Finn has consumed water or coffee provided by Mike Hecker’s companies. 

"I've been a part of growing companies from scratch to hundreds of millions, in Nespresso's case to billions. I enjoy being in the beginning of companies that go big, especially with a strong sustainability focus. Naava is one of those companies. For decades, I've innovated new categories mainly to offices across Europe and I recognise in Naava such a great opportunity and I look very much forward to helping Naava scale its operations in the future," said Mike Hecker. 

The former board chairman Arttu Salmenhaara was invited to be Naava’s CEO earlier this year. The following members remain on the board: Framery’s former CEO Ossi Paija, law firm Fondia’s co-founder Johan Hammaren and Delos’ Peter Scialla with a long career on Wall Street. Naava’s representative for the board’s next period is Naava co-founder Aki Soudunsaari who is taking over the role from CTO, co-founder Niko Järvinen. 

Last week Naava announced a significant partnership with one of the world’s largest furniture manufacturers, Teknion, which just like Naava creates healthier, happier and more inspiring workplaces.

Contact: 

Arttu Salmenhaara, CEO, Naava, arttu@naava.io, +358 50 520 5970

Naava

Naava is a Finnish health technology company founded in 2012 to reconnect humanity with nature in the built environment. We develop intelligent Naava green wall furniture products, which bring the benefits of nature indoors. Naava is more than a beautiful living wall: it’s also an efficient biological air purifier, humidifier and space divider. Wherever you are should always feel like a walk in the park. Indoors too. All you have to do is: breathe. naava.io