Fundis – team and story

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The Fundis story

Read how, when and why Fundis was founded.

A problem that needed solving

The idea for Fundis was born when Juha Markkanen and Tero Paunonen noticed that fundraising for clubs, school classes and associations was mainly done in very old-fashioned and clumsy ways. The world had gone digital, fundraising had not.

Fundis is born

In 2021, they decided to do something about it and founded Fundis. Over the following years, a huge amount of groundwork was done, including market research and clarifying the laws and taxation related to fundraising.

Nothing like it anywhere in the world

The results showed that there is no model like Fundis in use anywhere in the world, that there is a clear need for it, and that it solves many current challenges for all parties involved in fundraising.

Fundis is really born

Based on this, the development of the Fundis payment app and related backend systems was launched. In spring 2024, a pilot was conducted with the first partners, and the large-scale launch of Fundis began in early 2025!

Seppo Kuusinen

CEO

Seppo joined Fundis during fall 2023 as the app launch approached and took overall responsibility for Fundis’ development.

Seppo has extensive experience in international sales leadership roles in IT, including at Cisco and F5 Networks. In recent years, Seppo spent time in Dubai, where he was establishing Sulava’s Middle East operations.

Outside of work, Seppo is a football fan and travels extensively. He served as chairman of the Finnish national team supporters’ association in 2012-14 and still actively attends Huuhkajat and Helmarit matches.

Jesse Maula

Chairman of the Board

Jesse Maula is an experienced CEO and growth entrepreneur with over two decades of experience in digital transformation, international growth, design, marketing and sales. As a design-led business leader, Jesse has repeatedly demonstrated his ability to renew and build international businesses while creating stylish products and services that delight users and drive business success.

Jesse’s international experience spans Germany, China, Finland, Korea, the United States and the United Kingdom, giving him a global perspective on business challenges and opportunities. His areas of expertise include entrepreneurship, innovation, change management, and modern marketing and sales strategies. A pioneer in human-centered design and design thinking, Jesse has co-authored a business book on design management and published scientific articles on design thinking methods.

As an active investor and board professional, Jesse brings his results-driven approach and team-building skills to Fundis Application Oy, where he creates customer-centric, innovative and agile organizational structures to accelerate growth and innovation.

Juha Markkanen

Founder, Chief Operating Officer

Juha has been an entrepreneur for a quarter of a century. In addition to a traditional fundraising company closest to Fundis, his experience ranges from a specialized construction company to running a restaurant chain.

Juha has also contributed to world peace as a UN peacekeeper. Outside of work, Juha practices Thai boxing, basketball and swimming, and is actively involved in football and culture as the proud father of goal-scoring and artistic daughters.

Tero Paunonen

Founder

Tero is a long-time entrepreneur who has been exporting Finnish screw pile technology to the world for years. Through this, Tero has accumulated expertise in all different aspects of growing and internationalizing a company.

In his free time, Tero practices martial arts and he’s on his motorcycle whenever he gets the chance!

Tommy Korpinen

Business Director, Fundis USA

Tommy Korpinen is responsible for developing Fundis’ operations in North America. He has previously worked at Rovio and The Walt Disney Company, where his responsibilities included developing the film studio’s global business. He has also worked in the music industry at Warner Music Group and EMI Music Group.

In his free time, Los Angeles-based Tommy spends time with family and hockey.

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