Nokia Growth Partners is pleased to be adding Simon Zhang, Ossi Tiainen and Marshall Yang to our global investment team:

John Gardner, founder and MP at NGP, had this to say: “We run a small and flat organization. The analysts get to participate in deal work and drive investments from the get-go.  We are fortunate to have found such talent in Simon, Ossi and Marshall; they will be an important part of the team going forward.”

We had the chance to sit down with Ossi to learn more about his start at NGP:

First impressions?

I dove in with a week in Berlin filled with company meetings, the NOAH conference and NGP’s own networking dinner, so I got a great intro to the industry and our European peers. A few weeks later, I attended the NGP University training in Palo Alto run by Upal to learn more about the state of the venture industry, NGP culture and the investment process. Overall, I would say it was a very good first impression.

First deal?

The first deal I got to work on was Deliveroo with Bo and Anupam. It was a fast moving deal where we worked tirelessly across time zones to do market analysis, competitive landscape, risk analysis, unit economic breakdown and get all the other investment work done. We managed to turn it around with input from the global team in a week and a half, which is quite an achievement given the size of the deal. The work fast-tracked me onto the due diligence processes at NGP, and I got a bird’s-eye view of the whole process from start to end.

Expectations?

I will focus on the Connected Enterprise theme so looking forward to seeing the evolving enterprise technologies in the different regions where NGP invests. It’s a personal passion point of mine and an area where I can leverage my expertise from my time in consulting. I expect to get very deep knowledge of the industry movements in and around the Connected Enterprise.

Learn More About Our New Team Members

Marshall Yang comes to NGP from LB Investment. Prior to that, he was an analyst at MentorTech Ventures and Robin Hood Ventures. Marshall has a Master of Science in Engineering from University of Pennsylvania, and a Bachelor of Science (1st Class Honours) from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. At NGP, he focuses on the Consumer Solutions theme and will be based in Beijing.

Ossi Tiainen has several years of prior experience in strategy consulting advising large companies and private equity investors on topics including portfolio strategy, business planning, commercial development, and due diligence. Ossi holds a master’s with distinction from Aalto University in Helsinki. At NGP, Ossi focuses on investment opportunities around the Connected Enterprise and will be based in Helsinki.

Simon Zhang holds an MBA from the University of Chicago and a BA degree in Business Administration from Simon Fraser University. He is also a certified CPA (Canada).  Simon’s working experience includes Senior Associate/Analyst positions at Sanford Bernstein, Orbis Investment Management and Deloitte. He also worked as an intern at Tencent and Fidelity Worldwide Investment. Simon will be based in the NGP office in Beijing where he focuses investments on Digital Health companies.

Saying Goodbye to Bright Minds

Two of NGP’s analysts just left for further schooling. Vivek Goyal started his MBA studies at Wharton, and Allen Zhu is about to embark on earning a master’s degree at Columbia University in NY. Best of luck and thank you for your time at NGP!

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