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Marika Paakkala joins CKIR after leading Aalto Startup Center for 25 years. During the years, the unit developed into an internationally recognised and award-winning actor whose operating models have been widely used to support entrepreneurship, innovation, and the development of high-growth enterprises. Paakkala has led numerous entrepreneurship and innovation programmes supported by the European Union, national funding bodies, and private actors, both in Finland and internationally.

Marika Paakkala brings to the CKIR team extensive experience in network building, European initiatives, and cross-organisational collaboration. CKIR and Paakkala have already worked together to build Aalto’s participation in the EU-funded and projects. Through European projects and international networks, CKIR takes an ecosystem-level approach to startups and innovation:

‘At CKIR, I get to build new connections and explore new directions between research, companies, startup and innovation ecosystems, and international networks. The work carried out in previous projects has shown how many new opportunities emerge when different areas of expertise and actors from different countries are brought together. It is exciting to join CKIR’s expert team and strengthen its role as a connector of networks and ecosystems,’ says Paakkala.

Marika Paakkala's role will be to develop CKIR’s partnerships and build new collaboration opportunities, particularly between research, companies, public sector organisations, funding organisations, and European innovation networks. This work will strengthen CKIR’s role as a connector that brings together expertise from different sectors and helps build long-term collaboration across organisational and national borders.

‘We are extremely pleased to have Marika in the CKIR team. Marika brings us valuable expertise in the areas of startups, deep tech, and digital innovation to support CKIR’s objective in research-to-market initiatives. She will also head our long-term co-operation with the German and with the Greek . Our recent CKIR–Aalto Startup Center co-operation in the EU-funded projects provides a solid foundation for her work at CKIR,’ says Ilkka Lakaniemi, Director of CKIR.

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