Timo Ketonen is one of the founders and five partners in Finnish investment company Aboa Advest. The company is focused on business model development and service concepts for startups. Aboa Advest is particularly interested in impact investing: generating a beneficial social or environmental impact, as well as a financial return.
Aboa Advest has invested in OneMind Dogs through Invesdor crowdfunding.
How does OneMind Dogs fit in your investment strategy?
Our investment philosophy is based on our personal values. We want to support sustainable development both privately as well as through our investment targets. Our investment process includes criteria and scoring points for ecological and social dimensions. OneMind Dogs met this criteria.
How do you see the OneMind Dogs mission to give better lives for dogs in the company’s success?
OneMind Dogs has a very clear mission, which in my experience is highly unusual for early phase startups.
According to Peter Thiel’s book From Zero to One about successful startups, a company needs to have one thing that gives it a special and exceptional competitive advantage. Apple has a unique user experience; Tesla has changed the way we think about electric cars. Airbnb and Uber were pioneers of the sharing economy.
The OneMind Dogs mission based story is part of this same family. The company’s method has already been verified and validated through agility, which builds credibility.
How do you see the growth potential for OneMind Dogs?
Investors are of course interested in growth, not a lifestyle business. I believe OneMind Dogs has the potential for significant growth. The market potential is massive and the company has a product that meets a real need. The only question is, what kind of a chunk do they need from the market to be profitable?
What do you think about the OneMind Dogs team?
CEO Noora Keskievari is energetic, positive and approachable. She is a great communicator and very good at networking. Chief Product Officer Heli Mehtätalo-Takala brings solid marketing and financial acumen to the company.
Every startup needs a lot of creativity and courage, and OneMind Dogs has both of these. You also need systematic planning and execution. The way I see it, OneMind Dogs puppy training has a lot of credibility.
What is your message to those considering investing in OneMind Dogs?
Very few Finnish consumer product companies have made it in the US. The lack of a solid distribution platform has often been an issue. OneMind Dogs doesn’t have this problem. The digital service model does not depend on a distribution platform. OneMind Dogs has excellent potential to be successful in a large market that already exists - they won’t have to create it.
View the OneMind Dogs pitch on Invesdor
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