Jyväskylä Business Rally
Investor Day

Candace Johnson, jury lead

Founding Member of the Sophia Business Angels, president emeritus of EBAN

Excited to announce that the Investor Day´s jury is led by Candace Johnson!

Ms. Johnson is founding Member and was President of the Board of the Sophia Business Angels in Sophia Antipolis, France from 2006 – 2008 as well as president emeritus of EBAN. In 2023 EBAN’s President Emeritus Candace Johnson, was paid tribute by EU Commission President von der Leyen of her work as a founding member of the Global Board Ready Women (GBRW), advancing the “Women on Boards” initiative, which subsequently became European law on 22 November 2022. City of Jyväskylä is welcoming Candace Johnson to Finland!

Haruka Arai, jury member

Executive Director 
CEFMOF

Haruka Arai is Executive Director of Cefmof. Cefmof is a foundation established by the City of Jyväskylä, the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team and the Toyota Mobility Foundation with the main objective of creating a carbon neutral future.

Haruka started her career in sales planning and market research analysis at NTT DOCOMO, a Japanese telecommunications company, in 2010. She gained experience in corporate, business planning and business cooperation through a secondment to a subsidiary. She was responsible for promoting open innovation between start-ups and NTT Group and investing in start-ups at NTT DOCOMO Ventures (NDV), which has been DOCOMO's venture capital company since 2020.

NTT DOCOMO Ventures has operated funds for over 15 years and invested in over 190 companies in Japan, the USA, Europe and Israel etc.  About 27% of Japanese portfolio companies became IPO. At NDV, Haruka supported and invested in i.e., software, SaaS, digital health, and circular economy start-ups both in B2B and B2C sectors.

Audra Shallal, jury member

EBAN Board Member, Nordic Female BAN, Corenvest
France

Audra is an expert in Women Entrepreneurship and Angel Investment in the EMEA region. She promotes Entrepreneurship and Angel Investing through programs, mentoring, business plan competitions, Business Angel Networks and Women Economic Empowerment within the EU and MENA region.

She consults for international organizations OECD, UNEP, UNIDO and the European Commission, and teaches courses on Entrepreneurship to the Grandes Ecoles such as ENSCP, X, ParisTech, CELSA. Audra has played a key role in launching the Enterprise Financing Network within the MENA-OECD Investment Programme which creates a unique platform to connect entrepreneurs, financiers, research bodies and policymakers in order to improve the conditions for financing entrepreneurship.

Tiina Laisi-Puheloinen, jury member

CEO, FiBAN

Tiina Laisi-Puheloinen is an experienced leader with a proven track record in startups, fundraising, and digital business growth. She has deep expertise in SaaS business models, dynamic pricing, and digital media strategies, and she drives companies toward scalable success.

In addition to her work in the tech and startup ecosystem, Tiina is an active reservist in the Finnish Defence Forces and plays a key role in the defense and security sector. She helps companies navigate growth and strategic expansion in this critical industry.

She firmly believes in strategic leadership, data-driven decision-making, and building sustainable growth models that ensure long-term impact.