Askel Ventures

Acquiring boring businesses.
Building compounding value.

Micro private equity  ·  Nordic small business acquisitions
The Opportunity

A wave of succession transitions
no one is equipped to handle.

73,000+
Finnish entrepreneurs aged 54+
34,000
intend to sell to an outside buyer within the decade
20,000+
viable businesses at closure risk — no suitable buyer exists
A structural gap nobody fills. These businesses are too small for traditional private equity and too operationally demanding for passive investors. The silver tsunami is already here — essential, profitable, founder-led businesses approaching succession with no obvious next owner.
Attractive entry pricing. Cash-generative businesses in essential Nordic services — cleaning, laundry, waste, trades — available at 3–4× EBITDA. A pricing dynamic unavailable at scale in any other asset class. Modern tools, AI, and software now create real efficiency gains previous owners never captured.
Find 01 / 03

We find acquisition targets
before they reach the market.

94+
companies analyzed
100+
brokers tracked
50-item
DD framework
<100 days
first acquisition to close
Sourcing
Weekly
→
Screening
Active
→
IC
Selective
→
Due Diligence
Rigorous
→
Acquired
✓
Steve — AI sourcing agent. Our proprietary AI runs weekly sweeps across broker networks, flags weak signals (job ads, owner interviews, trade press), scores targets against thesis criteria, and maintains the knowledge base. Human judgment closes; AI never sleeps.
Thesis discipline. Revenue 400K–1.5M EUR, 10+ years old, essential services (cleaning, laundry, waste, trades), Finland primary / Sweden and Estonia secondary. 3–4× EBITDA entry. Unglamorous by design.
Broker network. Active relationships with 100+ business brokers across Finland and Scandinavia. Many of our best leads arrive off-market — before they get listed anywhere.
Rigorous pass rate. Our 50-item DD framework covers cash flow durability, customer concentration, equipment condition, staffing risk, and more. Nothing gets waved through.
Fund 02 / 03

Ordinary shares.
Raising up to €1M. Min €100K.

What you're buying

01Melers — our first acquisition, operational and cash-flowing today.
02Portfolio cash flows — growing income from a compounding pipeline of profitable businesses.
03Founding team — four serial entrepreneurs, hands-on, boots on the ground.
04Documented playbook — proven system for sourcing, acquiring, and developing SMEs.
05AI platform — including Steve 🦔, our proprietary sourcing and operations agent.
Instrument
Ordinary shares — same class as founders. No preference stack. We win when you win.
Target IRR
25–35% holdco. Exit at 6–8× EBITDA per company.
Liquidity
Portfolio exits from year 3. Secondary transfers with ROFR. Full exit via holdco acquisition.
Use of funds
Next 5 acquisitions — reaching the self-funding flywheel where portfolio cash flows reinvest themselves.
Grow 03 / 03

Buy at 3–4×. Sell at 6–8×.
The Askel Effect.

Full digital transformation
Paper-operated businesses become modern — admin, reporting, and scheduling digitalized. Frees staff from drag, unlocks productivity.
Commercial development
Proactive outreach, digital channels, systematic lead gen. Pricing discipline and customer mix optimisation — areas previous owners typically left untouched.
AI layer
Latest AI deployed to solve specific operational problems — not for show. This is where asymmetric upside gets built.
Operator-led governance
We recruit dedicated operators and build around them: stronger governance, clearer cadence, systems that scale without founder dependency.
2× 4× 6× 8× 10× Askel path Market (no intervention) APPLY PLAYBOOK Buy here Sell here Next buyer's territory Owner-led Operator-led Management-led
EBITDA growth
€250k → €1.5m
Multiple expansion
3–4× → 6–8×
Target IRR
25–35%
Illustrative figures. Actual multiples vary by business, sector, and execution.
The Team

Founders with deep tech and
business building experience.

Varia Wahlroos-Kaitila CEO
Acquisition & Commercial Value Creation
Founded 5 companies across agency, SaaS, and venture-backed startups. Built a marketing business from 0 to €2M ARR, sold a company, and led negotiations with banks and institutional partners for the first acquisition.
Niklas Slotte CRO
Deal Execution & Revenue Scaling
Serial entrepreneur with experience building and leading multiple businesses, including scaling an international company to €8M ARR. Brings sharp commercial judgment, team leadership, and hands-on ownership during roll-up execution.
Mikael Ylinen Board
Operational Depth & Industrial Understanding
Entrepreneur and long-term board operator with broad end-to-end business understanding. Brings practical experience in production environments, hardware, and the operational realities that determine whether acquisitions hold together.
Mike Solomon CTO
AI Systems & Software Leverage
PhD in Mathematics, Stanford graduate, and full-stack AI systems builder. Develops the internal software and AI agents that increase sourcing capacity, accelerate diligence, and create operating leverage across the portfolio.
10 companies founded
€8M ARR scaled internationally
Stanford · Hanken ×2 · PhD Mathematics
AI & full-stack systems
VC-backed + traditional business experience
Askel Ventures

Acquiring boring businesses.
Building compounding value.

Book a conversation →
Micro private equity  ·  Nordic small business acquisitions