# Jesse Saarela

> Jesse Saarela is a Series A investor at NordicNinja VC backing Banking and FinTech. See 1 investments, check sizes, portfolio. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: Angel Investor
- Fund: [NordicNinja VC](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/nordicninja-vc)
- Total investments: 1
- Last investment: Mar 2024
- Lead investor: 100%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessesaarela

Jesse Saarela is a Series A investor at NordicNinja VC focused on Banking and FinTech. Jesse Saarela

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Banking | 1 | 100% |
| FinTech | 1 | 100% |
| Financial Services | 1 | 100% |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Griffin | Griffin is making a bank you can build on. They provide banking-as-a-service solutions for companies that want to offer financial services products. The company is currently seeking regulatory approval from the PRA and FCA to become the UK's first platform bank. It was founded in 2017 and based in London, England. | $24.4M | Series A | Mar 11, 2024 |  |

1 of 1 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [BREEGA](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/breega-capital) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [CircleRock Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/circlerock-capital) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [EQT Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/eqtventures) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [MassMutual Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/massmutual-ventures) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Notion Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/notion-capital) — VC Fund, 1 deal together

## About NordicNinja VC

VC Fund · Helsinki, Finland

NordicNinja is searching for #1 teams in the world who are based in the New Nordics. The Article 8 classified fund focuses on scaling companies from Northern Europe that promote environmental and social characteristics, from self-driving electric trucks to AI-driven identity verification; from brain scan analytics predicting Alzheimer’s to mixedreality headsets training astronauts for their Mars mission; from seamless urban mobility to end-to-end transparency of sensitive supply chains. The founder and operator-led team fulfils the Japanese desire towards opportunities within sustainability and the digital society by investing in the future we want to live in.

5 contacts available at NordicNinja VC.

| Name | Title | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Claes Mikko Nilsen | Principal & Co-Founder | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/claes-mikko-nilsen |
| Jesse Saarela | Principal | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/jesse-saarela |
| Marek Kiisa | Managing Partner & Co-Founder | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/marek-kiisa |
| Rainer Sternfeld | Managing Partner | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/rainer-sternfeld |
| Rowena Knapp | Chief Operating Officer | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/rowena-knapp |

## Similar investors

### Similar stage
- [Antler](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/antler-be9c) — VC Fund
- [Alumni Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/alumni-ventures-group) — VC Fund
- [General Catalyst](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/general-catalyst-partners) — VC Fund

## FAQ

### What does Jesse Saarela invest in?

Jesse Saarela invests primarily in Banking, FinTech and Financial Services startups, most often at Series A stage. Most of the 1 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in United Kingdom. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### When did Jesse Saarela last invest?

The most recent investment recorded for Jesse Saarela closed in Mar 2024. Shizune tracks 1 investments in total for this profile, including round sizes, stages and portfolio companies, all sourced from confirmed public funding rounds and refreshed monthly.

### Is Shizune's investor data accurate?

Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.

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