Timo Ketonen
Partner & Co-founder, A'Pelago Experience
I am an entrepreneur and investor with a broad work experience in finance, media, marketing and service design. I graduated from Åbo Akademi University in 1988 with a M.Sc. in Economics majoring in international marketing.
In 2015 we founded our family investment company Aboa Advest. Aboa Advest has its focus on impact investing. I have invested in a good number of growth companies primarily through Aboa Advest and VC funds.
My responsibilities include Board memberships in several companies. Currently I'm serving as Chairman of the Board at TS-Yhtymä Oy (TS Group), a family business founded in 1905.
Since 2022 my main business project has been to build and develop the ecosystem created by our privately-owned company A'Pelago Experience.
The purpose of A’Pelago is:
- to actively work for biodiversity and the environment in the Archipelago Sea Region by combining research and Deep Science with business initiatives;
- to bring forward and develop new business concepts through the A'Pelago Accelerator program; and
- to create a forum for dialogue and ideation of new business concepts for a sustainable future in the Archipelago Sea Region, the main forum being the annual A'Pelago Initiative event and other smaller events such as the Winter Camp.
Hobbies and personal activities
I'm an avid cook specialising in Asian food and herbs. I've always loved music & lyrics and recently learned to play the guitar. I am a sailor since my early years and an outdoor person at heart. I enjoy life and work in the archipelago in SW Finland and sailing with my family and friends. I have always been curious about different cultures and I am a linguaphile. I've lived in four countries during my professional career including several years in London.
In 2011 we sailed to Svalbard with my friends on our adventure to 80 degrees North. In the summer of 2023 we sailed in the South Seas from Vanuatu to Papua New Guinea and through Torres Strait to Darwin on board Capt. Tuomo Meretniemi's Swan 57 s/y Panacea.
I live year-round in Lillandet, an island in the Archipelago Sea, and in Turku.