Espoo-based Kuori Oy founders win 2024 Entrepreneur of the Year award

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May 08, 2024, 07:15 ET

Maria and Jarkko Jokelainen are building Kuori Oy into a true global disruptor in the enterprise digital display market, with their products now operating in more than 30 countries worldwide.

ESPOO, Finland, May 8, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Suomen Yrittäjät, Finland's largest business confederation, has nominated its annual Espoo Entrepreneur of the Year award to entrepreneur couple and Kuori Oy founders Maria and Jarkko Jokelainen at this morning's Economic Development Forum.

The Entrepreneur of the Year award highlights entrepreneurship's importance and appreciation while honouring business owners' work. As a recognition from fellow entrepreneurs, the award is highly valued by its recipients for their determination, dedication and hard work.

Established in 2015, Kuori produces a full range of indoor and outdoor displays, digital posters, payment terminals, and custom-tailored OEM solutions for enterprises worldwide. Built to survive some of the most demanding weather conditions and being remote management enabled, Kuori products' modular designs also ensure longevity, easy maintenance and endless possibilities for customisations.

Origins in the healthcare sector

In addition to their combined passion for entrepreneurship, Maria and Jarkko are also parents to three children on the autism spectrum. This offered unique challenges in their daily lives and work and helped serve as the cornerstone for their business idea prior to launching.

The company's initial product was a large touchscreen designed for the healthcare segment. Maria and Jarkko soon realised, during the product development phase at home, how the oversized tablet significantly improved their children's learning, focus, and communication abilities.

Kuori has since developed into a genuine challenger in the digital display market worldwide, led by the founders' forward-thinking expectations of where the market was going.

From concept to €14M business in 8 years—and growing

Some have even put Maria and Jarkko ahead of their time, having the foresight to predict where the digital display market would take shape. This has allowed them to succeed in developing numerous patents, including the company's thermodynamics know-how and expertise.

They've since leveraged Kuori as an official Google EDLA (Enterprise Devices Licensing Agreement) partner, allowing their Certified Android OS to deliver secure and compatible software while guaranteeing the best possible performance.

With a first-year turnover of just €9000, Maria and Jarkko together have rapidly built Kuori into an agile, smooth-operating global brand. By the end of the 2023 calendar year — just eight years later — they had increased Kuori's turnover to an astounding €14 million.

Kuori today has grown to over 70 employees, with Maria and Jarkko taking tremendous pride in the international and diverse culture, which is something they plan to continue embracing and ramping up.

The 2024 Espoo Entrepreneur of the Year recipients also remain fully committed to Kuori staying in Finland for the long run. They look forward to relocating to their newly designed headquarters in Espoo's symbolically growing Leppävaara area later this month.

Contact:

More information
[email protected]
www.kuori.tech

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