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Jyri Engeström is a Co-founder and General Partner at Yes VC, an early-stage venture capital firm based in San Francisco, California. Before launching the firm in 2018 alongside Flickr co-founder Caterina Fake, he built and sold two consumer technology startups, including the microblogging platform Jaiku, which was acquired by Google in 2007, and the recommendation application Ditto, purchased by Groupon in 2012. Following these acquisitions, he served as a Product Manager at Google and Director of Product at Groupon, holding a master's degree in sociology from the University of Helsinki. As an angel investor and former team member at True Ventures, he secured early stakes in high-growth companies such as Unity, Oura, and Iceye. Engeström currently focuses on pre-seed and seed-stage investments, executing approximately twenty deals annually across the artificial intelligence, climate, and consumer sectors.
Jyri Engestrom is a distinguished General Partner at Yes VC, an early-stage venture capital firm renowned for backing groundbreaking technology companies. At Yes VC, Engestrom plays a pivotal role in identifying and nurturing promising startups, leveraging his deep expertise as both an entrepreneur and a product visionary. His investment philosophy is rooted in a keen understanding of market dynamics and the potential for disruptive innovation.
Engestrom's investment focus at Yes VC spans a range of high-growth sectors. He is particularly interested in companies that exhibit strong network effects, a characteristic he understands intimately from his own entrepreneurial ventures. This includes areas such as artificial intelligence, the future of work, developer tools, and new communication platforms. He seeks out founders who are building foundational technologies and creating new paradigms in how people connect, work, and interact with software. His approach is hands-on, offering strategic guidance to help portfolio companies scale and achieve their vision.
Before his impactful career in venture capital, Jyri Engestrom established himself as a serial entrepreneur and product leader. He co-founded Jaiku, an innovative mobile social networking service that was acquired by Google in 2007. Following his tenure at Google, he co-founded Ditto, a local recommendations platform that was later acquired by Groupon in 2012. These experiences provided him with invaluable insights into the challenges and triumphs of building and scaling successful technology companies from the ground up. His time as a founder and subsequent leadership roles at major tech companies have equipped him with a unique perspective that greatly benefits the founders he partners with at Yes VC.
Engestrom's background as a builder and operator makes him a highly sought-after investor. He understands the intricacies of product development, market fit, and team building, offering more than just capital to his portfolio companies. His ability to empathize with founders and provide strategic counsel on product strategy, growth, and organizational development is a significant asset. Jyri Engestrom continues to be a driving force in the early-stage venture ecosystem, committed to supporting the next wave of transformative technology companies through Yes VC.
Jyri Engestrom invests in early-stage technology companies, often focusing on those with strong network effects. His areas of interest include artificial intelligence, the future of work, developer tools, and new communication platforms.
Jyri Engestrom works as a General Partner at Yes VC, an early-stage venture capital firm.
