Tampere Pitching Competition winners – Arttu Kalli, Eeedo oy

”It’s better to stand firmly on two feet than to barely stand on one leg.” That’s Arttu Kalli’s reasoning behind an unorthodox decision to pitch two products at once – and it paid off.

On the face of it, customer service and fleet management solutions might not have much in common. But under the hood they share a lot of common technology. That’s why it makes sense to present two Eeedo’s products on one go.

“Both customer service and fleet management are about handling different tasks”, explains Arttu Kalli, founder and CEO of Eeedo. “So one product has sort of developed from the other.”

History and synergy

Eeedo was founded already in 2010, focusing on a social intranet platform. Two years ago, new products were introduced and Eeedo became a full-time job for Arttu.

“My background is managing a portfolio of thousands of products on four different business units”, he says. “So I feel it’s safer to have many products – to even out the demand fluctuations”.

There are some 330 million commercial vehicles on the planet. With other machinery included, the potential for digitalization of fleet management is vast. “Our product can be mass-tailored, so it suits many kinds of industries”, Kalli explains. “Combine that with the 50-billion customer service market, and you’ll see the potential”

Today, Eeedo already has some significant customers and partners like Elisa, Destia and Konecranes, and the proof that the synergy between the products work. “Take Onnibus.com coach fleet”, says Arttu. “They started with fleet management, but integration with customer service added real value. If a passenger complains about a broken seat belt, for example, the information is passed on as a service advice for the service department.”

Mission accomplished

“We had two goals for the Stream Festival”, Arttu remembers. “To meet the Tampere startup community, the old and new friends. And to win the Slush stand.” All the goals were reached, so you can call it a successful night for Eeedo.

“By the way, it was my first ever pitching competition”, Kalli reveals. “But practice makes perfect. Keep it simple and less is indeed more.”

Speaking of more, what’s with the three E’s in the company name?

“Two is too few and four is too many”, Arttu laughs. “They stand for Easy, Efficient and Electric.”

Slush is coming!

Eeedo will appear at Slush expecting mainly new customers – and why not some investors as well. So far Eeedo is self-funded. “All the industry players will be there”, Arttu says. “Everybody is looking for a match.”

For more Tampere flavor, you definitely need to check out the Tampere Slush Party. Sign up at https://staging.businesstampere.com/tampere-slush.

Building the startup scene

Who creates opportunities for startups? 6Aika – Ecosystems of Growth: Enabling the Growth of Companies through Collaboration is the project aimed for that. A joint effort by the cities of Helsinki, Espoo, Tampere, Vantaa, Turku and Oulu, the project is funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), Helsinki-Uusimaa Regional council and, for the Tampere part, by Tampere city region economic development company Tredea Oy (Business Tampere) and the city of Tampere.