Bio

Kaj-Erik Relander's extensive executive management experience, domain knowledge and network of international contacts strengthen Accel's expertise in Europe. Before joining Accel, Kaj-Erik was President and CEO of Sonera Corporation, the progressive Finnish telecommunications company. Prior to this assignment, Kaj-Erik held a number of other senior management positions during his seven-year tenure with Sonera. He was instrumental in transforming the company into an innovative, publicly traded company with diverse international operations which cover both fixed network and mobile communications and services. Prior to joining Sonera in 1994, Kaj-Erik served as Director at SITRA, a Finnish Technology investment company. At SITRA, Kaj-Erik was responsible for private equity investments in technology growth companies in information technology. Kaj-Erik has served on the Board of Directors at a variety of international companies including Ledstiernan (based in Sweden), Helmet Capital Fund, F-Secure, A-Company, H&B Advisory Board, Printing Network of Europe, Kreatel (in Sweden) and Axiomlab (in the UK) as well as TietoEnator, SmartTrust, Turkcell (in Turkey), VoiceStream Wireless (in the US) and Zed. Master's degree in Economics from the Helsinki School of Economics and Business Administration with majors in International Economics. He later received an MBA from the Helsinki School of Economics and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.