Katja Pihlainen

Katja Pihlainen is a Finnish former investor and CEO at Wave Ventures, the Helsinki-founded, next-generation venture firm focused on backing young Nordic founders at the earliest stage. A 2020 interview listed her as CEO of Wave Ventures and a University of Helsinki law student pursuing BSc and MSc law studies, class of 2023.

Before venture capital, Pihlainen worked in music under the artist name KATÉA. In the 2020 interview, she described moving through jazz, classical, indie/folk and pop influences, signing with BMG in Stockholm, writing with producers across Europe and the U.S., and touring in the United States after exposure through Passport Approved.

Pihlainen joined Wave Ventures as an investment manager in spring 2019. She wrote that she was drawn to VC because it felt like “the creative corner of the finance world” and because founders and artists shared similar traits. In 2020 she became CEO of Wave, leading the student-run VC through a rotating-team transition period and emphasizing Wave’s role as an early, low-threshold supporter of new founders.

Her CEO tenure appears to have been time-bounded by Wave’s rotating operating model. In March 2021, Wave announced Harri Iisakka as the new CEO, while referring back to the prior year’s investments and portfolio progress. I did not find a verified current investing role for Pihlainen after Wave, so current active investment status should be treated as unconfirmed.

• Wave Ventures’ core model during Pihlainen’s tenure was to be among the first external investors in pre-seed companies, usually alongside angels or other pre-seed VCs.
• Wave’s 2019 stated focus was “pre-seed investing in the most ambitious founders with the boldest visions,” especially companies emerging from university ecosystems and young founders working on problems important to millennials.
• The firm’s historical typical check size was about €50,000; The Hub listed Wave’s investment range across bands below €25,000, €25,000-€50,000, and €50,000-€100,000.
• Wave’s current website describes its stage focus as “Earliest - Your First Investment” and its area focus as “Nordics & Baltics.”
• Pihlainen’s own decision lens, from her 2020 interview, was personal conviction: before an investment decision, she asked whether she would be comfortable investing her own money and sleeping well after doing so.
• At pre-seed, she emphasized team quality and culture as the most important factors, because very little else is fully proven at that stage.
• She warned founders that messy cap tables can block later VC investment, even when the team is strong.