Co-founder reappointed CEO of Spinnova
Fibre developer Spinnova has announced that co-founder Dr Janne Poranen has resumed the role of chief executive.
Dr Poranen was Spinnova’s first chief executive when the company launched in 2014 as a spin-off from the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and remained in the role until 2022, when an external chief executive, Kim Poulsen, joined. Janne Poranen became its executive chairman.
A few months later, Kim Poulsen left and chief finance officer, Ben Selby, became interim chief executive.
At the end of 2023, Tuomas Oijala joined as Mr Poulsen’s permanent replacement in the role, but in mid-March this year, Spinnova announced that Mr Oijala, too, was moving on, although he will stay with the company until September.
Corporate governance in Finland usually recommends a separation of the roles of chief executive and chair of a company, but Spinnova said it had decided to deviate from this recommendation owing to the development stage the company is at now.
In February, major Brazilian partner Suzano announced it would not invest in the next steps of its proposed collaboration with Spinnova.
On confirming his reappointment as chief executive, Dr Poranen said: “Suzano’s decision not to invest in the next steps was disappointing, but it also opens new opportunities. I’m very motivated to lead Spinnova and to build its future in this new situation.”
He explained that the company’s top priority would be making production of its fibres cost-effective for industrial scaling.
