Today we’re announcing a new addition to the Dopplr team. Marko Ahtisaari will be joining us as CEO, while Lisa Sounio will continue on the board as Chairman. We’re very excited about this news. For the details, here’s our press release in full:

Dopplr appoints Marko Ahtisaari as CEO

London and Helsinki, 8 December 2008 – Dopplr, the online service for smarter travel, today announced it has appointed Marko Ahtisaari as CEO, effective January 1st 2009. Co-founder and founding CEO Lisa Sounio will become Chairman, alongside fellow board members Tyler Brûlé and Saul Klein.

Saul Klein, investor and board member said: “Since launching to a select group of global companies last fall, Dopplr has attracted an international following of smart travellers. I want to thank Lisa for her fine work in launching Dopplr. As a founding investor Marko knows the team well and with his background in mobile services and media is an excellent fit to grow the business.”

Marko Ahtisaari has worked previously as Director of Design Strategy at Nokia and serves on the board of directors of F-Secure and Artek. Most recently Ahtisaari has been Head of Brand & Design at Blyk, the free mobile network for young people funded by advertising, and will continue in a role supporting Blyk in its partnering and expansion strategy.

Marko Ahtisaari said: “Nearly two years ago, one evening in London, the Dopplr idea of smarter travel was born. Today, Dopplr is an important intention sharing service online, akin to social platforms like Twitter and Facebook, but with a tight focus. When people share their travel plans and tips through Dopplr their mind is already set on the travel experience: on where their colleagues and friends are going, how they’re getting there and what hotels they’re staying at. They are interested in buying travel services based on the recommendation of their network. I’m delighted to be joining the team as we move forward with our vision of smarter travel for the growing Dopplr community worldwide.”

In September 2008 Dopplr announced its second financing round from a group of prominent international investors — all users of the service. The investors include Esther Dyson, Tyler Brûlé, Thomas Glocer, Yat Siu, Aditya dev Sood, Lars Hinrichs, Joshua Schachter, Brian Behlendorf, Daniel Sachs, Joshua Cooper Ramo, and Azeem Azhar. Saul Klein, who invested in this round, also invested in the previous round together with Martin Varsavsky, Reid Hoffman and Joichi Ito.

About Dopplr

Dopplr is the online service for smarter travel. Dopplr helps you make the most of your trips by sharing your travel plans with the people and brands you trust. The service then highlights coincidences, for example, telling you that three people you know will be in Tokyo when you will be there too. You can use Dopplr on your personal computer or mobile phone. It links with many popular online calendars and social networks.

After a period of exclusive availability to selected global companies, Dopplr opened to world travellers everywhere in December 2007. Dopplr has offices on London’s Silicon Roundabout and the Helsinki seaside. www.dopplr.com

ENDS

Media enquiries:
press@dopplr.com
www.dopplr.com/main/press
Photo of Marko Ahtisaari by Joi Ito from the Wikimedia Commons