Introducing our team in Sweden: Driving success at Vaaka
We Build Business Champions
Vaaka Partners expanded to Sweden in the fall of 2024. We opened our office in Stockholm in September when Tomas Therén joined the firm to lead our local operations. Our choice was clear: we wanted to build an experienced local team best equipped to execute our strategy in Sweden.
Supporting the launch of Vaaka in Sweden, Philip Kaustinen relocated to Stockholm for the first months, playing a central role in ensuring a smooth integration and start for our operations there. Today, we have a team of three investment professionals on the ground, bringing extensive experience and deep insights into the Swedish market.
We work as one team and build our case and company teams across borders. Having new team members onboard brings not only new capabilities but also fresh perspectives, making our team even stronger in identifying and nurturing opportunities. Together, they embody Vaaka’s values of integrity, growth, and collaboration. Already working side by side with entrepreneurs and management teams, they are helping build business champions.
Meet Tomas, Mabast and Max
Tomas Therén, Partner
Tomas is leading Vaaka’s operations in Sweden and brings a wealth of experience and strategic vision to the team. What inspires Tomas the most are the people he works with: colleagues across Vaaka, the management teams of our business champions, and our trusted advisors. He was impressed early on by Vaaka team’s openness to change and the constant drive to improve, while at the same time being a very humane organization. When it comes to differences between Finns and Swedes, Tomas believes there are more similarities than differences: “On the important matters, we’re very much alike. But there are small quirks - like Finland’s lunch culture, hairstyles, and of course, the blueberry juice on Finnair flights.”
Outside the office, Tomas is an outdoor enthusiast with a passion for skiing, trail and mountain running, sailing, trekking, and rock climbing.
For Mabast, joining Vaaka was about both people and opportunity. The great feeling he got when meeting the team, combined with the chance to partner with ambitious companies and help build a new office, made the decision easy.
Relationships inspire Mabast the most - creating lasting connections that bring out the best in people. At Vaaka, he expects to sharpen his investor toolkit, strengthen his commercial judgment, and support management teams in their companies’ growth journeys.
What has impressed him so far is Vaaka’s open culture: “Every opinion matters, and discussions are free of hierarchy.” He feels that Finns tend to be more direct in their communication, which he appreciates, while thinking that both Finns and Swedes share a humble and kind nature.
In his free time, Mabast pursues his passion for photography. Don’t be surprised if you see him carrying a camera, as he rarely leaves it behind.
Max Enhörning, Investment Manager
Max’s journey at Vaaka started with the people. “I was genuinely impressed by everyone I met,” he explains. “Vaaka’s outstanding reputation and the opportunity to be part of launching the Swedish office was something I couldn’t pass up.”
What inspires Max most is the chance to collaborate with people from all walks of life - entrepreneurs, management teams, and colleagues alike. For Max, Vaaka’s Swedish expansion represents both a challenge and a privilege: helping establish Vaaka’s brand in Sweden and supporting talented companies on their growth paths.
He has been pleasantly surprised by the firm’s culture: “It’s truly meritocratic, inclusive, and open to change.” While he sees few major differences between the working with Finnish and Swedish colleagues, he admits one challenge: “Learning the language will take time!”
Max describes Vaaka as a group of impressive individuals with diverse skills and deep experience. What he values most is the fact-based, dialectical, and inclusive way of working together.
And outside work? Max has no shortage of hobbies. In fact, he juggles twelve of them; a number his wife thinks is excessive, but he finds perfectly reasonable.
Looking Ahead
Our expansion into Sweden is about more than geography, it’s about people. With Tomas, Mabast, and Max on board, Vaaka is stronger than ever. They bring not only skills and experience, but also fresh perspectives and energy, helping us to stay true to our mission: to partner with entrepreneurs and management teams who want to become business champions.
We are excited for the journey ahead — in Sweden, in Finland, and beyond.
