Jorma J. Nieminen as an anchor investor in an artificial intelligence computer company whose name is familiar to many

Specialized in operating systems and automotive software Jolla says that he will start manufacturing artificial intelligence computers in Salo.

Jolla’s anchor investors include Kiinteistöneuvos Jorma J. Nieminenwhose investment company 4Capes has increased its ownership in the company, according to Jolla’s press release. Nieminen is among the major investors of the Helsinki Stock Exchange monitored by Arvopaperi every month. Nieminen’s investment portfolio includes companies on the Helsinki Stock Exchange worth more than 50 million euros.

Nieminen’s portfolio also includes a couple of thousand apartments and dozens of business premises. In Salo, Nieminen once bought a third of the mobile phone giant Nokian from the abandoned huge IoT Campus.

Jolla will start the final assembly of artificial intelligence computers at the Salon IoT Campus in December.

“It’s great to see that world-class smart devices are being manufactured in Salo again after a 12-year break. Nokia’s parents have enough space in Salo to grow no matter what,” Nieminen commented in the press release.

According to Jolla’s press release, there is an artificial intelligence assistant called Jolla Mind2 in production, which, among other things, handles e-mail processing, identifying tasks and meeting invitations and maintaining the to-do list.

Jolla’s goal is to develop artificial intelligence software that works on local devices, which can in the future be used in servers, smart home devices, smart glasses, drones and car cockpits.

The former management bought Jolla’s business

Originally, Jolla is remembered as the developer of the Sailfish OS mobile operating system and the devices that use it. The company released a smartphone called Jolla in the spring of 2013.

In 2023, Jolla ran into difficulties. The owner of the company was Russian Rostelecomand with the war in Ukraine, Jolla’s customers could not continue using its services. In the spring of 2023, the company drifted into corporate restructuring.

At the end of 2023, Jolla’s entire business operations and personnel were transferred to the new company, when Jolla’s former management bought Jolla’s business operations.

The buyers in the deal are Jolla’s founding partner and the former chairman of the board Antti Saarnio and the company’s previous management, including Petteri Paasila and Marko Oukko.