Staria feeds the unicorns with data

A unicorn plushie is lying on the sofa in Staria's main office. It is not a client who has stayed after the consultation to enjoy the expansive views over the centre of Helsinki, even though it is the billion-euro growth companies, the unicorns, that Staria is growing. With the help of the company, some clients - such as Relex, Storytel and Wolt - have grown well beyond the magic limit.

Staria offers its clients technology-based financial management solutions, but it is focused on companies with strong and international growth. "We have a broad selection of services, but we aim to keep our customer focus crystal clear," says Artti Aurasmaa, CEO of Staria.

On the wing of high-growth scale-ups, Staria has been growing rapidly, organically, at over twenty per cent a year for several years now. Like its clients, it is a high-growth company with more than 500 employees in seven different countries.

The latest addition in the autumn of 2023 was the expansion of its business operations to the United Kingdom. What Staria and many of its clients have in common is that they have a private equity investor in the background.

Staria was founded in 2003 when Juha Tommila, an experienced entrepreneur in the industry, wanted to establish a modern financial services company based entirely on digital processes and automation. Technology has been part of Staria's DNA since the initial idea of the business.

The company moved over to use the cloud-based NetSuite system. NetSuite, owned by Oracle, is a provider of business software for small and medium-sized companies, and Staria started to build its financial management services on the basis of these products. It was a far-sighted decision because although NetSuite is still less well known in Europe, it has gained a strong foothold as a driving force for scaling US-based technology companies. "Over the past ten years, more than 60% of the technology companies listed in the US use NetSuite," says Artti Aurasmaa.

Vaaka became the majority shareholder of Staria in 2020, and the following year, Aurasmaa started in the position of CEO. The company's founder and former CEO, Juha Tommila, will continue as a significant minority shareholder and a board member. "With Vaaka's support, we gained more experience and expertise on the Board, as well as a top-class CEO for the implementation of our international growth strategy. Working together has been fun, and it has produced good results," says Juha Tommila.

Aurasmaa has spent much of his career in private equity-driven growth companies. "The largest added value brought by the private equity investor is management and support during the growth phase. When you have the capacity to take risks, and you're an outgoing and very ambitious owner, it just leads to better results," he says.

Aurasmaa started to grow Staria by clarifying its service selection around customer needs and serving the different needs of growth companies even better. "At Staria, growth was sought from all directions. For growth to have the requisites to continue, there had to be a focus on something," says Aurasmaa. The work led to going beyond organisational boundaries, i.e. two business acquisitions and a small divestment. "In strategic decision-making, the most important thing is often not to decide what to do, but what not to do."

The financial management story of an internationalising company often involves debits and credits being handled by a local accounting firm in each country. The numbers are combined at the head office. The numbers for a couple of countries are usually reasonable, but as countries, practices, and account offices start to add up, things get complicated. Each country reports slightly differently. The management team and the government try to remember: oh yes, in Japan, these figures include it, but in Holland, they are not included, and in Turkey, on the other hand...

External accounting obligations may be met, but data management based on up-to-date data is not. Staria is currently responsible for providing financial management services to its clients in more than 40 countries, so its clients do not have to worry about the management and processes of local accounting firms.

"The competitive advantage through quality and efficiency comes when comparable data flows in a single pipeline." Large-scale use of AI will only do itself justice when the data is real-time and reliable. Data increasingly determines success. Staria contributes to the international growth of its clients, and Vaaka does the same for Staria. "Piece by piece, Staria has been made into a company that can scale internationally. It has required determination over the years," says Ville Koskenvuo, Vaaka's responsible partner.

Staria's growth story is really only limited by the stars, as the industry is very fragmented and market shares are minimal. An additional boost to growth comes from Staria's strong position in the NetSuite ecosystem. Staria is the largest NetSuite company in Europe, and its own software products, such as the BI and Planning tool Naviloq, work seamlessly within the NetSuite environment.

For Staria, growth is not only an absolute objective but also a means to make Staria a better Staria: the more local staff, software integration experts and accounting experts the company has in different countries, the better and more flexibly it can serve its clients.

"Employee experience and customer satisfaction are important indicators for us. If we have the right operators and the client promise is achieved, growth and profitability will follow because we are in a good industry," says Ville Koskenvuo.