Ville Vehkaperä
Founder, owner, and CTO of Apaja Engineering Oy, a one-person mechanical-engineering and product-development consultancy in Oulu, Finland; left Nokia in 2014 to start the company.
Ville Vehkaperä is a Finnish mechanical/production engineer with over 25 years in manufacturing technologies, process automation, and robotics. He spent years at Nokia working on the N-series phone line, leading technology-advancement and concept-development projects including thermal design, before leaving around 2014 to run his own engineering consultancy, Apaja Engineering Oy, on products like Click and Grow's smart herb garden. He co-founded Distance Technologies — a Helsinki-based startup founded by ex-Varjo executives building headset-free mixed-reality displays for transparent surfaces — where he applies his manufacturing and robotics background to optimizing technological operations and mechanical/hardware solutions.
Overview
- Role
- Founder & CTO, Apaja Engineering
- Based in
- Oulu, Finland
- Prior experience
- Nokia
- X / Twitter
- x.com/villevehkapera
Companies2
Affiliated funds0
No linked records yet.
Frequently asked
- Who is Ville Vehkaperä?
- Ville Vehkaperä is a Finnish mechanical/production engineer with over 25 years in manufacturing technologies, process automation, and robotics. He spent years at Nokia working on the N-series phone line, leading technology-advancement and concept-development projects including thermal design, before leaving around 2014 to run his own engineering consultancy, Apaja Engineering Oy, on products like Click and Grow's smart herb garden. He co-founded Distance Technologies — a Helsinki-based startup founded by ex-Varjo executives building headset-free mixed-reality displays for transparent surfaces — where he applies his manufacturing and robotics background to optimizing technological operations and mechanical/hardware solutions.
- What is Ville Vehkaperä's role?
- Ville Vehkaperä is Founder & CTO, Apaja Engineering, based in Oulu, Finland.
- Where did Ville Vehkaperä work before?
- Ville Vehkaperä's prior roles include Nokia.
Sources & citations6
Each claim links to its underlying source. Confidence reflects how directly the source supports the claim.
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25+ years in manufacturing technologies, process automation, and robotics; previously at Nokia leading technology-advancement projects; focuses at Distance on optimizing technological operations and mechanical solutions
Distance Technologies: Founders | DistanceVerified2026-08-08 - 3
Full co-founder roster of Distance Technologies
Maki.vc: Distance | Maki.vc investmentsVerified2026-08-08 - 4
Holds degrees in mechanical automation engineering and a master's in mechanical and production engineering; worked at Nokia on N-series concept/thermal design before leaving ~2014 to found Apaja Engineering Oy, working on products like Click and Grow's smart herb garden
Kaleva: Puhelimista monipuolisempaan rakenteluunReported2016-12-01 - 5
Distance Technologies founded by former Varjo executives from XR, SW and 3D graphics industries
Distance Technologies: Company | DistanceVerified2026-08-08 - 6
Ville Vehkaperä left Nokia to become an entrepreneur and founded Apaja Engineering Oy in 2014, working as a freelance product-development engineer.
Kaleva: Puhelimista monipuolisempaan rakenteluunVerified2026-08-10