Interview with Kati Levoranta

 In 2017, Business Insider rated Europe’s coolest CEOs. Among the 34 cool CEO’S, Kati Levoranta managed to secure the 3rd place. We had the chance to chat with Ms. Levoranta about Rovio, being a boss lady and her definition of success.     

First of all congratulations on opening the first Angry Birds entertainment park.

Thank you. We are very excited about this! Just one correction here. 

The recently launched Angry Birds World is the first Angry Birds World, but not a first entertainment park for Rovio. But it’s true that Angry Birds World is Rovio’s first entertainment park on this scale.

A lot of people probably know THE game that put Rovio on the map, but they might not know Rovio. Do you plan to open other parks like this one? 

Yes, the original Angry Birds game was the first big success of Rovio, but today Rovio is so much more than just one Angry Birds game. We have two business units; Games and Brand Licensing. Our games portfolio consists of 19 games, out of which two are non-Angry Birds games (Battle Bay and Nibblers). The Brand Licensing business unit licensees the Angry Birds brand to over 300 licensees globally in content licensing, consumer products and location-based entertainment.

Location-based entertainment is one of the strategic focus points for Rovio’s Brand Licensing business unit. Currently, Rovio has nine active entertainment parks globally, and we are planning on opening more. In addition to those, Rovio also has many smaller activity parks (like playgrounds in shopping malls). And,= part of this strategy is that we are planning to open hundreds of new Angry Birds playgrounds in China alone, together with our partner.

 Tell us about your journey too – and within – Rovio.

My journey at Rovio started already more than six years ago when I joined the company as Chief Legal Officer. In 2015 I was appointed to be in charge of our sales in the EMEA region and towards the end of 2015 the Rovio Board Of Directors asked me to assume to role of CEO. I felt very honored and gladly answered yes. I started as Rovio’s CEO in January 2016. Before joining Rovio I worked for Nokia and Nokia Siemens Networks in Finland and 3 years in Munich, Germany. 

What does success look like for you when it comes to Rovio as a whole?

Success for me means achieving goals and targets and beyond, together as a one Rovio team. Passionate people and teams will create the success of the company.

What do you think is the most significant barrier to female leadership?

Traditions can be a barrier but I’d encourage females to jump out of their comfort zone and take risks. If failing is really the worst thing that can happen – it’s not that bad. You’ll learn and next time you succeed.  

The blockchain is a name/word that keeps recurring in Game city. What is your view on this? Do you think it is a fad? 

Blockchain is often mistakenly associated only with cryptocurrencies, such as ether or bitcoin, but it’s much more than that. We believe that blockchain has potential to fundamentally change how industries operate and we’re already seeing some great examples in industries such as music, insurance, and banking. As for the gaming industry, it’s going to be interesting to see how well it will scale for very large transaction volume industries and what are going to be the tangible benefits in mobile games. We believe that the blockchain games killer app is yet to come. As a part of our strategy, we are actively following the developments and also gaining experiences through participating into EU project SOFIE, where we study how IoT (Internet of things) and blockchain can be utilized in mobile games.