Vilve Vene is the CEO and co-founder of Modularbank.  Her career in fintech spans three decades, having started devising innovative technology for the financial services sector well before the term ‘fintech’ even became a tangible concept.  

Vilve’s career in financial IT started when she joined Hansabank,  a start-up formed by four economics graduates who wanted to modernise banking. Vilve joined the company in 1992, quickly rising to the role of Head of IT development, a position that would shape her career. With no initial capital or experience in commercial banking, and out of both necessity and ingenuity, Vilve and her IT team built a bank that was digital from the very beginning. As early as 1993, Hansabank was offering PC banking to business customers. It later became one of the first in the world to offer online banking, establishing itself as a credible player in the industry.

In 2002, Vilve left Hansabank with a wealth of experience that enabled her to set up Icefire, providing transformative technologies for banks and fintechs.

With Modularbank, Vilve aims to take fintech one stage further: to provide seamless banking infrastructure to any type of company. 

Vilve lives in the capital of Estonia, Tallinn.  Her favourite pastimes include travelling and exploring the world, reading and going to the theatre.

With a clear view of where the financial services market is headed, a background in providing strategic advice to banking and financial services companies and a passionate resolve to bring about change in banking technology, Rivo is Chief Business Officer and a driving force behind Modularbank. 

Prior to Modularbank, Rivo was Head of Business at Icefire where he architected innovative solutions and strategies to help IT and financial services companies overcome complex challenges. These included designing an award-winning business case for SME lending in an API economy for OP Financial Services and providing Volkswagen Financial Services with a blockchain-based concept framework to share relevant information with all stakeholders (from the state to car dealerships).

Rivo has an interesting academic background, he is a graduate in both computer science and international diplomacy and has recently also added an executive MBA from Geneva University to his academic box of tricks. 

Rivo likes to give himself a challenge both inside and outside of the office, in his spare time he enjoys extreme sports including skiing and windsurfing.

Jan has been developing innovative banking technology for over 21 years. He brings a wealth of experience and a genuine commitment to making banking systems simple, accessible and flexible to his role as Chief Product Officer at Modularbank. His goal is clear: to deliver simple yet sophisticated modular products to enable both existing banks and new entrants to remain competitive in the face of new challenger banks and a new era of digital banking. 

Jan’s forward-thinking vision, his systematic approach and dedication to taking his clients’ businesses to new levels are at the heart of his career success. Key accomplishments include developing the entire pan-Baltic IT infrastructure of Estonia’s first commercial bank, Hansabank, one of the first-ever online banks (which later merged with Swedbank). In his role as Chief of Technology at Icefire (provider of transformative technologies for banks and fintech companies), Jan devised pioneering yet sustainable solutions for companies including mobile bank Pocopay and international telecoms company, Telia.

At Modularbank, Jan is considered the ‘go-to guy’ to discuss both new ideas and hurdles and his enthusiasm and tenacity inspire and bring the product team together.

Outside work, Jan enjoys spending time with his five children. He is also a keen singer and a member of the male choir of the Estonian Academy of Sciences.

As Chief Technology Officer, Ove’s role is to ensure that Modularbank’s products and services lead the market in terms of flexibility and technology and that they match the evolving needs of companies offering, or planning to introduce banking and financial services.

Ove has consistently demonstrated brilliance and talent throughout his career. Starting out as an IT consultant at Ernst and Young, he quickly developed a flair for embracing new technologies for banks, adopting them to provide his banking clients with a distinct competitive edge and in turn increased end-user adoption. He has a track record in building successful banking solutions and was awarded the Fintech Futures Banking Technology Award in 2018 for ‘best use of IT in corporate banking’ for a project with OP Bank in Finland.

Prior to Modularbank, Ove was Head of Research and Development and Partner at Icefire, where he managed consulting services and oversaw engagement delivery and execution of client initiatives.

Ove’s relentless ambition to drive banking forward and make it easy, transparent and seamless has played a key role in helping to bring Modularbank to market.

Ove has a strong academic background with a Masters degree in Telecommunications Engineering from Tallinn University and specialist diplomas in machine learning, credit risk modeling, and investment banking.  In his free time he is a keen runner and film enthusiast. He is also an avid reader of classic and historical fiction.

With two decades of experience in developing transformative technologies for the financial services industry, Jüri Kirme brings a wealth of knowledge and technical capabilities to Modularbank in his role as Senior Solution Architect. Jüri is passionate about assisting established institutions along their digital transformation path, helping them to smooth and refine a process that is often complex and incredibly time-consuming without the proper guidance.

After starting his career in information technology, Jüri served as the Head of Software Development at Hansabank, a pioneering company in the digital banking sector, before moving to Icefire where he served as a consultant and member of the board. Amongst Jüri’s most notable achievements; he spearheaded the overhaul project for the Estonian tax office, which involved the reengineering of business processes, UI and technical architecture to create a new generation system for tax accounting purposes. As a result, the Estonian Tax and Customs Board is now one of the most modern and efficient tax authorities in the world. Essentially, Jüri is the father of the modern Estonian tax office.

Jüri is considered an information hub within Modularbank thanks to his in-depth knowledge of banking and financial services technologies as well as his constructive, informative nature. He plays a key role in shaping the overall technical vision for the company.

Jüri is keen on outdoor sports and is Modularbank’s skier extraordinaire (although, with Rivo’s penchant for extreme sports, he has some competition in this department), even taking it upon himself to teach skiing to others in the company.