Interview With Mikko Välimäki of Tuxera

    TuxeraWe’ve talked about Tuxera quite a long time back at Arctic Startup. The Finnish based company is the industry leader when it comes to providing NTFS, exFAT, HFS+ and other file system solutions that guarantee Windows, Mac and any electronic device interoperability. It had been quite a long time since we last talked about, hence we thought it would be good to follow up on the current situation with a brief interview. And it’s good that we did – Mikko Välimäki, CEO, revealed that they multiplied their revenue 7 fold last year (which would mean it’s closer to half a million euros based on the public records)*.

    ArcticStartup (AS): What is Tuxera?

    Mikko Välimäki (MV): Tuxera; Tux = Linux symbol, era = when (today, tomorrow) everyone uses Linux in all kind of embedded from phones to tablets, set-top boxes to routers, from automotive to in-flight entertainment. That’s our market.

    Tech competence comes from hard-core open source, Linux kernel community. For executive backgrounds you can see some bio stuff online & LinkedIn. We have now also two senior level business executives in Silicon Valley & Taipei.

    AS: The need for interoperability – why do you think there is a need to have a bridge between different file systems? [The answer can be both from technical and Business perspective]

    MV: Partly the need comes from standards but the real reason is normal consumers want, expect interoperability. You including. Typically you want it explicitly when interoperability doesn’t work. When your phone and camera won’t show on your laptop. When you can’t access externally your stored TV shows on your set-top box.

    There are tons of definitions and approaches to interoperability. What we mean is plug & play, completely hassle free interoperability over USB, SD card, ethernet (network) across all devices you have at home, your PC, and your Mac.

    AS: What are the leading products of Tuxera?

    MV: We only develop market-leading products. We have today market-leading NTFS, exFAT, HFS+ and FAT32 solutions for embedded and NTFS for Mac end users. We also support other file systems such as XFS.

    AS: What support do Tuxera provide to consumers and corporates? Who are your competitors?

    MV: Complete Windows — Mac file system level interoperability. Tuxera supports both Windows and Mac file system. Our software is built-in to many well-known business software applications.

    No competitor can match our product portfolio. File systems are such complex technology not even the biggest companies can do them in-house.

    AS: Who are the partners / associations Tuxera is affiliated to or works with?

    MV: See some operating system & chipset partners on You can find more information at Tuxera. We have many more, those are the public ones today.

    AS: Tuxera’s growth since its launch – how does it plan on expanding in 2011?

    MV: Last fiscal we made 7x revenue growth. Target is to keep on growing and expanding rapidly. A key to go forward is to find & hire the best kernel, file system developers and those who can learn the job. We are delivering critical system-level components to the leading consumer electronics brands worldwide and just cannot fail. We are constantly hiring the best. If you are reading this interview, contact us now.

    *Tuxera’s fiscal year runs from October to the end of September, which means they are still in the middle of the fiscal year and are on track to multiply their revenue even more.