Merlin Liis
Associate
+ 372 640 7170
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Merlin Liis is an Associate at Ellex Raidla who specialises in Data Protection and Intellectual Property Rights Law. She is very highly qualified in the field of European data protection law and has also obtained CIPP/E certification.
Merlin graduated from the University of Tartu's Faculty of Law and received her master's degree in 2016. She has long-term legal experience having completed traineeships in Swedbank and other law firms during her studies.
She previously worked in international law firm where she advised customers with data protection law, IP and ICT matters as well as civil court proceedings.
Merlin Liis
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Key projects
Tera Ventures leads the €1.2M seed round investment to Rendin
Rendin, the Estonian start-up making long-term property rental fairer and safer for both owners and renters, has announced a seed round of €1.2M. Rendin will invest in expanding its core team in Estonia and launch the platform in Poland.
The seed round was led by Tera Ventures, a VC firm investing in early-stage global digital startups. They were joined by Iron Wolf Capital, Truesight Ventures, Atomico Angel Program and Startup Wise Guys, with a number of angel investors also participating.
Rendin is building a preventive insurance model with the goal to dramatically lower the risks in long-term home renting. In addition to a safe and modern rental process for both owners and renters, including a fully digital agreement on its app and no security deposit requirement, Rendin provides insurance for renters’ agreement breaches and offers landlords up to 100 times more safety compared to regular deposits, making Rendin the safest home rental agreement service available by far.
Stanislav Ivanov, Founding Partner at Tera Ventures: “We’re very excited about partnering with the Rendin team. They have a strong vision of how to make the life of tenants and landlords better. Their dedication to end-to-end user experience and process efficiency for all involved parties will transform the long-term apartment rental space that was until today almost fully neglected and untouched by digitalization.”
The Ellex Raidla team who advised Tera Ventures on the investment was led by Counsel Antti Perli and included Senior Associate Hanna Pahk and Associate Merlin Liis.
Find out more here.
Field of practice
Venture Capital & Emerging Companies
BaltCap invests in Tradehouse, a leading omnichannel player in Estonian beauty product sales
BaltCap Growth Fund (BGF) invests in Tradehouse, the leading beauty products wholesale and retail company in Estonia to further accelerate its growth. BaltCap acquires majority share, the founders of the company, Avo and Angela Kivimaa, retain a minority share and continue supporting the company as members of the supervisory board.
Founded in 2002, Tradehouse has evolved into a unique concept of omnichannel beauty product seller operating 5 large-format stores, a highly successful e-commerce platform and a professional training center in Estonia. The company´s strong track record of growth roots in a wide range product offering to professional and retail clients, best-in-class customer service, and fast and reliable delivery.
„As owners and managers of Tradehouse, our guiding principle has always been to build a business that shapes the future. Partnering with BaltCap will help us to further achieve this goal,” says the founder Avo Kivimaa. “I trust that BaltCap´s expertise in e-commerce, its international platform combined with local presence across the New Nordics, as well as its extensive network of advisors will be the key to our future success,” Kivimaa added.
Sten Sonts, Investment Director at BaltCap says the team is excited to further accelerate company’s growth and expresses gratitude to Tradehouse founders for their trust.
“Avo and Angela Kivimaa have built a unique and well-established ecosystem in the beauty sector. The business has proven its resilience by withstanding disruption caused by COVID-19 and pursuing robust growth attributable to omnichannel sales,” Sonts commented. “BaltCap looks forward to supporting Tradehouse’s plans to expand its e-commerce segment and explore the opportunity to internationalise its concept,” Sonts confirms.
BaltCap was advised on the deal by Ellex Raidla’s Partner Ermo Kosk, Senior Associates Alla Kuznetsova and Martin Mäesalu, and Associates Merlin Liis and Kevin Gerretz.
We advised Karma Ventures and BlackFin Capital Partners on a 4 mEUR venture capital investment to ModularBank
Modularbank, the next-generation core banking platform announced its €4 million round of late seed funding led by Karma Ventures and BlackFin Capital Partners, with additional support from Plug and Play Ventures, Siena Capital and angel investor Ott Kaukver (ex-CTO of Twilio and Skype). The backing from this powerful combination of investors paves the way for UK, European and wider global expansion, and will enable the company to bolster its engineering and commercial teams, and further invest in its technology platform.
The funding will initially be used to set up commercial operations, including an office, in the UK, and to increase operations in France, DACH and Southern Europe from Modularbank’s European base in Berlin. The company currently has 35 staff across Europe and aims to increase headcount to 100 by the end of 2021. In particular Modularbank will be looking to make further hires to its product and commercial teams, to accompany those who have recently joined the company from the likes of PayPal, Mambu and ICBC.
Margus Uudam, Founding Partner at Karma Ventures said: “Our reference calls with tier 1 banks and fintechs confirmed that Modularbank is unrivalled among its competitors, in terms of substance and depth of understanding of customer needs around core banking. The team has been building core banking solutions for more than twenty years and is incredibly well-positioned to become the next global leader. The traction they are already seeing from customers is just another proof point of the huge potential for Modularbank. The investment round was a very competitive one for a reason.”
Michele Foradori, Investment Director at BlackFin Capital Partners, said: “From our very first meeting with Modularbank, we had no doubt that this was the team with the right mix of motivation, capabilities and experience to build a successful company in the financial software landscape. Later in our investment process came the confirmation: an elegantly designed cloud-based core-banking platform which, in less than 24 months of development, is already ahead of many competitors. At BlackFin, we are very proud and eager to be sitting next to Vilve, Rivo and the other co-founders on their journey to become the new standard in banking core software.”
Karma Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm, specialised in late seed and A round investments in Europe’s most promising tech startups.
BlackFin Capital Partners is a fully independent private equity and venture capital firm focusing on financial services.
Modularbank is a next-generation core banking platform. It underpins the aims of both regulated banks and other businesses in meeting customer needs and aspirations by enabling the rapid rollout of new financial services.
The Ellex team who advised Karma Ventures and BlackFin Capital Partners on the investment was led by Counsel Antti Perli and included Senior Associate Hanna Pahk and Associate Merlin Liis.
For more information, click here.
Field of practice
Venture Capital & Emerging Companies
Ellex Raidla organized a regulatory workshop in cooperation with Health Founders
Since this August, Ellex Raidla is in partnership with Health Founders, the business accelerator for health technology companies.
On November 5, we organized an inspiring workshop in cooperation with Health Founders. During the workshop, our managing partner Ants Nõmper, counsel Mari Must and associate Merlin Liis shared regulatory tips & tricks for startups. The presentations were followed by Chasing Unicorns movie night with expert legal commentary by our lawyer Priit Pruks, who is also the co-author of the movie.
Ellex Raidla thanks all the participants for an inspiring event.
Find out more about Health Founders HERE.
We advised institutional infrastructure investors on the acquisition of Adven
We advised institutional infrastructure investors on the acquisition of Adven, a leading provider of clean energy solutions across the Nordics and Baltics, from Infracapital, the infrastructure equity investment arm of M&G Plc, and AMP Capital.
Adven is a leading provider of clean energy solutions, providing outsourced infrastructure with a comprehensive, competitive and sustainable offering. Adven's business is comprised of two segments, Industrial Energy Solutions, and Real Estate Heating & Cooling, which deliver clean energy solutions to its customers across five Nordic and Baltic countries. The company, which develops its energy infrastructure through a finance, build, own and operate model, currently delivers energy to well over 300 sites corresponding to an installed capacity of approximately 2GW.
"If otherwise the Nordic winter can be scary for those coming from further afield, then the local climate creates good preconditions for the heat production and district heating business. Buyers' interest in infrastructure companies in our region is constant. Advising on an M&A transaction in the field of infrastructure requires the involvement and smooth cooperation of many experts. In addition to a good opportunity to participate in the project, we are pleased to see how continued investments in the heat sector will increase efficiency and promote environmental and climate goals,” said Martin Triipan, Ellex Raidla's partner who advised the client.
The Ellex Raidla team which advised on the transaction was led by partner Risto Vahimets and senior associate Alla Kuznetsova. The team included partner Martin Triipan, senior associates Hanna Pahk, Kaisa Laidvee and Martin Mäesalu, associate Merlin Liis and lawyer Andrei Nirk.
White & Case acted as the lead counsel on this deal.
We assisted with the launching of a digital immunity passport pilot project
NGO Back to Work is testing one of the world's first digital immunity passports. It is an application that enables to securely share data with a QR code when a person has taken a COVID-19 virus test or an antibody test. With the help of a digital immunity passport, a person can safely prove that he or she is healthy.
"The goal of the digital immunity passport is to reduce fears and encourage societies around the world to move forward with their lives in the midst of a pandemic," said Taavet Hinrikus, a member of Back to Work, the NGO that develops the passport.
Our managing partner Ants Nõmper and associate Merlin Liis helped with the pilot project’s terms of use.
Read more about the project here.
We are advising BaltCap Private Equity Fund II on the acquisition of Kaarli Hambapolikliinik OÜ
BaltCap through its holding company DenCap Investments acquires one of the leading
Estonian dental care providers Kaarli Hambapolikliinik OÜ. This is the largest deal in the dental care sector in Estonia.
BaltCap is the leading dedicated private equity and venture capital investor in the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania ). BaltCap has a long experience in the medical sector and is strongly established in the field. The company is or has previously been the owner of several well-known companies in the Estonian medical sector: occupational health care company Qvalitas, the largest medical laboratory services provider SYNLAB (ex Quattromed) and clinical research organization eGeen. BaltCap also owns Unimed Group and their dental clinics in Tallinn, Tartu and Pärnu, as well as a dental laboratory Dental Design. In Lithuania BaltCap is the owner of the InMedica chain of primary care and specialized clinics, and Labochema, which offers laboratory supplies in the Baltics.
Kaarli Dental Lab was established in 1999 in Tallinn, Estonia. It is one of the biggest dental laboratories in Estonia with dental clinics in three locations in Tallinn, where they provide dental care using modern techniques and treatment methods. In 2017 Kaarli Dental Lab’s total turnover was 9.4 MEUR.
The deal is advised by Partner Ermo Kosk, Counsel Toomas Kasesalu, Senior Associates Sandra Värk, Dmitri Rozenblat, Associates Marilin Laud, Kerstin Jürgenson and Merlin Liis.
Estonian dental care providers Kaarli Hambapolikliinik OÜ. This is the largest deal in the dental care sector in Estonia.
BaltCap is the leading dedicated private equity and venture capital investor in the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania ). BaltCap has a long experience in the medical sector and is strongly established in the field. The company is or has previously been the owner of several well-known companies in the Estonian medical sector: occupational health care company Qvalitas, the largest medical laboratory services provider SYNLAB (ex Quattromed) and clinical research organization eGeen. BaltCap also owns Unimed Group and their dental clinics in Tallinn, Tartu and Pärnu, as well as a dental laboratory Dental Design. In Lithuania BaltCap is the owner of the InMedica chain of primary care and specialized clinics, and Labochema, which offers laboratory supplies in the Baltics.
Kaarli Dental Lab was established in 1999 in Tallinn, Estonia. It is one of the biggest dental laboratories in Estonia with dental clinics in three locations in Tallinn, where they provide dental care using modern techniques and treatment methods. In 2017 Kaarli Dental Lab’s total turnover was 9.4 MEUR.
The deal is advised by Partner Ermo Kosk, Counsel Toomas Kasesalu, Senior Associates Sandra Värk, Dmitri Rozenblat, Associates Marilin Laud, Kerstin Jürgenson and Merlin Liis.
We advised the landmark deal on the insurance market where GrECo JLT acquired the majority holding of IIZI Group
Ellex Raidla team advised GrECo JLT, the major risk and insurance manager in CEE, on the acquisition of a strategic stake (56.9462 %) in IIZI Group AS.
GrECo JLT is a family-owned company established in Austria in 1925 is employing close to 800 people and operating in 16 countries with 52 subsidiaries, including in Estonia since 2014 and in Lithuania through acquiring RHEA in 2008.
IIZI Kindlustusmaakler AS is the leading insurance retailing company in the Baltics, represented in Estonia, Latvia and Finland with more than 150 employees and 150 000 active customers.
According to Georg Winter, Member of the Board of GrECo JLT Group, IIZI has stood out internationally with their innovative solutions being the indisputable market leader in its region for private customers, small and medium-sized companies and as a partnership solutions provider. “We are ready to contribute considerably to strengthening our position in the Baltics and gain from IIZI’s extensive know-how and retail customer service experience ourselves,” Winter said.
“On the other hand, the customers of IIZI will in turn win from the extensive international experience of GrECo JLT,” Winter said, adding that the main focus of GrECo JLT has been on providing corporate insurance brokerage services and consultations and the shareholding of JLT in the company enables access to a huge network of subsidiaries and partners all around the world.
After the transaction the executive management and current shareholders who have been actively involved in day-to-day operations of IIZI will continue as shareholders and managers of the company.
From Ellex Raidla Partner Sven Papp, Counsel Jaanus Ikla, Senior Associates Gerda Liik, Reet Saks, Associate Merlin Liis and Lawyers Kevin Gerretz, Mirko Kikkamägi advised on the transaction.
Read more about the deal HERE.
We advised Fleet Complete with the acquisition of Ecofleet
Ellex Raidla team advised the Canadian based company Fleet Complete with the acquisition of Ecofleet, which is one of the most successful start-ups in Estonia.
Fleet Complete® is a leading global IoT provider of mission-critical fleet, asset and mobile workforce management solutions. Servicing over 400,000 subscribers and over 30,000 businesses worldwide, the company maintains key distribution partnerships with AT&T in the U.S., TELUS in Canada, Telstra in Australia, and T-Mobile in Europe. It remains one of the fastest-growing companies in North America, having won numerous awards for innovation and growth.
Ecofleet is an international software company that specializes in GPS-based fleet and team management solutions. Our focus is on optimizing car fleets and workflows to help our customers reduce costs and increase revenue. Ecofleet is one of the leading telematics providers in Scandinavia, the Baltic countries and Eastern Europe with presence in over 20 countries, servicing 80.000+ vehicles.
The Ellex Raidla team in Estonia included Partner Sven Papp, Counsels Jaanus Ikla, Antti Perli, Mari Must, Senior Associates Gerda Liik, Reet Saks and Associate Merlin Liis.
For more information, please click HERE.
Education
University of Tartu, Estonia
Master of Laws (LL.M.)
Master of Laws (LL.M.)
University of Tartu, Estonia
Bachelor degree in Law
Bachelor degree in Law
Membership
2017-...
Estonian Bar Association
Member
Member