Helsinki, Finland – September 24, 2008 – Xtract today named Timo Laaksonen, 46, Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately.  A top ICT industry executive, Laaksonen has more than 20 years of experience from First Hop (now Airwide Solutions), Sonera SmartTrust, Teamware (Fujitsu), ICL and Nokia.

“Timo is a strong leader and has a track record for driving growth and building world-class teams. I look forward to benefiting from his knowledge and experience,” said Kimmo Kiviluoto, Xtract’s Deputy CEO and Co-founder.

At Xtract, Laaksonen will be responsible for developing and executing company’s long-term growth and market strategies as well as leading the management team. “I am both thrilled and honoured to take on the position as Xtract CEO. Thrilled thanks to the significant market opportunities available to the company, and honoured because of the position and recognition Xtract has already won as one of the absolute top tier companies in social marketing and advertising intelligence” said Timo Laaksonen, Xtract’s CEO.  “Xtract's innate strength lies in its unique skill set, knowledge and technology. There are very few companies out there who would have as unique strengths and as much potential for competitive differentiation as Xtract does.”

Prior to Xtract, as CEO of First Hop, Laaksonen performed a central role in the company’s growth to become a leader in mobile service delivery and business management solutions through building a world-class team into First Hop, defining the market strategy and positioning, setting up and controlling sales and product operations, as well as directing the related corporate financing activities. He has also held executive and business management positions at Sonera SmartTrust, Teamware Group (Fujitsu), ICL and Nokia Data.

Laaksonen graduated with honours and gained a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Turku School of Business Administration in Finland. He is fluent in five languages.

Editor's note: a biography and photograph of Timo Laaksonen is available at
http://www.xtract.com/about-us/management/