Meet our team
GoSuomiPro was not built in a boardroom. It was built by people who understand and have made the move to Finland, hit every wall, and eventually figured it out. Most of us did it the hard way. We built this company so you don’t have to.
Minja Smura / Co-Founder & CEO
Minja is a Finnish serial entrepreneur with two decades of building companies across multiple sectors. She has founded or co-founded five startups and advised several others, with a consistent track record of turning an idea into an operating business. She understands not just how to start things, but how to sustain them.
At GoSuomiPro, she leads the team and drives the platform. Her focus is on building infrastructure that genuinely works for international students: not just guidance on paper, but systems that deliver the outcome. She brings the Finnish network, the experience of having lived abroad, the institutional relationships, and the operational discipline that turns a mission into a company.
Osama Zulfiqar / Co-Founder & Strategist
GoSuomiPro did not begin with a business plan. It began with a question Osama Zulfiqar was already asking: why do so few international students know about the free tuition pathway, and why does nobody teach them Finnish before they arrive?
Osama leads partnerships and strategy. He has built direct relationships with institutions and communities across Pakistan, the Middle East, and Finland, and understands both sides of the equation: the ambitions students carry when they consider Finland, and the structural realities they encounter when they arrive. For prospective students from Pakistan and beyond, he is the person who has walked the path from both ends.
Xyeanne Million / Co-Founder & Operations
Originally from the Philippines and based in Kuopio, Xyeanne is the operational backbone of GoSuomiPro. She brings a dual background in science and business, with leadership roles across organisations and events in the Finnish startup and student community. She currently serves as President of the North Savo Entrepreneurship Society.
Xyeanne manages the systems, processes, and day-to-day coordination that make the programme run. She is also living proof of what GoSuomiPro stands for: an international student who came to Finland, built a life here, and now helps others do the same.
Ratul Hassan a.k.a Max / Co-Founder & Sales Lead
Max is the first real conversation many prospective students have about what studying in Finland could actually mean for their future. Originally from Bangladesh and based in Finland, he leads student intake for Bangladesh and brings a personal understanding of the journey Bangladeshi students and families navigate when considering Finland.
He knows the questions families ask, the doubts they carry, and what it takes to build genuine trust across cultures and time zones. At GoSuomiPro, he does not just sell a service. He represents a community of people who made the decision, took the leap, and built something real.
Partnership Managers
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Osama Zulfiqar
Partnerships Director
osama@gosuomipro.com -
Max Hassan
Partnerships Manager, Bangladesh
max@gosuomipro.com -
Xyla Million
Partnerships Manager, Philippines
xyla@gosuomipro.com -
Muhammad Zulfiqar
Partnerships Manager, Pakistan
muhammad@gosuomipro.com -
Nethsara Hettiarachichi
Partnership Manager, Sri Lanka
nethsara@gosuomipro.com
What Sets Us Apart
Most members of the GoSuomiPro team has navigated life as an international in Finland. The paperwork, the language, the job market, the culture, the slow realisation of what Finnish actually means for your life here. We do not advise from the outside. We guide from inside the experience.
We have lived it
We know the market
Geographically and culturally. Our team covers Finland, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and beyond, with sales partners in Nepal, India, and the Gulf. We understand where you are coming from, what your family needs to hear, and how to bridge two very different worlds with honesty and specificity.
Not just figuratively. We have team members who understand the cultural context, the family dynamics, and the specific concerns students from South Asia and the Middle East carry when they consider a move to Finland. That context is not a bonus feature. It is the whole point.
We speak your language
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