Alpa, the main character
This fun alpaca Alpa is a global traveler, who especially loves to visit small exotic places just like Estonia. Together with children he discovers the local culture and language. He is joyful and calm, but when you call him a llama he might get upset and even spit.
Kelly Lilles, CEO and Co-Founder
She and her lovely sons are behind the concept of the project. Kelly has a BA in Estonian Philology and a MA in Translation Studies. For the past 6 years she has been running national and international language tech projects at institutions like the National Library of Estonia and the Institute of the Estonian Language.
It might come as surprise that aside from speaking the language of bureaucracy she loves manual labor – hand drill and a circular saw are well handled by her.. But… she can neither cook nor ski.
Runa Chand, Indian English & Hindi voice actor
Runa is the voice of our alpaca, Alpa, in India! Runa graduated in Mechanical Engineering and then joined research work in Cognitive Science at the International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad. After exploring different fields, she finally chose to be a voice artist which has been her long time passion. She’s a professional Voice Artist in Hindi, English, and Odia specializing in kid, female, and cartoon voice. Runa loves singing, dancing and spending time in nature. She’s a huge cat lover, but for some reason she always gets chased by dogs and hoping that one-day dogs will start to like her too.
Maarja Männik, Localisation Manager
Maarja is a lifelong learner, who has studied social sciences as well humanities. She has bachelor’s degree in law and master’s degree in educational and translation studies. Just as diverse has been her work life. She has worked as a lawyer, assistant, instructor in hobby school MTÜ Mängides Targaks, translator, and volunteer. She spends her free time mainly in mother’s role, but if it is possible, she happily visits some cultural events. Yoga helps to keep balance in her life.
maarja@alpakids.com
Mikk Lilles, CTO
Development and testing lead who is dealing with all the technological stuff at ALPA. Mikk has been an IT project manager for over 10 years out which the last 5 years as the head of the mobile/app development department. When metal music is not refreshing enough, we may see him hanging behind the office windows – he loves the hights and is also a certified arborist. At home he loves to play football with his two sons and make extremely healthy smoothies.
mikk@alpa.ee
LinkedIn
Reimo Meier, Head of Designs
Reimo has finished entrepreneurship and project management at the University of Tartu. He has 6 years of experience in the field of entrepreneurship and 10 years in graphic design. He is behind our visual identity and the appearance of our main character Alpa. At home he just loooves taking care of his 1-year old son.
reimo@alpa.ee
LinkedIn
Janek Jaago, CCO
Janek is a mutant combining technology, business development and strategic marketing. His academic background is from the University of Tartu: BA in leadership and marketing and MA in technology leadership and entrepreneurship. His working competence in the same fields started already in 2007 and he has an experience in the leaders of corresponding sectors, incl. Estravel, Ekspress Grupp and Veriff. When Janek has a spare moment and his youngsters give him permission, then you might catch him taming the dragon of wind or teaching it to others – he is an internationally certified kitesurf trainer at the Surftown surf school.
janek@alpa.ee
LinkedIn
Karin Maandi, Marketing Manager & PR-strategist
Karin has 10+ years of experience in the marketing landscape – most recently at Estravel, Apotheka and MyFitness. In addition, she has advised many other companies and brands on marketing and PR strategies as a senior consultant at Meta Advisory Group. What she loves most is developing creative solutions and creative writing. Karin’s passions include DJing, the gym, running, surfing (kitesurfing and surfing), travelling and spending time in nature. “In an active body, good creative marketing ideas and strategies that get results!”
karin@alpa.ee
Karl Kristjan Mõtlik, Developer
Karl Kristjan is your friendly neighborhood computer guy. He has finished his BA in Business Information Technology at the Tallinn University of Technology and has been working as a game developer for 4 years. In addition to games, he is interested in machine learning and blockchain technology. You can find him in the gym or the basketball court during his spare time.
