Lajunen also found success at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships, winning eight medals. This included one gold (4 × 5km team: 1999), four silvers (15km individual: 1999, 2001; 4 × 5km team: 1997, 7.5km sprint: 2001); and three bronzes (15km individual: 2003, 4 × 5km team: 2001, 2003).[3][4]
Lajunen ended his career after the season 2003/2004 at a quite early age, 24 years old.[2]
Education
Lajunen concentrated on his studies at the University of Jyväskylä. In the spring of 2007 he graduated with a Master's degree in Economics and Business Administration.[5]
Samla Capital
In 2015, Lajunen founded Samla Capital. The company focuses on professional real estate investing, managing four funds with nearly 400 investors and assets totaling around 254 million euros. Its investment strategy targets real estate in growing cities and includes business premises, apartments, and hotels.[6][7][8]
Samla Capital operates alternative investment funds such as Samla Toimitilat Ky and Samla Asunnot Ky, which invest in premises and apartments respectively, with properties mainly in Finnish growth centers.[9][10]
Hotel Maria
Lajunen founded Samla Capital in 2015. Lajunen's company bought the block located on Mariankatu, Liisankatu, and Maneesikatu in Helsinki in 2020.[6][11] Lajunen announced the start of construction of the new hotel together with the construction company Fira in January 2023. Lajunen and the construction company stated that the construction project would proceed in phases during 2023-2024. The hotel investment cost was about 116 million euros, with funding coming from London.[11][12]
In September 2024, Helsingin Sanomat reported that the hotel had run into financial difficulties. The investors of Hotel Maria learned on January 30, 2025, that the hotel's largest lender wanted to sell the hotel. Selling the hotel would have meant that the investors would lose their money. On July 4, it was announced that the hotel had been sold to Michael Kum's M&L Hospitality Group based in Singapore, and the hotel transitioned under Hilton's Waldorf Astoria brand. Lajunen's Samla Capital made significant financial losses.[13][14][15][16][17]
