News

September 12, 2023
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3
min read

OpenOcean x Oxford's Saïd Business School: Why We Created O³, Startup Insights Platform

OpenOcean, in partnership with Oxford's Saïd Business School, has launched O³, an open-access startup insights platform aimed at fostering a data-driven startup ecosystem. Historically, the tech industry has struggled with transparency, leading policymakers, investors, and startups to base decisions on partial information. O³ addresses this gap by providing comprehensive data about startups, their technologies, market strategies, and more. This collaboration of Saïd Business School's research with OpenOcean's know-how offers unmatched insights for evaluating startups and understanding market shifts.
June 28, 2023
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4
min read

OpenOcean ESG Report 2023: ESG Maturity at an All-Time High

We are now happy to share the results of our 5th annual ESG report with you to unpack the current ESG statistics of our portfolio companies and to establish transparently where and how we must continue to collectively push for greater progress. This year we achieved a 100% response rate and the survey was based on our internally developed ESG Starter Pack.
May 16, 2023
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1
min read

Meet the OpenOcean Team in Spring/Summer 2023 Events

The OpenOcean Helsinki and London teams will attend various spring and summer events around Europe. We're on a mission to unite with entrepreneurs, professionals, and fellow investors to exchange and discuss new ideas and dive into exciting business opportunities – on and off the stage.
May 3, 2023
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3
min read

"You can either retain your culture or have hyper-growth - getting both is a fool's choice.” – A Q&A with our Operating Advisor Kulpreet Singh

In this Q&A blog post, we have the pleasure of featuring Kulpreet Singh, OpenOcean's Operating Advisor since 2018. Kulpreet joined the team after a successful tenure at UiPath, the world's leading robotic process automation (RPA) software. We dive into Kulpreet's insights on company growth, common challenges fast-growing tech companies face, and essential qualities for startups aiming to make their mark globally.
April 27, 2023
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1
min read

"London needs to demonstrate why it remains the best place for firms to raise funds and grow their business" – Naureen Zahid's Letter to the City AM Editor

OpenOcean's Investor Relations Director Naureen Zahid's Letter to the Editor was published today on City AM.
March 29, 2023
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4
min read

Hygraph Raises $30M Series B Funding Round for Federated Content Platform

OpenOcean portfolio company Hygraph, a leading federated content platform, announced the closure of a $30 million Series B funding round led by One Peak. OpenOcean is delighted to continue to be part of the journey since it led Hygraph’s Series A, and welcomes the participation of both existing and new investors, including Peak, SquareOne, and business angel Boris Lokschin, Co-Founder and CEO of Spryker Systems.
March 14, 2023
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4
min read

"Despite a difficult market, LPs remain bullish on the opportunity” – A Q&A with OpenOcean’s Strategic Advisor Lisa Edgar

At the beginning of the year, Lisa Edgar joined our team as our Strategic Advisor. We sat down with Lisa for a Q&A to pick her brain and hear her unique perspective on various topics related to the startup ecosystem and venture capital industry. From her thoughts on the current state of the European venture capital market to her belief in the importance of ESG, Lisa offers invaluable insights for entrepreneurs and investors alike.
February 9, 2023
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3
min read

How Supermetrics, a company with 40% annual growth, leads with two CEOs?

Our portfolio company Supermetrics, , announced in early 2023 that it is moving to a shared CEO model – a practice used by roaringly successful companies like Netflix, Atlassian and Workday. To introduce the model, Anssi and Supermetrics better, we asked him a few crisp questions on the topic.
January 30, 2023
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2
min read

Lisa Edgar Joins OpenOcean as a Strategic Advisor to Empower Leaders of the Data Economy

OpenOcean welcomes Lisa Edgar as new Strategic Advisor to drive key initiatives and strengthen global footprint with extensive experience in venture capital and a passion for increasing diversity in the VC ecosystem.
January 24, 2023
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6
min read

2023 Technology Forecast: OpenOcean Technology and Investment Predictions to Watch

The final months of 2022 were a reality check for investors and tech companies due to the forecasted impending recession and falling valuations. Despite the challenging tone set for 2023, there are plenty of growth opportunities in fields such as ESG investments, AI, and enterprise automation. At OpenOcean have identified key technologies and developments to watch in the data, software, and technology spheres.
December 22, 2022
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15
min read

Where to find alpha in the post-covid era? Macro and market update Q4 2022

Our Investor Relations Director, Naureen Zahid, has written a detailed article on the market turmoil of 2022 and how this has impacted the investment approach of both GPs and LPs. Geopolitical and macroeconomic factors caused significant financial market turmoil in 2022, triggering soaring global inflation, which has had a significant impact on both public and private market investments.
December 19, 2022
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4
min read

IPO: MariaDB lands on the New York Stock Exchange

MariaDB's listing on the New York Stock Exchange is a milestone moment – our founding of the company in 2010, and our investments in the company are a milestone – representing the team's culmination of 12 years of hard work and innovation.
December 16, 2022
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5
min read

How product-led growth brought Supermetrics from 0 to 50M ARR

Mikael Thunberg founded Supermetrics, a tool for extracting and importing marketing data, in 2010 despite lacking tech entrepreneurship skills. The company has grown to serve almost a million users and has reached over 50 million in annual recurring revenue with very little outside investment.
December 13, 2022
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3
min read

Our investment into api.video

We are thrilled to announce our newest investment into api.video and take part in their $12M Series A.
November 10, 2022
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4
min read

Our new ESG Starter Pack for software startups is out

OpenOcean's new ESG Start Pack for software startups is out! The Starter Pack includes: Our recommended ESG roadmap for software startups, including deep dives on each focus area, main KPIs to track your progress and practical advice to get started. We hope you find it useful!
November 15, 2022
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5
min read

Launching: State of Quantum 2022 Report

Together with IQM, fellow investors at Lakestar, in association with The Quantum Insider (TQI), we wanted to produce an in-depth report to help investors and decision-makers bridge the gap between the speed and direction of quantum development and what customers are ready and already planning for. 
October 24, 2022
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3
min read

Welcome to the OpenOcean team – Naureen Zahid, our new Investor Relations Director

We are thrilled to welcome Naureen Zahid as a new Director in the OpenOcean team, focusing on Investor Relations.
October 20, 2022
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5
min read

New Automation Market Map is published – Software Automation private funding grew by 230% in 2021

OpenOcean, a leading European venture capital firm, has released its Automation Market Map, showing that private funding for enterprise (software) automation companies hit $17.86 billion in 2021 - up 230% on the previous year.
August 19, 2022
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14
min read

How MariaDB became the world-leading open-source database company

We sat down with three key people who’ve been there from the beginning to understand how MariaDB was able to break records. Read the whole story of MariaDB here.
May 13, 2022
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4
min read

Our newest investment into DevOps: Strong Network

The team at OpenOcean couldn’t be more excited to announce our latest investment in Strong Network having led the €5.1m seed round alongside Wingman.
May 13, 2022
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2
min read

Finnish startup ecosystem supports Ukraine – Free work spaces at Maria01 for our Ukrainian friends

Finnish startup ecosystem supports Ukraine – Free work spaces at Maria01 for our Ukrainian friends
May 13, 2022
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10
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Our newest investment into cybersecurity: Binalyze

Our newest investment into the cybersecurity space, Binalyze (with a cool short name B!), where we led a $10M round, is one of those cutting-edge innovations that will shape the future of Enterprise Forensics.
May 13, 2022
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3
min read

Announcing LoopMe exit: celebrating the next chapter of a real Ad-Venture

In 2014, together with HV Capital, OpenOcean led the Series-A funding round for an early stage mobile advertising technology company from London called LoopMe. Almost 8 years on, LoopMe has grown to a very profitable business with almost 100 million USD in revenue.
May 13, 2022
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2
min read

PassFort acquired by Moody’s Corporation

Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) announced that it has acquired PassFort, the SaaS RegTech provider automating anti-financial crime and compliance processes
May 13, 2022
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3
min read

OpenOcean’s investment into Surglogs

Surglogs Raises $10.5 Million In Series A Funding To Help Front-Line Clinicians Streamline And Automate Patient Safety And Compliance Processes
May 13, 2022
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5
min read

Bitrise grabs $60M to keep companies updated with constantly changing mobile requirements

Bitrise aims to be the go-to company closing the gap between that mobile demand and a company’s ability to get apps out faster while also balancing all of the moving parts and complexities
May 13, 2022
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2
min read

OpenOcean welcomes kevin. to the portfolio family

kevin. announced their raise of a $10 million funding round to disrupt the card payment infrastructure
May 13, 2022
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2
min read

Oxford Saïd and OpenOcean to develop AI-powered venture classification platform

Saïd Business School and OpenOcean, a European venture capital firm, have announced early October 2021 the signing of a new collaboration agreement to develop a venture classification platform.
May 13, 2022
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7
min read

ironSource to Acquire Mobile Advertising and App Monetization Company Tapjoy

We are proud to announce that our portfolio company Tapjoy has been acquired by NYSE listed ironSource for $400mn!
May 13, 2022
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7
min read

The Truecaller IPO: nine years of “instant” success

In 2012 we were honoured to lead the series A funding round for a fast-growing new Caller ID app called Truecaller.
May 13, 2022
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2
min read

OpenOcean’s investment in Hygraph

GraphCMS will use this investment to focus on API integrations, accelerate product adoption, and grow its team globally across the US, UK, and European markets.
May 13, 2022
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10
min read

OpenOcean’s investment in Cambri

Cambri’s market research automation platform enables companies to test their ideas continuously, as they are iterating their innovations.
September 30, 2022
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4
min read

SAP Acquires AppGyver Professional No-Code Platform

We are excited that SAP just announced its acquisition of our portfolio company AppGyver Inc.
September 30, 2022
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10
min read

Data ecosystems pioneer OpenOcean raises €92M fund for data solutions and software

OpenOcean, the pioneering investor in data solutions and software, has today announced a €92M raise for its third main venture fund.
September 30, 2022
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1
min read

Booksy raises $70m war chest

We are excited to announce that we are a part of Booksy’s $70m Series C funding round, lead by Cat Rock Capital.
May 13, 2022
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2
min read

OpenOcean’s ESG and Responsible Investment Policy

We believe that ESG is crucial for us to succeed in our mission – read more about our commitment to ESG.
May 13, 2022
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10
min read

A new dawn for enterprise automation – from long-term strategy to an operational imperative

Tom Henriksson, general partner at OpenOcean, discusses how enterprise automation has gone from long-term strategy to operational imperative