News

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.

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

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.

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

Patrik Backman

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.

Meet the OpenOcean Team in Spring/Summer 2023 Events

Tom Henriksson

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.

"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

Tom Henriksson

OpenOcean's Investor Relations Director Naureen Zahid's Letter to the Editor was published today on City AM.

"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

Naureen Zahid

Investor Relations Director

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.

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

Ekaterina Almasque

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.

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

Naureen Zahid

Investor Relations Director

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.

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

Patrik Backman

Venture capital: Evaluating the risk profile of investments

The heart of a venture capital fund’s strategy is to feed investors’ capital into high-growth, early-stage companies with the potential to expand rapidly and deliver high returns. However, a company’s ability to deliver the kind of growth that generates outsized returns usually has a risk profile to match. So how do VCs think about risk in order to protect their investor’s interests?

GrowthBusiness

Uni of Oxford and OpenOcean unveil AI-powered startup ecosystem mapping platform

The O3 platform is designed for steady global expansion, with this version tested on the UK AI startup landscape. In this first phase, the project will help improve decision-making for leaders across the UK tech ecosystem, giving them unique, granular data on startups and their underlying technology.

StartupMagazine

Tech Nation to officially re-launch this October

Tech Nation, the startup growth network that closed its doors in March 2023, is gearing up for a relaunch during Birmingham Tech Week in October. The UK tech industry suffered a setback with Tech Nation’s closing, given its vital role in connecting entrepreneurs and providing grassroots support for startups.

BusinessLeader

Digital forensics firm Binalyze raises $19M for enhanced cybersecurity

Binalyze, a Tallinn-based cybersecurity firm specialising in digital forensics and incident response solutions, has raised $19 million in a Series A funding round. The capital will facilitate Binalyze’s further market penetration. Since early 2021 Binalyze has raised just shy of $31 million. The Series A funding round was led by Molten Ventures with existing investors Earlybird Digital East and OpenOcean, and new investors Cisco Investments, Citi Ventures, and Deutsche Bank Corporate Venture Capital participating.

Tech.eu

Just 7% of UK startups actively involved with AI

Less than 10 per cent of UK startups are using or facilitating artificial intelligence, despite Rishi Sunak pushing for Britain to become a global leader in AI. Out of nearly 17,000 UK startups, just 1,270 startups have been identified as clearly using or facilitating AI – just 7 per cent. The top sector for AI investment in the UK has been in health, with £3.4 billion of funding since 2011, according to research from Oxford University and venture capital firm OpenOcean.

InformationAge

‘World’s most accurate’ startup data platform to identify gaps in AI ecosystem

The platform is the result of three years of research from Oxford Saïd and 13 years of experience of data economy investing from OpenOcean. It leverages public and private data sources and is meant to help improve decision making across the UK tech ecosystem, through “granular data on startups and their technology stack, solutions, and go-to-market strategies.”

The NextWeb

£85bn EU Horizon programme reopens to UK companies

Ekaterina Almasque, General Partner at OpenOcean said: “The announcement of the UK’s re-entry into the Horizon programme is excellent news for the UK and wider European tech ecosystem. Research and Development (R&D) serve as the backbone of the UK tech economy, and prolonged uncertainty would have eroded confidence. In fields like quantum technology, where progress unfolds over decades, having a clear trajectory of funding is paramount to ensure innovation continues unhindered."

BusinessLeader

UK rejoins Europe’s Horizon R&D program after prolonged Brexit stalemate

"This renewed commitment to Horizon is not only a positive for the spinout ecosystem, but also bolsters the entire tech sector, making it more attractive to investors to back the next market leader. Research and development serves as the backbone of the UK’s tech economy, and prolonged uncertainty would have eroded confidence. In fields like quantum technology, where progress unfolds over decades, having a clear trajectory of funding is paramount to ensure innovation continues unhindered”, explained our General Partner, Ekaterina Almasque, in TechCrunch.

TechCrunch