OpenOcean Raises $111.5M for Third Fund, Adds New GP

OpenOcean VC Fund Reaches €92 Million, Targeting €130 Million Close

OpenOcean, a European venture capital firm specializing in big data and deep tech startups, has secured €92 million ($111.5 million) for its third venture fund. The firm is aiming to finalize the fund with a total of €130 million by the middle of the current year.

The fund’s limited partners (LPs) include the European Investment Fund (EIF), Tesi, various pension funds, prominent family offices, and Corpus Christi College at Oxford University.

Ekaterina Almasque Appointed General Partner

Ekaterina Almasque has been promoted to general partner, where she will lead the firm’s London team and oversee operations. She previously led investments in companies like IQM, specializing in superconducting quantum machines, and Sunlight.io, a provider of multi-cloud hyper-converged infrastructure.

Prior to joining OpenOcean, Almasque served as a managing director at Samsung Catalyst Fund in Europe. During her tenure, she oversaw investments in Graphcore’s AI processor, Mapillary’s rapid mapping layer, and AIMotive’s autonomous driving stack.

Investment Focus: Infrastructure for Next-Generation Software

Recognizing the increasing importance of data in today’s world, OpenOcean intends to focus its investments on the infrastructure layer where the next generation of software is being developed.

The fund will primarily invest at the Series A level, with initial investments ranging from €3 million to €5 million. Key investment areas include artificial intelligence, application-driven data infrastructure, intelligent automation, and open source technologies.

Experienced Team Backing OpenOcean

OpenOcean’s team boasts significant expertise in database technology. It includes Michael “Monty” Widenius, considered the “spiritual father” of MariaDB and an original developer of MySQL.

Also on the team are Tom Henriksson, an early investor in both MySQL and MariaDB, alongside Ralf Wahlsten and Patrik Backman.

Statements from OpenOcean Leadership

Tom Henriksson, a general partner at OpenOcean, stated that Almasque’s expertise aligns with the firm’s commitment to supporting its founders. He emphasized the importance of the fund, highlighting the trust placed in OpenOcean’s approach and its ability to identify leading data solutions and infrastructure technologies in Europe.

Ekaterina Almasque noted that the next five years will be pivotal for digital infrastructure, as emerging technologies are currently limited by existing infrastructure capabilities. She believes that enabling innovation in this area is essential for realizing digitization projects and shaping the future internet.

Unique Position in the Venture Capital Landscape

In a discussion with TechCrunch, Almasque highlighted OpenOcean’s unique position as a VC firm deeply involved in the technology stack, with a history of investing in early European unicorns and fostering the global open source ecosystem.

She expressed her attraction to the firm’s pioneering work in areas like big data analytics, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing, anticipating significant future growth.

The Growing Data-Driven Economy

Tom Henriksson observed that the economy is increasingly shifting towards a digital, data-driven model. This transition, initially concentrated in a few industries, is now expanding to include sectors like healthcare and manufacturing.

Impact of the Pandemic on Automation

Regarding the pandemic’s impact, Henriksson noted that companies already invested in automation, particularly those utilizing platforms like UiPath, experienced accelerated benefits. These organizations saw improved team performance and increased employee satisfaction.

Conversely, companies that had not prioritized automation before the pandemic found themselves at a disadvantage.