Early-stage VC, Helsinki + London

OpenOcean

Venture capital firm · Helsinki · Founded 2008

Quick read

OpenOcean is a pan-European early-stage VC founded in 2008, headquartered in Helsinki with a second office in London. The firm leads or co-leads Series A rounds up to €5m in European B2B software and data infrastructure companies. Its founding team built MySQL AB, sold to Sun Microsystems for $1B in 2008, giving it deep technical DNA that it carries into every investment.

Key facts

Founded
2008
Founders
Patrik Backman
Employees
11-50
Sectors
enterprise, saas, ai
Website
www.openocean.vc

Investment thesis

OpenOcean leads or co-leads Series A rounds up to €5m in European B2B software and data infrastructure companies — specifically those building the data economy through enterprise software, AI, DevOps, and automation. The firm backs technical founders with early product-market fit and supports them toward global category leadership.

Recent activity

  • Jan 2026press
    OpenOcean published commentary on 2026 investment outlook, with GP Ekaterina Almasque stating the market is shifting from 'AI tourism' to a focus on tangible value and infrastructure. openocean.vc
  • 2024press
    GP Ekaterina Almasque called for strategic R&D funding in the UK, warning that without clear government backing UK startups seek growth capital abroad. openocean.vc
  • 2024press
    Investor Relations Director Naureen Zahid was interviewed by ICAEW on the prospect of a UK 'superfund' and its potential benefits for domestic businesses and the wider economy. openocean.vc
  • Oct 2024investment
    OpenOcean participated in Authologic's Series A alongside Y Combinator, Peak, and others, as Polish identity verification startup secured funding to build a global e-ID platform. tracxn.com
  • Oct 2024investment
    OpenOcean backed Cambri's €8M round alongside Octopus Ventures; Cambri builds AI-powered consumer insights tools for brand marketers. tracxn.com
  • 2024leadership
    Mirva Laatunen joined OpenOcean as Investment Analyst in the Helsinki office, having previously worked as Product Lead at Wolt on customer support tooling and internal MarTech products. uk.linkedin.com
  • Mar 2023investment
    OpenOcean joined a €27M Series B round for Hygraph, continuing as lead investor since the Series A; GP Ekaterina Almasque remains a board member. Co-investors included One Peak and SquareOne. fi.linkedin.com
  • Jan 2026press
    OpenOcean published its 2026 outlook, arguing the market will pivot from 'AI tourism' to tangible value and robust infrastructure as the defining shift of the year. openocean.vc
  • 2025fundraise
    OpenOcean targets €130M final close for its fourth fund, with its first investment from the fund going into customer-facing analytics startup Embeddable. startupsmagazine.co.uk
  • 2025leadership
    Oliver J. joined the London team as a new investment hire, bringing experience co-founding two venture-backed startups and two years leading Seed and Series A deals at PXN Group. linkedin.com
  • 2025leadership
    Mirva Laatunen joined as Investment Analyst in the Helsinki office, previously Product Lead at Wolt. uk.linkedin.com
  • 2025press
    General Partner Ekaterina Almasque gave an interview to The Recursive on OpenOcean's investment philosophy and the AI disruption opportunity, including a focus on quantum computing stacks for real-world use cases. uk.linkedin.com

Notable investments

Key people

Named individuals at the firm. We don't expose direct email or phone — use their LinkedIn for outreach.

  • Ekaterina Almasque · General Partner
  • Patrik Backman · Co-Founder and Managing Partner
  • Tom Henriksson · Partner
  • Sam Hields · Partner
  • Naureen Zahid · Investor Relations Director
  • Sri Ayangar · Investment Associate
  • Mirva Laatunen · Investment Analyst
  • Oliver J. · Investment (London team)
    LinkedIn
  • Richard Muirhead · General Partner

Sources

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Frequently asked

What is OpenOcean?+

OpenOcean is a pan-European early-stage VC founded in 2008, headquartered in Helsinki with a second office in London. The firm leads or co-leads Series A rounds up to €5m in European B2B software and data infrastructure companies.

Where is OpenOcean headquartered?+

OpenOcean is headquartered in Helsinki, Finland.

When was OpenOcean founded?+

OpenOcean was founded in 2008 by Patrik Backman.

What sectors does OpenOcean invest in?+

OpenOcean focuses on enterprise, saas, ai. They primarily invest in these sectors.

How do I prepare for a meeting with OpenOcean?+

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Generated by briefthecall.com from public web sources. Last updated June 9, 2026. Each claim is linked to its source above.

Automatically generated by AI from public sources. May be inaccurate or out of date. Remove or correct this profile →