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Who We Are
Oceans is a NYC-based, early-stage VC firm.
We lead pre-seed and seed deals.
People come first in our investment approach.
We are venture coaches, not just capital.
Our Approach
We help with what matters most at Seed
We’ve built companies from 0-1 through IPO, and offer support rooted in firsthand experience. We help our founders with what matters most at the early stage: building the best teams, go-to-market, and fundraising/cap table strategy.
Building the best teams
We help founders and their teams learn how to recruit, retain, and grow world-class talent.
Go to market
We coach founders on business models and pricing; navigating enterprise contract deals; and developing new narratives and go-to-market presentations that help on the path to product market fit.
Fundraising guidance
We help ensure founders set the right financial foundation to de-risk their next round of funding for Series A or multi-stage investors.
Team
The inner circle
We started Oceans because founders kept approaching us individually to ask for help − they had capital but wanted guidance from people who had lived the journey. Steven built Quattro Wireless from the bottom up through to acquisition by Apple and led the pivotal transformation of Foursquare. Josh played an instrumental role in establishing Meta’s first satellite office in NYC and helped launch several key early products. Glenn architected world class teams and opened up Sales / Marketing and Engineering offices globally for Meta and Google. Sara ran engagements, designed and implemented software solutions, and built and led global development teams at software companies such as ClearForest, acquired by Thomson Reuters (Refinitiv). And, Brian led corporate development and M&A efforts across the Time Warner ecosystem, including acquiring startups and putting over $3 billion of capital to work. We have the operational experience that only comes with experience.
In Their Words
“Access to tailored advice and hands-on help (Steven + Glenn have helped us interview our finalist leadership hires), Josh opened up his home for us to have an event, the advice that Steven gives us is always just right for the stage that we are at. I have never felt like I’m just a number. I get almost immediate response to my updates. I really feel like Oceans understands where we are at and our business.”
Kathy Zhu
Co-Founder & CEO, Streamline AI
“We went with Oceans because of the team and relationship. Relationships matter. Oceans GPs are the type of people you hang onto for life. We did actually have several other big name investors that wanted to invest, but our relationship with the team and their persistence in closing (denoting they got it and were pumped to work on this with us) were difference makers for me. I also felt like they were trustworthy folks like I wanted to be a part of their growth story as well. It all just made sense to me.”
Erik Salazar
Co-Founder & CEO, Iconic
“Oceans is actually helpful. They are thoughtful operators who are approachable and knowledgeable. They had a clearly structured set of materials when we joined. Oceans works as a team not as a collection of partners.”
Tony Haile
Founder & CEO, Filament
“The early stages are nearly impossible, but also awesome. It makes me realize how terrible many key decisions and hires must be at this stage. Oceans has continually helped us avoid the common major mistakes that founders make, while still giving us the freedom to learn and grow in the ways that are necessary to build a truly great business. They are in my corner, not just from a business development standpoint, but also personal.
They do God’s work.”
James McGinniss
Co-Founder & CEO, David Energy
“I’ve described it as ‘not warm intros, but hot intros.’ Josh has sold us hard to people who then are dying to meet. I think the vibe is that Oceans has your back and it’s so clear that my team even senses it.”
Sam Levy
Founder & CEO, Rodeo
“Oceans partners and their backgrounds uniquely position them to add significant value during the early stages. Their complementary skillset has helped us accelerate in all area of the business. Most importantly, they invest with high conviction in teams that they believe in. I have found this to be extremely beneficial as they know when to be present and when to let founders just do their thing.”
Fran Brzyski
Founder & CEO, Hark
“Having Oceans as a lead is like having another high-functioning co-founder. The level of engagement and authentic, intimate, no-BS conversations about the business is something I don’t believe can be expected from a large multi-stage firm, for whom we would be “just another check”. It’s why we chose Oceans to lead our pre-seed, and the team has certainly not disappointed.”
Kunal Sarda
Founder & CEO, Arya
“Personalities and dedication of the team to our success. Always available, always helpful. Chock full of personality and good advice”.
Sasha Kipervarg
Founder & CEO, Ternary
“Every partner at the Oceans team is a former operator so they can empathize with the founder. Each partner has their area of speciality that they operated in covering the full areas of a startup….Sara – operations, Steven – sales, Glenn – recruiting, Josh – product marketing, Brian – finance. I don’t think you can find another fund that has 5 people leading it that all have complimentary skills. If you’re building in NYC it’s a no brainer. The deep connections and network they have in NYC since they are all based in NY is unparalleled.”
Jeff Schwartz
Founder & CEO, dataroomHQ
“Choosing Oceans as your lead investor provides access to partners who’ve personally navigated the entrepreneurial journey. Their firsthand experience enables them to offer tailored, hands-on support that can drive meaningful impact from day one, in ways that larger multi-stage firms may not. Oceans’ key differentiator? Once invested, they’re fully committed. These former founders dive deep into your business, grasp your strategic challenges, and provide targeted advice from their own entrepreneurial experiences.”
Zorik Gordon
Founder & CEO, Agent AI
“Oceans truly cares about their founders, and are always available to help. They are neither overbearing, nor aloof. Exactly what I’d look for in an investor.”
Harish Mukhami
CEO, GibsonAI
“The Oceans team truly invests in people first and looks to build a helpful relationship with founders. Good communication comes to mind as a key differentiator of the Oceans team: they communicate frequently and try to be as helpful as possible via advice, intros, and even sanity checkins to accelerate and smoothen your journey. Their background and network in both consumer and enterprise have also been helpful. I highly recommend Oceans to any entrepreneur who wants a backing team that truly cares for their founders.”
Philip Fung
Founder & CEO, Kit (acq by Ro)
“What truly sets Oceans apart is their Ocean’s Eleven approach—each team member brings their own unique superpower to the table, making them an incredibly dynamic and resourceful partner. They’re not just investors; they’re part of the team, working alongside us to achieve our vision.”
Aviv Frenkel
Co-Founder & CEO, Moonshot AI
“Oceans rolls up their sleeves to help founders in any way possible. The level of proactive and personal touch makes a founder feel like a priority and you’re one getting help from many, not like you’re one of many.”
Andy Bethurum
Co-Founder & CEO, Riskfront
“I remember our first call with Oceans. We thought it would just be a few folks and it ended up being the entire team. We were blown away at how down-to-earth and sincere everyone was. Zak and I left that meeting really excited and knew we wanted to partner up with them. Oceans has been a true partner to us from day one! From helping us build pipeline to talking about long-term strategy, they have been a huge value add for us. Most of all, they are all great humans and we are fortunate to have them in our corner!”
Nikola Mijic
Co-Founder & CEO, Matik
“It’s a team of former operators who genuinely want to see you succeed and will follow through.”
Mari Zumbro
COO, Filament
“The amount of involvement and dedication that you get from the partners, I would be surprised if other firms are able to dedicate the same amount of time and resources. To be honest, as a founder it’s a lonely place sometimes and to be able to have an investor that is more of a partner than anything else is refreshing.”
Dan LaCivita
Co-Founder & Co-CEO, Play
“Oceans started making an impact on meeting one. Their diverse set of skills is exactly what our startup needed, particularly on the tech recruiting side.
We decided to work with them for a few reasons: First of all, Steven and I clicked – he’s a true entrepreneur who has actually “been there, done that” before, so I immediately wanted to be mentored by him. Second, Josh is the exact kind of crazy product visionary that I need in my life. Third, the fact that Glenn hired so many early employees across both Eng and Sales/Marketing at Google and FB – and helped open distributed offices around the world was like a gift from the goddesses. I also love Brian’s collaborative spirit and look forward to scaling our model with him. Finally….the icing on the cake is that Oceans has Sara, a female partner! This sealed the deal for iFundWomen.
I see Oceans as an extension of my executive team. It’s a totally different model than traditional seed investors where you get a check (which is amazing) and some advice but it’s more hands off. With Oceans, it’s all hands on deck, and that’s what iFW needs right now as we hire tech talent and scale the business. There are 2 things they’ve been helpful with so far: 1) Glenn hiring a growth marketer and a head of engineering for us and 2) Brian cleaning up our financial model. I would describe them to another founder as ‘A dream come true’. ”
Karen Cahn
Founder & CEO, iFundWomen
“High involvement, ongoing support with the skills we’re lacking, having a “phone a friend” destination at all times. Oceans is able to support us on our day to day, to an extent that no other VC who’s just a wallet can do.”
Evyatar Segal
Co-Founder & CTO, Moonshot AI
Focus Areas
Our focus
While every new company is different, Oceans invests in founders and teams that share certain key attributes.
People
The founder qualities we look for include a proven zero-to-one track record, the ability to attract and build exceptional teams, strong technical and business DNA, a unique understanding of the problem they are solving, and a high level of self-awareness.
Sector
We are generalists who invest in companies with tech and data differentiation at their core. We invest mostly in B2B business models but will invest in consumer companies that are truly differentiated by their approach and technology.
Geography
We are headquartered in New York and invest in US-based companies with a high concentration in NYC, SF, and LA.
Stage
We lead Pre-Seed and Seed Stage deals. We participate in Series A.
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