Oceans Ventures is an operator-led, people-first seed firm that primarily leads or co-leads pre-seed and seed investments in U.S. startups. The firm is generalist in coverage but consistently favors businesses where technology or data is the core differentiator, especially in B2B software, AI, fintech, and software-enabled vertical markets.
Evaluation weights
How much weight this firm places on each dimension. Totals 100%.
Revenue, growth, and unit economics
Size, timing, and competitive landscape
Founder experience and execution ability
Differentiation and technical quality
- Strong bias toward exceptional founders over polished early metrics
- Prefers collaborative, coachable teams over charismatic solo stars
- More enthusiastic about B2B and infrastructure-like businesses than broad consumer bets
- Likes opportunities where hands-on operational support can materially improve the next-round outcome
Pitch difficulty
How hard it is to get a meeting and close funding from this firm.
- Funded / yr
- 2Deals closed in a typical year.
- Led / yr
- 0Rounds led in the last 12 months.
- Pitches / yr
- ~1508Decks reviewed in a typical year.
- Acceptance rate
- 0.1%Share of pitches that get funded.
Estimated — public data is not fully disclosed.
Why it's hard
- Top-1% founder bar on traits like empathy, self-awareness, endurance, and talent magnetism
- Preference to lead or co-lead limits the number of companies it can back deeply
- Strong requirement for real technology or data differentiation
- Hands-on venture-coach model means fit and founder chemistry matter significantly
Oceans is early-stage and willing to underwrite product and market risk, which makes it more accessible than many later-stage firms. But it is highly selective on founder quality, explicitly benchmarking teams against a top-1% standard and avoiding ego-driven leaders or weakly differentiated opportunities.
Green flags
What drives a yes for this firm.
- A founding team that stands out in the top 1% on self-awareness, empathy, endurance, uniqueness, and talent magnetism
- Clear evidence that the company has a real technology or data advantage rather than a superficial software wrapper
- Strong founder-market insight with a crisp articulation of the problem and why this team should win
- Willingness to build a complementary leadership team instead of centering a hero-founder narrative
- A credible path to de-risking the next financing round through hiring, GTM execution, and early traction
Red flags
What kills deals and gets a fast no.
- Hero-founder energy, defensiveness, or obvious ego issues
- No evidence that the team can recruit strong talent or build a real leadership bench
- A generic market deck without sharp customer insight
- Products with weak technical differentiation or AI-washing
- Vague go-to-market strategy with no believable path to traction or the next financing round
How to win
Patterns that lead to successful pitches.
- Show a high-caliber, low-ego founding team with complementary strengths and a clear hiring magnetism story
- Demonstrate authentic problem insight and why your team has a non-obvious right to win
- Explain the technology or data moat in practical business terms, not jargon
- Present a credible plan for how this round de-risks the next one through product, GTM, and team milestones
- Highlight how you want an involved lead investor and where Oceans' operator support will accelerate execution
Fund strategy & identity
Who they are and how they operate.
- Lead or co-lead pre-seed and seed rounds, with selective Series A participation
- Concentrate on exceptional founding teams rather than broad sector specialization
- Back companies where technology or data creates durable differentiation
- Use a venture-coach model to help founders hire, refine GTM, and prepare for the next round
- Maintain modest fund sizes and high-conviction ownership for alignment with outcomes
Firm identity
Investment focus
Industries, themes, and typical ARR expectations.
Industries
Investment themes
Typical check by stage
Typical ARR by stage
Investment thesis
Core beliefs and strategy behind their investing approach.
Oceans Ventures is an operator‑led, people‑first venture firm that leads pre‑seed and seed investments in U.S. startups, with a concentration in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Its core belief is that lasting value is created by exceptional founding teams; the firm evaluates founders against the top 1 % on traits such as uniqueness, self‑awareness, empathy, endurance and talent‑magnetism. Oceans invests as a generalist but looks for companies where technology or data is the differentiating engine, favoring B2B business models and only entering consumer spaces when the product is truly tech‑driven. The firm’s operating DNA—partners who have built companies from 0‑1 to IPO—feeds a hands‑on “venture coach” model that helps founders build world‑class teams, go‑to‑market strategy and fundraising structures to de‑risk the next round. Fund sizes are deliberately modest (Fund I $11 M, Fund II $31 M) to stay aligned with outcomes rather than management fees, and Oceans prefers to lead or co‑lead deals with deep engagement. Public portfolio signals span SaaS, enterprise applications, fintech, AI/ML, and selective consumer marketplaces. The firm does not publish a formal sector exclusion list; instead, it avoids “hero‑founder” archetypes and any opportunity where team quality, technical differentiation, or collaborative potential is lacking.
Decision patterns
How they evaluate and make investment decisions.
Oceans places team quality above all else, evaluating founders against the top 1 % on traits such as uniqueness, self‑awareness, empathy, endurance and talent‑magnetism. The firm explicitly avoids the "hero founder" archetype and looks for builders who are willing to share equity with complementary leaders. Market size, traction and go‑to‑market clarity are important but are viewed through the lens of how well the team can execute on a differentiated tech or data advantage. Geography is a positive filter—NYC, SF and LA provide network benefits—but is not a hard requirement as long as the team is U.S.-based. Red‑flags include ego‑driven leadership, inability to attract top talent, and lack of a clear problem insight. Oceans prefers to lead or co‑lead deals, engaging the full partner team early and providing hands‑on operational support post‑investment.
Risk appetite
Oceans exhibits a high‑conviction, moderately aggressive risk posture at the pre‑seed and seed stages. It prefers to lead or co‑lead investments and commits significant operational resources, reflecting a willingness to underwrite early product and market risk when the team is exceptional. The modest fund sizes ($11 M and $31 M) and the explicit focus on alignment over management fees signal discipline rather than reckless risk‑taking. While the firm will participate in Series A rounds, its primary risk appetite centers on backing teams that can de‑risk the next financing round through strong execution and technical moats.
Notable investments
Key portfolio companies and why they fit the thesis.
- AryaLeadB2B, tech/data‑centric platform reimagining workforce operations—aligned with Oceans’ early‑stage, people‑first, US‑focused thesis.
- TealCareer‑platform SaaS with strong NYC presence; Oceans participated in the seed round, fitting the firm’s focus on talent‑driven businesses.
- EtchedDeep‑tech AI inference chips; Oceans participates selectively at Series A, matching its interest in data‑heavy tech.
- AgentAIAI workflow automation for healthcare billing; consistent with Oceans’ focus on AI/automation and enterprise data solutions.
- RiskFrontB2B risk/compliance SaaS that leverages data to improve business operations, aligning with Oceans’ tech‑driven portfolio.
- RodeoConsumer social‑planning app; Oceans occasionally backs consumer products when they fit its broader thesis on team‑centric, data‑enabled solutions.
Co-invested with
Other firms in this catalog who've backed the same companies.
No catalog overlap found yet. Co-investors are derived from each firm's notable investments — connections may surface as more firms are added.
Partners
Full firm roster — key partners, partners, and the wider team.
Key partners
Steven Rosenblatt
Co-Founder, General Partner
Oceans Ventures
Steven Rosenblatt is Co-Founder and General Partner at Oceans, with operating experience at Foursquare, Apple iAd, and Quattro Wireless.
Joshua Rahn
Co-Founder, General Partner
Oceans Ventures
Joshua Rahn is Co-Founder and General Partner at Oceans, with prior experience building Facebook's New York monetization and partnership efforts.
Glenn Handler
Co-Founder, General Partner
Oceans Ventures
Glenn Handler is a Co-Founder and General Partner at Oceans with a background in recruiting and HR leadership across Morgan Stanley, Google, and Facebook.
Sara Barek
Managing Partner, Founding Team Member
Oceans Ventures
Sara Barek is a Managing Partner and Founding Team Member at Oceans, focused on operations and cross-functional execution.
Brian Lew
Managing Partner, Founding Team Member
Oceans Ventures
Brian Lew is a Managing Partner and Founding Team Member at Oceans with experience in acquisition, investment, corporate development, engineering, sales, and marketing.
Public voice
Notable statements and public positions.
- "The world doesn’t need this hero founder that becomes the next Netflix special… we’re committed to investing in teams, or solo founders who are committed to handing over a significant chunk of equity to someone who has strengths where they don’t." — Steven Rosenblatt (Fortune)
- "There’s just too many firms living on management fees, and not aligned with the outcome." — Steven Rosenblatt (Fortune)
- "We are Venture Coaches, not just Venture Capitalists… We lead with empathy… and we’ve lived the zero‑to‑1 experience." — Oceans Ventures website (Team page)
Similar firms
Firms with overlapping stage and industry focus.
Initialized Capital
3.1%
Accel
0.5%
B Capital
0.2%